Marlborough Vs Somerset Gryphons Marlborough win 10-0
After an excellent preseason leading up to the 2015/16 season Marlborough welcomed Somerset Gryphons whom they had drawn with and beaten the previous year.
The tone of the game was set early as Marlborough pressed extremely high and Gryphons had to resort to crash balls in a desperate attempt to make any progress up the pitch. This allowed Marlborough’s defence and midfield to plug any gaps and continuously feed their forward line with balls in to space and the result were encouraging thus far but no goals yet…
Marlborough’s frustration grew but was soon abated by a bizarre ten minute spell. Player coach Matt Way scored the first two goals of the game from close range- putting his excellent coaching session on close range scoring in to practice and soon others followed his lead. Young forward Rhys Davies scored after another slick Marlborough move and midfielder Anil Sud added a quick two of his own. 0-0 to 5-0 in a matter of minutes! The first half ended 6-0 after Davies added his second of the game!
Second half began with Gryphons noticeably changing tactics and as a result the game became a lot more dogged and scrappy. Marlborough still looked to exploit the weaknesses that they had previously identified but endured a dip in their own standard.
Some of their frustration was alleviated when Sud scored from inside the ‘D’ to claim his hat trick. Renewed in their efforts Marlborough created more and more chances and veteran wing back John Bromley scored a deserved goal following a short corner routine.
Gareth Playfair and Coach Way combined for a slick one-two move which led to Playfair registering his name on the score sheet on his return to first team league hockey- another positive sign! The final goal of the game was converted by Will Radnedge.
To their credit Gryphons applied themselves well and had a spell of attacks in the second half which almost yielded a consolation goal. An excellent start for Marlborough as every goal, clean sheet and result known to be vital in their attempt to get out of Central One…….
The Marlborough News Online Man of the Match was John Bromley for tireless attacking work down the right hand side.