United change things up to get back on track
A much-changed Marlow United side ended their poor recent run by putting four unanswered goals past Thame Rangers on Saturday.
The Flying Blues won for the first time since November 19 and the relief from manager James Pritchard and his players at the final whistle was almost palpable.
Pritchard had to make the most of his contacts list in the week to ensure he had a team to play and three players made their debuts in the match.
And some of them featured prominently with Zayd AitFahim scoring a sensational goal and Kamal McEwan getting his name on the scoresheet as well. Jack Corden, 18, also came in and showed great maturity in central defence while experienced defender Ryan Parsons solved United's problems down the left hand side. Chris Hurst opened the scoring for the home side, finishing off a Danny Jordon throughball with a crisp finish. Hurst also finished off a three-man move involving Danny Blatchford and McEwan to make sure of the victory in the 61st minute.
In between times the crowd witnessed a spectacular goal from Ait-Fahim, the 17-yearold firing home from 25 yards after skipping past his marker, the ball dipping just in time to beat keeper Archie Davis.
McEwan's first for the club was also pretty special, the player tricking his way into the penalty area before guiding a shot across the keeper and into the net. That made it 3-0 after 23 minutes and the Flying Blues went on to control the remainder of the game, extending the scoreline just once more through
Hurst's finish.
Marlow's keeper Matt Cannings was forced to make a fine double save in the second half to preserve the side's lead, but it would only have been a consolation for Thame at best.