With the England Hockey League having started its mid-season break, Marlow’s first teams turned their attention to indoor hockey, with both trying to qualify through regional tournaments for the National League, which takes place in January.

The men tried a new pre-match routine for Sunday’s competition which hindsight will say may not be one to repeat, as they failed to shake off the cobwebs and were beaten by Banbury and Havant in their first two pool games. Resounding victories over Basingstoke and Amersham were too little, too late, and the team failed to progress to the semi-finals by a single point.

The women had no such problems in a six team round robin competition, starting the day with a resounding 3-0 victory over fellow Conference side Oxford Hawks, a win which was to look all the more impressive as the day wore on. Coming back from a goal down to beat Winchester 2-1 in their second game was the nearest Marlow came to defeat all day, and comfortable wins over Trojans, 3-1, and Fareham, 3-0 put the reds in pole position for the final match against the Army, who were also unbeaten, but had an inferior goal difference.

Effectively the final, Marlow dominated from the outset, and opened the scoring through Ruby Balcombe following a neat penalty corner slip move, and they would have moved further ahead had the Army goalkeeper not excelled herself with not one, but two penalty stroke saves.

The Army scored an equaliser from a rare penalty corner which was comprehensively dispatched into the top corner, but in truth, Marlow looked much the more likely to take the win. Despite pressure and chances, the game ended 1-1, leaving Marlow as South Central champions, and securing qulification for the National League division 2 competition in the new year.

A trump card for Marlow throughout the day was the mother and daughter coaching duo of Kate and Lottie Porter. Kate has coached multiple junior teams to national indoor success, and Lottie - having swapped allegiance from Buckingham to Marlow for outdoor hockey this season - will be returning to her old club for the indoor season to attempt to secure another EHL Premier League title for Buckingham.

It was notable that the Marlow team contained five players who had been to Great Marlow School, and none from Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School; further evidence if any were needed that the club is no longer solely reliant on the Grammar School for its home-grown talent.

Marlow Women’s Indoor Team