They Say Playing with 10 Men is Better Than 11…

After having been robbed of a win the week before, a frustrated Marlow team set off to end what seems to be the never ending dissatisfaction of coming away with less than 3 points.

The last match hurt the team, causing Marlow to lose some very influential players in the way that Marlow play their hockey; Matt Ashton with a gaping smile and Capitain Land with a hamstring injury, but still keen to make an appearance on the pitch.

Although wounded, Marlow were far from broken as they set off to Barnes with Gary’s words of inspiration from ‘Any Given Sunday’ still ringing in their heads from the night before.

There was a focused atmosphere in the changing room, as every player psyched themselves for the game.

The birds stopped chirping, the cows stopped mooing, and the leaves stopped falling as the whistle blew to begin the most interesting half that Marlow had ever played. There were spells of brilliance in earlier games, but nobody knows whether there was something in the food from the night before, or whether it was just Chappell’s magical words in the pre-match talk that caused the confusion in Barnes’ defence as to what actually happened.

Within the first 60 seconds of the game, Larry won the ball on the half way line, only to give it to JT who seemed to waltz through 3 players and slot a reverse under the keeper. Barnes didn’t even have time to blink before they were a goal down.

The standard was set for the rest of the match and Marlow seemed superior to Barnes in every aspect as the half continued.

Mid-way through the first half, Luffy puts in a great challenge and starts running up the pitch, only to be fouled from a bitter Barnes player. The umpire blew his whistle once, and then blew it again to stop time. He must’ve accidentally done it the second time out of exertion because even he seemed bewildered by the accusation he was about to make.

As he walked over to his colleague, Marlow were thinking it could only be good news, due to the fact that our player was fouled. The umpire walked back to his position and called Luffy over. It was at this moment that everything stopped.

The rugby game next door had even come to a standstill as they watched in shock when the middle aged umpire drew a circular red card out, only to point it at Luffy.

A stunned silence washed over the pitch as Luffy walked to the dugout. Could this be because the umpire was jealous that Luffy had hair and he didn’t? Who knows? He had made up his mind. Luffy had apparently hit the player after being fouled.

None of Chappell’s magical words had worked on the umpire because Marlow resumed play with 10 men. This set back only encouraged the fiery reds to show why they had come to Barnes.

It was not long before they showed their class again, even with a man down. 7 minutes after the card, Marlow won the last short corner in the first half which was slotted by Jon Hooker.

As the second half began, it seemed as if Marlow was the team with a one man advantage. They showed their class by keeping their discipline and rising above the ill-timed tackles. Pete Harding looked like he had played forward all his life, as he made an appearance higher up the pitch.

With various narrow misses just wide of the post from Oscar, Jack Rolfe and Imre, Marlow had managed to force another short corner and Jon Hooker keeps his position as No.1 flicker, by scoring the 3rd Marlow goal.

The game played on for what seemed to be another 70 minutes, as the umpires tried to assert their authority on a game that didn’t need their authority asserting on; only causing a very aggravated Barnes team to end the game with 10 men as well.

This win is a vital step in Marlow’s journey in avoiding the play-offs and the battle will continue next week as they play another crucial game against Eastbourne, which will be a nail biting match, in which the winner will most likely avoid the play offs.

Tune in next week to find out.

By Imre Gerrits