Wootton Bassett 3 - 4 Marlborough

With the league title already secured, Marlborough claimed their 18th win of the season despite a sub par performance at Wootton Basset.

Marlborough really struggled to make the adjustment to a hard sandy pitch, never really finding the rhythm in their link up play which has been such a characteristic of the season so far. Marlborough still started the game the brighter, racing into the lead after a spell of early pressure lead to a John Berry deflection at a short corner. Marlborough didn't let their foot off the gas a d extended their lead through 2 goals from Captain Anil Sud. His first an well placed shot across goal following a good first save by the Wootton Bassett keeper and the second an absolute rocket on his backhand from the top of the D following a high turnover.

Despite the scoreline dominance Marlborough seemed a yard of their normal pace, making poor decisions and running the ball into contact far more than they needed to. The half time team talk focused on taking pride in our performance and an increase in intensity, unfortunately this never materialised.

Marlborough once again found themselves at a numerical disadvantage when Chris Jones received Green and then Rich Holman received Yellow following a last ditch play at the ball with the back of his stick. This disadvantage coupled with Marlborough poor performance allowed Wootton Bassett right back in the game, eventually drawing level and missing a guilt-edged opportunity to take the lead with 5 minutes to go.

With their backs well and truly against the wall Marlborough remained composed, knowing that even when playing so poorly they had created several chances to have extended their earlier lead, including a potential penalty stroke that was only given as a corner following Toby Sampson being bought down by their keeper after rounding him in a one-on-one situation.

Marlborough managed to get more of a foothold in the game and started to apply late pressure to the Wootton Bassett circle, eventually winning a short corner following Will Radnedge's strong carry and early shot which found a defenders foot. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as Captain Anil Sud stepped up, demanding the ball. It was injected and stopped with no issues, Sud picked his spot between the keeper and the back post defender, the ball thundering into the backboard to the relief of everyone wearing green.

Marlborough saw out the last couple of minutes with no fuss and ultimately added another 3 points to their tally for the season. Credit must go to Wootton Bassett, who fought back bravely from 3-0 and will quite rightly feel unlucky not to have taken something from the game in their battle against relegation.

Next week, Marlborough host their nearest rival Bath Buss, currently sitting 14 points behind them in the table and going thrpugh an erratic patch of form. Marlborough will be aiming end the year in a positive way and look to take their form into next season.

Man of the Match was awarded to captain Anil Sud, a superbly taken hat-trick.

D*** of the day was "awarded" to Rich Holman, who clearly fancied a 5 minute breather in the second half...