Maids’ survival hopes look bleak

Cowell’s men face battle to avoid the drop after loss

Maidenhead men’s 1sts survival hopes are looking more precarious by the week with Phil Cowell’s (right) side losing 7-0 to Marlow on Saturday afternoon.

The result leaves the side bottom of the South Central Men’s Premier Division 1 table with just two matches to play, at home to Oxford OBU on Saturday before a final and potentially pivotal trip to second bottom Basingstoke on April 1. Maids must try to finish outside of the bottom two to ensure their survival, with just a point separating them from third bottom Slough. Slough round off their campaign with a home game against Basingstoke on Saturday before visiting champions Banbury on April 1, so it seems imperative that Cowell’s side picks up a positive result at to OBU this weekend.

Marlow took an early grip on Saturday's game at Pound Lane with Josh Covus scoring from close range in the fifth minute.

Callum White added the hosts second from a penalty corner and though the hosts dominated the remainder of the half, they failed to add to their advantage until the second half. Josh Morgans’ fine finish a minute after the restart then opened the floodgates as Maids young and inexperienced backline capitulated to their fifth straight defeat. There was no respite for them as the ruthless Reds scored four more before the end with White grabbing his second and Cameron Beazley-Clarke, George Evans and Gary Goodman completing the rout.

Promotion hopefuls Marlow men’s 2nds travelled to basement battlers Phoenix on Saturday and emerged with a narrow 1-0 victory in a closely fought game.

Both sides had opportunities in an open start to the game, with Ivor Crampsie making a couple of crucial saves for the visitors. Marlow then had a couple of shots cleared off the goal line, but their hopes were hindered when one of their players was sin-binned for 10 minutes. They managed to weather the storm and went on to claim all three points with a fine finish from James Ashburner from Charlie Hunter’s cross with around 10 minutes to play. The result sees them keep the pressure on league leaders Oxford Hawks.

Marlow Women’s 1sts managed to build on their mid-week win over Oxford with a convincing 6-0 victory over Sonning at Pound Lane. The Reds began brightly with Beth Halbard opening the scoring after only eight minutes. Rachel Goodwin doubled their lead with a rocket of a shot from the top of the circle, while Martha Goodridge scored a third on the stroke of half-time. Emily Miskell finished off a well-worked team goal to make it 4-0 before Vic

Allen slammed home a penalty stroke to get the Reds’ fifth. Nat Riches’ deflected strike then rounded off the scoring with around 10 minutes to go. A special mention also to the player of the match Mabel Daw who was both solid in defence and a threat in attack, causing Sonning all sorts of problems with her speed down the flank.

The women’s 2nd team enjoyed their trip to Lymington to play New Forest 1sts where goals from Evie White, Millie Conniear and Ellie Lane earned them a 3-2 win.

They’re third in the league, level on points with Salisbury with a game in hand.