Inexperienced Marlow failed to take chances
Marlow RFC: Jafari blames poor execution for side's 22-11 defeat to Stow
Despite putting up ‘a hell of a fight’, an inexperienced Marlow side were beaten 22-11 by in-form Stow-on-theWold in the Southern Counties North.
Head coach Rory Greenslade-Jones has had an impressive record against Stow in recent matches, but, without some of his blue-chip brigade players – including captain Hugo Jafari – they weren’t able to return from the Cotswolds with a positive result.
Also missing for the trip were full back Nick Carvey and winger Miles Noble, however, while Jafari admits their presence would have benefitted the visitors, he doesn’t think their absence can be blamed for the result.
For much of the game the visitors trailed by just a point, but a failure to capitalise on their dominance in the pack and set pieces meant they came away empty handed. Angus Hayward ran in two tries for the hosts with Zeb Waite getting the other.
Having spoken with teammates
about the performance Jafari said: “From my understanding, the boys put in a hell of a fight and were dominant around the pack. It was just our execution that slipped away. At one point we were only 12-11 down so we were keeping them close.
“What we have always said is that we are in a transitional period of players. Any loss of senior heads is always tough to contend with and Miles, Nick, and myself are the older boys in the team. It does have a knock-on effect in matches but by no means do I think that’s what caused the loss on Saturday. Stow are typically a very hard team to visit, and they were up for the fight from the first minute. I can’t really say too much as I was away with COVID, but I have heard there were a few moments which could have changed the game. I think it would have helped having a few older heads in the team, but I don’t think that dictated the outcome.”
Jafari missed Saturday’s trip after coming down with COVID but expects to be back in the side for Saturday’s game against bottom club Thatcham at Riverwoods.
“I’ll be there for our game against Thatcham, and we can’t look at anything but a bonus-point win,” said Jafari.
“I don’t think they are doing too well in the league but when we played them at their place, they put up a hell of a fight. That shows that, in this league, one team might not be strong with their results one week but can have a very good side out the following. That’s the force of COVID and the way we’re living now.
“We will be looking to implement a lot of our patterns this weekend and we want to be as aggressive as we can be through to the end of the season. We want to build up a bit of a run now, get as many points as possible, and push for a space in the top three.”