Marlborough 3 - 5 Bristol Uni

Marlborough were forced into several changes with availability the worst it has been all season, nevertheless, they came off the pitch feeling as though they had done enough to put themselves into a position to win the game.

The game started with Bristol dominating the early stages, forcing Marlborough into making uncharacteristic mistakes and seemingly unable to connect on simple 5m passes. Just as Marlborough started to bring things together and claim something of a foothold in the game they fell behind to a rebound goal from a short corner. Bristol extended their lead shortly after when poor marking in the Marlborough defence allowed them to play a raking ball to the edge of the Marlborough circle, a quick exchange of passes and Bristol left Rich Newton no chance.

This second goal didn't deter Marlborough who continued to play themselves into the game, seeing several balls flash across the face of goal with only the slightest of touches needed. Marlborough eventually got themselves on the score sheet with 10 minutes to go in the first half. Mark Ramage was able to play the ball forward to centre back partner Rich Holman who had elevated himself on the left side of the pitch. He calmly got his head up and fired the ball into the path of Captain Anil Sud who deftly turned the ball past the Bristol keeper and into the goal.

Marlborough could feel the momentum shift and drew themselves level when Will Hughes found space in the circle to finish off a good passing move with a clever deflection. The turnaround was complete when shortly before half-time, James Richardson received the ball with his back to goal, cleverly rolled onto his strong side and held off a rather agricultural attempted tackle before firing the ball into the far corner.

Marlborough went into half-time knowing the game was very much in the balance but feeling that if they had been more clinical they could have been several goals ahead at this stage. The second half continued as the first half had finished, with Marlborough applying pressure higher up the pitch and enjoying longer spells of possession. Once again John Bromley was able to push himself forward up the right-hand side, creating problems for the Bristol midfield as they struggled to deal with the overload situation.

Marlborough could (and perhaps should) have extended their lead with several chances coming and going without the finishing touch applied. Unfortunately, they would live to rue these misses as the 15 man squad of Students from Bristol were able to play at an intensity that the 11 men of Marlborough just couldn't match. The game was level when Marlborough were unable to fully clear Rich Newton's first save and a Bristol forward bundled the ball over the line at the 3rd attempt. Bristol then took the lead following a slick counter-attacking move. They won the ball inside their own circle before managing to find a good outlet pass to their left, they drew the Marlborough defence across before finding an excellent square pass to a team-mate joining the attack at pace. He picked the ball up in his stride before cutting back in-field past the covering defender and fired the ball into the bottom corner on his reverse, to the great surprise of his team-mates on the bench...

Marlborough knew they needed to press forward and changed to play 3 at the back in the hope of creating an opportunity. However, despite their best efforts, they were unable to do so and ultimately conceded from a short corner on the final whistle after committing players forward.

It was a disappointing result to a game which was firmly in the balance for the vast majority of the time. Both teams will have come away feeling like they could have won the game but Marlborough's inability to maintain their intensity levels during the last 15 minutes proved costly and now they will need to bounce back in their last 2 games before Christmas, away to Newent and Cardiff Uni, who are both towards the bottom of the table.

Man of the match was awarded to Matt Osborne for his tireless work up front, pressing extremely well and looking dangerous when in possession.

D*** of the Day was "awarded" to James Richardson for having to abandon the team at half-time for work, we all miss the good old student days...