Marlborough 1s campaign hits another bump against a physical Cheltenham side.

Marlborough 1s 2 Cheltenham 2s 5

Marlborough made the journey to Cheltenham with a sense of purpose, knowing that this was a winnable game, and badly in need of some points.

Marlborough had first push back, and advanced up the pitch to find a well-organised Cheltenham team. Turning over the ball, Cheltenham used the width of the pitch to then drive up the line and put pressure back on Marlborough. This spell of defensive work, and the movement of the Cheltenham team, made Marlborough lose some structure and momentum, and it wasn’t long before Cheltenham slotted in a well-worked goal.

Still very much in the game, Marlborough had some solid passing play but were struggling to get into the Cheltenham circle, coming up against a solid defence. Another turnover by Cheltenham resulted in them winning a short corner, which was well-saved by Marlborough’s defence. A period of open play then saw Cheltenham pressing forward with numbers and they scored their second goal.

In response, Marlborough picked themselves up and drove into the Cheltenham defence, winning a short corner. A very close opportunity was missed, but Marlborough maintained the attacking pressure and won two further short corners. Again, both were near misses as Cheltenham’s defence held out. In the final 10 minutes of the first half, Marlborough seemed to drop this attacking intensity and were making mistakes, so Cheltenham took advantage and scored a frustrating, bobbling goal to take it to 3-0. With the confidence of being 3 goals ahead, Cheltenham were unrelenting and Marlborough couldn’t avoid letting in another 2 goals. The first half ended 5-0 to Cheltenham.

After a stern talking to at half time, Marlborough picked up their game and settled in to a more steady rhythm, playing their style of hockey. A few solid periods of open play saw some great movement and passing to pick out Rachel Cox up front. Against the physicality of Cheltenham players, with them seeing two green cards, Marlborough continued to attack to win a short corner. A well-rehearsed routine resulted in a slick goal from Becki Marnane, who guided the ball in from the right post.

Marlborough continued to attack against a noticeably-less intense Cheltenham side, and were rewarded with another short corner. Again, practice seemed to pay off, when Becki Marnane followed up the rebounded first strike from Alex Crosby-Jones to get her second goal of the game.

Despite continuing to apply pressure and be the more dominant side, Marlborough were unable to rack up enough goals to challenge the 5 that Cheltenham had scored in the first half. This physical match ended with a few bumps and bruises, and with another frustrating 5-2 loss for Marlborough which was not a fair reflection of the game.

Beth Palfrey was man of the match for her excellent defending on the left.