Marlow Men’s 1s secured a comfortable win away at Fareham on Sunday, the 3-1 scoreline somewhat flattering the home side, who picked up a consolation goal from a penalty corner late in the final quarter.

Marlow came out of the blocks fast, and utterly dominated the first quarter, opening up a 2-0 lead through penalty corner conversions from captain Sam North and the prolific Callum White.

With a comfortable lead, and in full control, Marlow were guilty of going through the motions somewhat for the second and third quarters, including a short period when they got on the wrong side of the umpires, and played with nine for a while. A third goal, once again from Callum White, secured the victory.

Three away points are always welcome, but were made all the sweeter by top of the table Clifton Robinsons’ 3-2 loss to lowly Exeter, which halved their lead over second place Marlow from six points to three and reignited the race for promotion.

The day before, Marlow’s Women’s 1s picked up a valuable home point against high riding Lansdown, but it could, and probably should, have been three. In a close but goalless first half, Marlow came closest to scoring, after a mazy run from Maddie Peacock created a chance for Kerri Smith, which went agonisingly wide. The reds dominated the third quarter, and took a deserved lead through a neat finish by Vic Allen.

With Poppy Godfrey commanding in defence, Lansdown were reduced to a long ball game, and a barely deserved equaliser came early in the final quarter from their sole on-target attempt at goal. A point leaves Marlow in sixth place, but still with work to do in their final four matches to banish completely the threat of relegation.

Sunday was cup day for Marlow’s junior sides. The Boys U18s were scheduled to play their EH Cup semi final, but opposition Deeside Ramblers unfortunatrly withdrew in midweek, leaving Marlow with a place in the national final.

The Girls U18s won a thriller in a shoot-out in their EH Plate quarter final against Cheltenham after a 2-2 draw, Marlow equalising with seconds to go from a deft penalty corner deflection by captain Tilly Olney.

In the final game of the day, Marlow’s U14 girls narrowly lost their EH Cup semi-final 2-0 to Repton after a high quality and close-fought battle. Alone amongst Marlow’s juniors, the U14s entered the Tier 1 competition for the best sides in the country, and to come so close to making the final was remarkable.

Marlow Captain Sam North, scorer of the first goal on Sunday.
Piture courtesy of @gmwsportphoto