The resumption of the England Hockey League after the mid-winter break saw Marlow’s Men’s and Women’s return empty handed from a road trip to Bristol for a rare double-header against Clifton Robinson’s on Saturday - but spirits at the club were cheered considerably on Sunday, with notable cup victories for the U14 Girls and U18 Boys.

First to play were the Women, seeking revenge for a narrow defeat against Robbies earlier in the season, but it was not to be. Marlow started brightly, winning an early penalty corner which was deflected over the bar. The game settled into a period of back and forth, with Marlow’s best chance following some neat inter-passing between Jess Rees-Gray and Kerri Smith, who put Alice Godfrey through on goal, but the Clifton keeper saved well. The home side broke the deadlock just before half time with a fiercely struck penalty corner, and doubled their lead early in the second half. Marlow rallied and began to control possession, and came close to pulling a goal back when Lottie Porter’s penalty corner strike was deflected narrowly wide by Jess Rees Gray. Soon after, Marlow earned another penalty corner, and this time made no mistake, Kiera Allen converting to reduce the deficit to one. Despite chances at both ends in the final twenty minutes, there was no more scoring, and the 2-1 win for the home side saw the teams swapping places in the table.

Next up were the men, and it was noticeable that as many had travelled from Marlow to support the reds as were there to support table-topping Clifton in a vital first versus second clash. The first half saw Marlow on the front foot, and playing their best hockey of the season, but pressure didn’t translate into goals despite coming tantalisingly close. 0-0 was the half time score, but it seemed unlikely to remain that way for long, and Clifton scored an open play goal five minutes into the third quarter, Theo Seymour respomding for the reds within minutes. The score didn’t stay tied for long, with the home side showing why they are top of the table, opening up a 4-1 lead with three goals in quick succession. Marlow finished strongly, as they have on several occasions already this season, pulling goals back through a Sam North penalty corner and a rebound from another North corner a moment later tucked home by Jayden Zamler. Clifton managed to hang on for a 4-3 win, despite ending their match without their captain, carded for the antics of the Clifton coach who offered one opinion too many to the long-suffering (and excellent) umpires.

Sunday was altogether a better day for the club. The U14 Girls, playing in the top-ranking Tier 1 England Hockey cup, won their quarter final away at Hertford. The Marlow girls played exceptionally mature team hockey in the first half, with goals from Elvie Rayner, Reina Spiers and Emma Blake putting them 3-0 up and the result beyond doubt at half time. Hertford came back strongly in the second half which was much more even, and 3-0 remained the final score - meaning Hertford were added to Oxford, Henley, and Reading on Marlow’s list of this season’s cup scalps.

Later that day, Marlow U18 boys travelled to Rugby and East Warwickshire for their own Tier 2 EH cup match quarter final, a match which started with Marlow taking an early lead after an aerial into the D from Toby Wingrove was cooly slotted home by Hayden Wilson. Marlow could have added to their lead when Theo Seymour was flattened as he homed in on the Rugby goal, but the resulting penalty stroke missed its mark. The reds were made to rue their earlier misses when a lack of discipline saw them reduced briefly to nine players late in the second half, allowing Rugby to snatch a late equaliser, meaning the match went to a shoot-out. Both side scored their first three attempts, at which point Josh Mustard, taking Marlow’s fourth, was wiped out by the Rugby keeper, who found himself red carded. Ollie Blundy calmly slotted the penalty stroke against the home side’s substitute keeper, but the drama wasn’t to end there as the run of successful conversions continued into sudden death. Tom Atkinson in the Marlow goal then managed to talk his way into a yellow card temporary suspension of his own, meaning both teams now had substitutes in goal. Marlow finally triumphed 7-6, their twin heroes being sub keeper Ollie Hunter, who drive a Rugby player wide enough to miss the target, and Toby Wingrove who rounded the Rugby keeper to net the winner.

Marlow U14 Girls after their win at Hertford

Toby Wingrove (313) being congratulated by team-mates on his winning goal against Rugby (picture courtesy of @IFSportsImages)