Mid Somerset 2 - 5 Marlborough

Marlborough continued on their march towards promotion with their 7th consecutive victory. They made the journey to Mid Somerset knowing that it is a venue where they have failed to perform in previous years.

Marlborough set out their game plan to press high to win the ball and attack with speed, this was demonstrated brilliantly with the opening goals scored by the impressive John Berry. The ball was won by Chris Jones who outletted to Alex Renwick who had tracked back well to apply pressure to their ball carrier. He moved the ball on to John Berry who drove hard through middle of the pitch, exchanged passes with Rich Fynn and accelerated to deflect the ball in at the back post.

Marlborough's dominance continued through the opening 20 minutes and their lead was extended when Will Hughes won the ball high up the pitch and squared it to Alex Renwick at the top of the circle, he allowed the ball to come across his body and then unleashed on his reverse.

Marlborough's lead was extended to 3 when they carved open the Mid Somerset defence with some fantastic incisive passing. Once again RIch Fynn and John Berry combining in the attacking 25. John Berry carried the ball expertly across his body to draw the final defender in before playing the ball on his reverse across goal for Rich Fynn to deflect past the keeper.

Unfortunately it was not all plain sailing for Marlborough and to their credit Mid Somerset started to come back into the game. Following a poor period of passing from Marlborough, Mid Somerset won the ball and broke to win a short corner. The score was pegged back to 3-1 when their forward fired the ball into the corner of the goal, hitting half way up the sideboard.

Before half time Marlborough were able to restore the 3 goal cushion when Rich Fynn scored his second of the game. Marlborough transferred the ball well around the back to find Matt Way with space in front of him. Rhys Davies made an unselfish lead wide to the left wing channel which opened up space for the inside ball to Rich Fynn. The covering defender managed to get a desperate touch on the ball but Rich gathered his composure, got the ball out from between his feet and flicked the ball past the advancing keeper into the goal.

At half time Marlborough knew that despite the lead, the game was far from over. Marlborough went out with the mindset to manage the game and avoid Mid Somerset scoring the next goal. The second half was a fairly scrappy affair with Mid Somerset playing a very direct brand of hockey which Marlborough coped with will through their disciplined front marking across the backline.

Unfortunately Marlborough were once again the architects of their own downfall when some sloppy passing in their own half allowed Mid Somerset to win the ball high up the pitch and force another short corner . Once again their forward took aim and found the corner of the goal with pin point accuracy.

At 4-2 with the momentum against them, Marlborough of previous years might well have found a way to let the opposition back into the game. However this year there is a real belief in the side and they managed to put together a spell of possession which frustrated Mid Somerset as well as physically tiring them out.

From one of these passages of play Marlborough extinguished any hope of a comeback when Rich Fynn completed his hat-trick following an expertly taken deflection from between his feet which left the Mid Somerset keeper no chance.

The last 10 minutes of the game petered out without any incident of note and the win now sees Marlborough sitting pretty at the top of the league with maximum points through their first 7 games. It is testament to the high standards being set that despite playing some excellent team hockey throughout the game (and scoring some cracking goals) they were somewhat disappointed that they didn't put the game out of sight earlier.

Man of the Match was rightly awarded to Rich Fynn for his superb work in front of goal but a special mention must go to John "I'll put it on a plate for you" Berry for his dynamic work and excellent decision making inside the attack half.

D*** of the Day was "awarded" to Rhys Davies for his expert fly swatting with the ball on his reverse in the circle.