Unpredictability Could Be Key To Success

It came as no surprise that this would not necessarily be the expected starting XI for the upcoming season, as it was still August. Nor would it be the XI that cemented the team’s place in Premier B for another year back in April. A resolute stalwart from the past couple of seasons, Jon Hooker had left and, rumours were circling of the up-and-coming star Jack Turner’s imminent departure.
The Marlow Men’s 1st XI under Coach Kevin “Chappers” Chappell had announced the 5 Year Plan to move Marlow into the “Big League” and this was the first opportunity to take a look at some of those players that will be part of the grand scheme! It was not lost on Marlow that Reading had turned up with most of their first team as well as a few 2s players.

Tom “TC” Clevely returned to the 1st XI goal from a serious knee injury that kept him out of the game for all of last season and found himself in the thick of the action early. This was also the case for returning midfielder Charlie Olley who was given plenty of pitch-time to check on his fitness levels! Patrick Staal – a new summer signing and boyfriend of a better (female) hockey player was also called upon to prove his holding and passing ability early as Reading tested Marlow from the outset. A patient build up saw Marlow pulled from one side of the park to the other and then split by a couple of good passes that led to a penalty corner, Reading netting with a well-executed drag flick after just 3 minutes.

The pitch was taking Marlow some time to get used to as passes were going astray and first touches were looking poor. This was not aided by Reading’s sustained pressure with Marlow unable to release the ball through the wider outlets of North, Ashton or through the vision and skills of Lovejoy or Cowell who were being penned in by a stubborn Reading press. Marlow conceded another penalty corner which Reading duly converted on the rebound!

Marlow began to play themselves into the match with the Land brothers (Chris & Alex) becoming more involved and Marlow began to enjoy a little more possession as the defence was shored up by the introduction of Dillon. A stronger period of around 20 minutes ensured Marlow were not out of the game despite adapting to their new formation. With Lovejoy overstretching himself the introduction of Ben Rollett almost provided an immediate impact as he drove strongly into the D and shot, catching the side netting as he tried to deceive the keeper by shooting for the near post. Marlow were undone three times in quick succession as Reading ended the half strongly scoring on 27, 29 and 31 minutes extinguishing any comeback aspirations Marlow were harbouring.

A rather dejected Marlow gathered in the goal at half-time for some words of encouragement. The dejection was predominantly because Marlow had not adjusted well to the new formation that the coach had put in place for today’s game and therefore Chapper’s reverted to a more familiar line-up.

This immediately gave Marlow more options as they settled far better into the second half and had options both left and right. A solid 15mins where Marlow enjoyed significant amounts of possession and pressure saw this rewarded with a couple of penalty corners. Sadly neither were converted and after the second Reading responded with a quick break and scored a sixth – sapping much oxygen from the tiring Marlow lungs!

Chappell rang the changes giving him the chance to see Ayush Isaac and Nick Winter perform solidly in the back line; doing very little wrong – one challenge from Ayush, making his 1st XI debut, really stood out as he made a perfectly timed jab tackle at full stretch and professionally won a free-hit straight after, relieving any pressure on the defence. This relief did not last long for Marlow as Reading had scored again some 10 minutes later. At the opposite end of the field Land (Chris) and Williamson linked up well only for Williamson to miss a gilt-edged chance to score at the back post and restore some Marlow pride. He was soon replaced by the youth of Josh Morgans.

Marlow played to the final whistle with a real sense of pride. Despite the somewhat flattering score-line Reading were the better side. Tom Clevely, on his first team return, made sure that reserve goalkeeper Andy Downing did not make it onto the park. There were some good and some indifferent performances and there were also some sparks of genius and flare as expected, particularly from “hockey mad” Elliot Killington as he truly impressed showing wonderful composure time after time, as more often than not he maintained possession and brought his team-mates into the game. There will be a lot of competition this season for 1st XI places as other familiar faces return during pre-season. This was the first chance to blow out the cobwebs; there are more pre-season opportunities to come and there will be chances to give both Captain Land and Coach Chappell much food-for-thought as the season draws nearer.

Report by Anthony Williamson