It’s shaping up to be very merry for Marlow
Marlow RFC: Marlow seal third straight win in fine fashion to keep pressure on
It's shaping up to be a very merry Christmas for Marlow RFC after they hammered Wallingford 49-14 on Saturday, and further victories over Milton Keynes and Reading before the festive break could put Rory Greenslade-Jones’s side back in the Southern Counties North promotion race.
This is a very different Marlow team from the one which last took to the field before the COVID pandemic. More established players have moved on, or simply retired, to be replaced by Colts and academy players looking to prove themselves for the first time in senior rugby.
But one thing the club hasn't lost in the past two years is that winning mentality, and that was very much in evidence during Saturday's crushing win at Riverwoods.
Only three teams in the Southern Counties North have managed more wins than Rory Greenslade-Jones' side this season, not bad for a team that's going through a transitional campaign with one of the youngest squads in the division.
Saturday was the club's third straight league win, and captain Hugo Jafari who scored two of their nine tries – says their recent form is forged on the 'clinical finishing and execution’ of the forward pack.
Miles Noble and Harvey Hendry also grabbed a couple of tries, while Charlie Cotton ran in a hat-trick of scores, but all were overlooked for the man-of-thematch which went to Sebastian Rivett.
Jafari believes the club are currently playing some of their best rugby and, if they can maintain this form over the coming weeks and months, they might just put themselves in a position to challenge the likes of Stowon-the-Wold, Reading, Aylesbury and High Wycombe for the title. Saturday's win lifted them to fifth in the standings, just 12 points adrift of leaders Stow and the second half of the season promises to be an intriguing one for all connected to Marlow RFC.
“We were just very, very clinical on Saturday,” he said. “The score might not have demonstrated it, but Wallingford were a good side – we just stuck to our patterns of play and executed when we needed to.
“We have always had the capability of doing what we’ve done against Wallingford, to many of the teams in this division, we just haven’t been able to execute.
“It was a game where the forwards did a lot of the graft, but the backs took a lot of the glory. I scored two, Miles did as well, Charlie scored a hat-trick, and I believe our outside centre, Harvey, scored two himself. The man of the match was Seb.
“The spirit of Marlow was very much on show – the unselfish behaviour of our pack allowed opportunities to arise. That’s where we are starting to truly develop as a team.
“We’ve found a real way to win, and we’re actually starting to create a Marlow way of playing which I think could cause problems for a lot of teams in this division.”
With Christmas just around the corner, Jafari agreed it could be a good time for Marlow to re-assess their targets and consider what they could achieve come the end of the season.
This Saturday, they host Milton Keynes at Riverwoods before travelling to second placed Reading the following weekend in a match that has the ingredients for a mouth-watering pre-Christmas clash.
“It’s quite early but Christmas is always a good time to reflect,” said Jafari. “We’ve got two games left before the end of the year.
“We’ve got Milton Keynes this Saturday who have shown some good performances and then, we’ve got a big game against Reading where, I believe, a couple of players might be missing.
“These are big matches. Reading are near to the top but I definitely believe we have the capability to put ourselves in that space.
“This was always going to be a year where we transition and develop but we have really started to kick on as a squad.
“The unit we have is very tight and the culture at the club is great.
“I do believe we have a good group of boys, and a good lot pushing through, that can achieve something special.”