Marlow O40's knocked out of the England Hockey trophy

For the second year in succession, Marlow over 40's exited the plate at round 3. It seems the first weekend in December is not good for our Dad's Army - last year we managed to scrape together 11 players to visit Purley, this year we could only manage a turn out of 10 players, including guest players from GX, South Bucks, Wallingford and Staines just to get 10 out on the pitch.

Henley also included guests from Sonning and Wycombe in their line up, but unlike Marlow could field a 15 man squad. In terms of talent on show there were some of the best over 40's from the MBBO leagues on the pitch, unfortunately 11 v 10 is never really going to be a contest, and so it proved.

Henley scored 11, it could have been a lot more and captain's man of the match was Grips, our guest keeper from Staines. It wasn't all one way though, Marlow scored 3 in return, probably the pick of the goals with some really classy hockey.

So the road to Wembley (or the Olympic Park) ends in December again for Marlow over 40's. Henley will take some beating this year, although looking at the teams left in the tournament an away match could end up with a long journey! Marlow will need to learn from the experience - there are enough players in the club to compete in this tournament, but if availability is going to be an issue then it may be time to expand our selection net...

Next up - we have been invited to play A&C in an over 40's match when their new pitch and clubhouse opens next year and we will of course turn up for the Reading Vets tournament in May. If anyone wants to support a Marlow Summer tournament then please let me know as I think we can get enough clubs interested and generate some income for the club.