Blues left frustrated by decisions in first defeat
Marlow FC: Blues beaten 2-1 by Sutton Common Rovers but remain seventh
Marlow boss Mark Bartley (right) felt his side were hard done by after suffering their first league defeat of the season on Monday, but was keen to take the positives out of the performance.
The Blues went down 2-1 at home to Sutton Common Rovers, falling behind to a brace from the visitors’
Tony Halsey before Nawaf Naheer-Omar’s effort proved no more than a consolation.
Despite the result, Marlow still sit in a healthy seventh place in the table after picking up a solid 1-0 win away to Tooting & Mitcham United on Saturday thanks to a Curtis Ujah strike.
Bartley said he was relieved to pick up a victory from the weekend journey to the capital, where he believes many teams will struggle to get results.
“To go there and pick up our first clean sheet and three points, we have to be happy with it,” he told the Advertiser. “We were the better side over the course of the 90 minutes but a number of teams will go there and come unstuck.”
Marlow would have been keen to carry on their winning streak against the Rovers but were left frustrated at the Alfred David Ground, with Bartley feeling a number of key decisions went against his team.
“We were probably the better side – they had two good opportunites and scored both of them but we have played worse than that and won games,” he said.
“We created a number of chances and we could have been a bit more ruthless.”
He added: “We had some big decisions that went against us; a goal ruled out and a penalty turned down in the last minute.
“There were a couple of mistakes the officials made but we need to be better at defending from set-pieces, which is where they scored their second goal.
“I am not going to be too hard on them [the squad], we just need to fine tune. There is nothing to worry about – the important thing is how we respond to this.”
Marlow’s attentions turn away from the league for a few weeks as they host two cup matches in succession to kick off September.
Uxbridge are the visitors for an FA Cup qualifying clash this Saturday (3pm KO), before an FA Trophy game with Binfield the following weekend.
“We know Uxbridge are a good side so we need to be at our best to get something out of them,” Bartley said.
“We have got another 90 minutes to get ourselves in the hat for the next round and secure some muchneeded funds for the club. We are looking forward to it and it is a challenge we’re relishing.”
Bartley hinted that the club were looking to bring in a few new faces before the Uxbridge clash, with a midfielder and forward expected to sign this week.