North Wilts v 3s

A March filled with an uncharacteristic amount of snow saw Marlborough’s away fixture at North Wilts postponed twice before the sun finally allowed for some hockey. The eventual match took place on a cloudy Sunday morning, with a Marlborough team turning up, unsure of the time and many wearing the wrong colour.
However, Marlborough were determined not to let any of this stop them from getting a win. The match started with some chances for both teams before North Wilts won a penalty flick after Dave Patterson stopped the ball on the goal line, with his chest. Up stepped Luc Renwick, who successfully played mind games with the penalty taker, forcing the flick wide.
North Wilts continued to push hard with Marlborough not helping themselves with numerous silly mistakes. The deadlock was finally broken as North Wilts broke past the defence and chipped the ball of Luc Renwick’s head.
This spurred Marlborough on and the first half finished with 10 minutes of better play from the away team.
After a sterling team talk from Andy Shaw, Marlborough started the second half with better running and more threat up front. Phil Gill and Andy Shaw controlled the midfield, while Angus Harley and Nick Gosling provided a solid wall at the back. The equalising moment came after Marlborough managed to win a couple of short corners. After many failed attempts throughout the season, Marlborough scored from a short, with Wayne Cranstone slotting the ball past the keeper.
The game remained level for less than 5 minutes as a lapse in concentration by the Marlborough defence allowed North Wilts to regain the advantage.
Marlborough continued to fight, with Harry Strover missing his chance of the season as he shot wide when one on one with the keeper. Not wanting to have this miss be the talking point of the match, Harry stepped up with a perfectly placed cross for Chris Newton to tap in.
This was a hard fought game against a North Wilts team filled with ringers and Marlborough performed admirably to take a 2-2 draw. Unfortunately, this leaves Marlborough with an almost impossible challenge to win the league.
Special mention goes to Paul who performed stoically on his debut.