Marlborough A 1 - 2 Bristol Uni C

With the College pitches out of action it was an intrepid group of explorers who converged on Tidworth Oval for our "home" game against Bristol Uni. Right from the off it was clear the game would be a tight tussle between youth and experience, and it was the the younger side who opened the scoring after only a few minutes with some of their quick passing and off the ball movement (which was to prove ultimately decisive in the game). After this early wobble, Marlborough settled down to some excellent team defence, ably marshaled by Rich Newton and the back four. As Marlborough gained in confidence the scores were leveled by a goal straight from the Strictly dance floor: Ed Watson's reverse shot ballooned up off the keeper's boot to find Will Hodge controlling the ball chest high, pirouetting and lobbing the keeper with a reverse dink back over his head. It was hard to say who was taken more by surprise: attacker or keeper.

The second half saw a regular pattern of Marlborough defence soaking up pressure and counterattacking, sadly without that final pass or piece of skill to sufficiently challenge the excellent Bristol keeper. The best chance of the half fell again to Will Hodge who was clumsily tackled from behind in the process of unleashing a thunderbolt from the middle of the D, Marlborough unable to convert the ensuing short corner. At the other end a series of short corners and goal mouth scrambles were well defended (including a sharp triple save from Rich Newton), but the inevitable goal came for Bristol from a successfully deflected short corner routine. A third goal near to time was denied the visitors by a fantastic save from Rich Newton, leaping like a salmon to parry a smart shot around the post with a big left glove.

Plenty of positives in defence for Marlborough, but ultimately lacking in cutting edge. Marlborough News Online Man of the Match for a string of excellent saves was Rich Newton.