Marlow Men’s 1st team overcome a stubborn obstacle in the form of a determined Fareham side on Sunday, and emerged from another road trip with three points once again. Marlow are now four from four, and two points clear at the top of the England Hockey League West Conference.

After the flowing hockey of recent weeks, a visit to Fareham was always going to be a test of character, and so it proved. The pitch was slow and bobbly, and the home side and supporters were determined to make it a battle.

Marlow took the lead after eight minutes through a beautifully executed penalty corner drag flick by Tom McKinlay. Fareham responded spiritedly, and after a period of pressure equalised through a penalty corner of their own right at the end of the first quarter.

The Reds regained their composure in the second quarter but were not yet in control. Two Marlow penalty corners were saved on the line, but a penalty stroke awarded shortly before half time was coolly put home by Tom Ferris leaving Marlow in the ascendancy at the break.

Further goals in the third quarter from Sam North and Freddie Smith, allowed them to pull clear at 4-1, but they were never able to engage cruise control.

Temperatures rose in the fourth quarter, and Marlow found themselves uncharacteristically struggling for fluency. Fareham took advantage and got one back from another penalty corner shortly before the end of the match, much to the delight of the very vocal home crowd, leaving the final score 4-2 to the visitors.

A final score of 4-2 was a fair result, but Fareham should be commended for their persistence, and the three points earned by Marlow proved that they can “win ugly” on the road when necessary.

They may need to do so again next weekend on their longest away trip of the season against Ashmoor, in Totnes - and the performance at Fareham will stand them in good stead for that challenge.

The day before, Marlow Women’s 1st team had to battle equally hard for an important three points in a close-fought battle at home to local rivals Slough.

Slough’s days as European Champions are long behind them, but they can still field a team of considerable skill and premier division experience, and it came as no surprise to Marlow to find that they brought a team to Pound Lane which was considerably stronger than the ones they had fielded in earlier weeks of the season.

The early minutes saw Marlow pressing hard, but with Slough dangerous on the break. The first clear Marlow opening came when Lottie Porter threaded a pass through to Katy Windsor, but the opportunity came and went. Marlow were dominating possession, but the game remained goalless at quarter time.

Early in the second quarter, Lena Sykora came close to putting Marlow ahead with a shot narrowly wide, before Lottie Porter finally broke the deadlock with a shot that the Slough defence could do nothing about. The celebrations were short-lived as Slough equalised with their own strike from a penalty corner within five minutes - not the first time this season that Marlow have conceded within minutes of scoring, and the score remained 1-1 at half time.

Marlow resumed the second half with the same intensity as the first with incisive runs from Porter and Lana Jones-Wallis, but Slough continued to look threatening on the counter-attack.

Sykora scored from a penalty corner move minutes into the final quarter and Marlow calmed the nerves of the home fans by playing controlled hockey through the final stages of the game to earn their first win of the season, moving clear of the England Hockey League West Conference relegation zone in the process. Players of the match were Lottie Porter and Kiera Allen, whose tackles in defence were crucial to the win.

Lottie Porter, scorer of Marlow Women’s 1st team’s first goal on Saturday