Bristol and West 4 - 3 Marlborough

Marlborough went into their game with Bristol and West off the back of a tough training session and feeling full of confidence. Sadly they weren't able to turn this into a result as they were undone by a shocking 5-minute spell in which the game completely turned on its head.

Marlborough had the best of the early exchanges, playing through the Bristol midfield and creating scoring opportunities with positive movement to support the forward line. They took the lead when they won the ball high up the pitch, a quick exchange of passes allowed Matt Osborne to receive the ball in the circle and he made no mistake.

Marlborough continued to apply pressure dominated the first half, the only negative being the loss of Ollie Davis follow being hit in the face when making a brave tackle. Marlborough extended their lead to 2-0 at half-time when John Berry deflected home Marlborough's trademark corner routine.

The half-time team talk was a positive one, calling for more of the same but warning about the threat that Bristol's direct style of hockey posed. Marlborough conceded early in the second half when a miscommunication meant that Matt Way's pass was easily intercepted by a Bristol forward who executed the resulting 3v1 situation well to pass the ball into an empty net. Marlborough who quickly restored their 3 goal cushion when a neat move down the right-hand side of the pitch resulted in Matt Osborne rolling his man, driving to the baseline and pulling the ball back across goal for John Berry to sweep home.

This should have been the moment to seal the victory, however, Marlborough then proceeded to play the worst 10 minutes of hockey of the season. Conceding 3 goals with all of them resulting from sloppy play both in and out of possession leaving them trailing with 10 minutes to go.

Marlborough did recover to exert pressure on the Bristol defence but were unable to turn this into anything meaningful and so lost their 2nd game in a row. It was an exceptionally bitter pill to swallow for all of the Marlborough team who knew they had let themselves down and lost despite controlling 60 minutes of the game. They will look to bounce back as they move into next week's double-header, hosting Swansea on Saturday and Devizes on Sunday.

Man of the Match was awarded to Matt Osborne for his positive play through the midfield and well-taken goal.

D*** of the Day was 'awarded' to Matt Way for his "generosity" to the Bristol forward line early in the 2nd half.