3 points and a plaster cast in the bag

West Wilts 2 Marlborough 3

With 4 team battling it out for second place in the East Division, Marlborough travelled to third-place team West Wilts eager for 3 points that would cement their position as runners-up in the league.

Marlborough looked the keener side from the first whistle, with possession and territory very much in their hands for most of the first half. The confidence of the defensive line has grown week-by-week this season, with the speed of transfer around the back between Amy Davidson, Emily Carter-Davies, Anna Scott and Tori Williams enabling penetrating attacks down both the right and left flanks. The speed of the inside-forwards Ness Pickford-Smith and Sophie Fynn was too much for the West Wilts defenders, and the Marlborough forward line earned wave after wave of D-entries that the opposition were lucky to survive. Millie Dawson and Alice Thompson were both unlucky not to score at close range and Alex Crosby-Jones came off the bench to put a shot just wide within her first minute on the pitch. The stalemate was broken after 25 minutes, from a ball blasted into the D from full-back Anna Scott which found the sweetest of deflections from the stick of Rachel Cox (Matt you would be so proud it was straight off the training ground) 1-0 Marlborough. A second soon followed after a Rachel Cox cross from the right was put away by Catherine Manley; just reward for her immense work rate off the ball; 2-0 Marlborough. The ball only troubled Vicky Moxham’s D on a few occasions during the first half and Marlborough went into half-time with dominating lead.

After an encouraging team-talk from skipper-coach Penny Bowen, Marlborough went into the second half keen to open the gap even further. However, West Wilts came out fighting, marking the mid-field more tightly and hanging forwards high to trouble the Marlborough defense, resulting in an early goal. Marlborough knew that the key to victory was possession-hockey, and after the ball was recycled wide on the left by Amy Davidson, it was quickly transferred through midfield to Neve Beer, who sent a screamer into the back of the net in a fantastic display of individual skill; 3-1 Marlborough. Back at the other end of the pitch, Vicky Moxham’s pads were kept a little busier by the speedy West Wilts forwards and a well-worked short-corner saw them close the gap to 3-2. Marlborough quickly got back into the driving seat, and thought they had buried the game with 10 minutes to go, but a Catherine Manley goal was sadly disallowed. 3-2 the final score, which sees Marlborough rewarded with a second-place finish in a tightly contested league.

It was not all good news, as we lost Alex Crosby-Jones to a serious ankle injury midway through the second half. After a quick ‘high-five’ with a Swindon Ladies player in the X-Ray department of the Great Western, Alex was on her way to reconstructive surgery; we wish her a very speedy recovery.

Marlborough News Online man of the match was awarded to Rachel Cox for an amazing goal and domination of the middle of the park.