BU18 Marlow vs Sevenoaks

Passionate Marlow win with 11 man squad

Sunday 11th November, the U18 Boys travelled away to Sevenoaks with just 11 players and without coach Kate Porter, who kindly prioritised the U14 Girls. With this the penultimate game of their league season, and coming off the back of the defeat at the hands of Reading, the boys knew a win was imperative. The opposition were sporting several NAGS players, so it was not to be an easy game.

Marlow started strong, setting the half-court press spoken about before the game, with Aldiss, Howes and Loretto remaining disciplined to ensure the systems success. The ever steady Ben ‘Crazy’ Ferguson and Jawn were instrumental in the U18’s second clean sheet in as many games. Without Kate, the boys stepped up and led the team, with Hilly commanding the right hand side with his ‘aesthetic’ playstyle, Thrush covering every inch of the pitch and Louis leading by example, just not with his passing. With the boys only having an 11 man squad, they were extra careful not to be reprimanded by the two Kent umpires, Ferris clearly missed this memo, but he seemed to enjoy his break in the sin bin. Nihal had a fantastic game covering at left half, with his powerful passes cutting open the opposition press. Ellis was rarely called into action, but did make some good saves from some of their better players. Harvey Loretto was the difference between the two sides, with yet another brace, two great finishes that the Sevenoaks keeper could do nothing about.

The U18 boys were a real credit to the club as a whole, displaying a very mature performance, which demonstrated not only their strong characters but also their passion for the team. This win leaves them top of the league with just one game to go, leapfrogging rivals Reading after they lost 4-0 at Guildford. MOM went to both Louis and Harvey and DOD was of course given to Lou, this week for forgetting his socks, and spending an hour putting them on once he’d found some. This is the last U18 boys outdoor fixture of the year, but stay tuned for updates on their indoor campaign!