Marden Russets Mens 1st XI 7-2 Bexley Invicta When Marden Russets captain Pete Creelman and Sven Goran Eriksson meet for dinner, the subject inevitably turns to formations and tactics. The cool Swede heats up when extolling the virtues of 4-4-2, whilst Creelman is an unashamed advocate of 4-3-3. Thankfully for Marden, their captain is a good listener because tactical flexibility was the key to Russets handsome 7-2 victory over Bexley Invicta. Opening with their tried and tested 4-3-3 formation, Marden produced their worst 15 minutes of hockey this season. With the home team ragged, visibly off the pace, and second to every ball, Bexley raced into a 2-0 lead. Both goals were identical short-corner strikes, rising above the backboard, but generously deemed legitimate due to deflections off the goalkeeper’s pads. Now under immense pressure, it took typically determined work from the defence, and Orlando Bloom look-alike Mike Sibley in particular, to stay in the game. The catalyst for the resurgence was the tactical switch to 4-4-2, Henry Lee bolstering the midfield with a typically tenacious performance. Marden began to dominate and carved out several decent opportunities before Sam Trail scored from close range and shortly before the interval, Simon Hughes lashed home a typically muscular effort to equalise. Momentum was now with the home side and with Bexley pinned in their own half and seemingly unable to deal with wave after wave of Marden attack, Russets scored at will. The ubiquitous Simon Hughes added a further three goals, with Will Page and a rasping effort from Henry Lee completing Marden’s biggest win of the season. Resilience and tactical flexibility were the fundamentals in this latest instalment in Russets’ unbeaten run. Indeed, the next time Creelman treats Sven to a slice of Gravad Lax, he needs to remember two things; firstly, to listen carefully when the Swedish sage talks tactics, and secondly, Tord Grip is not an instruction. Marden Russets Ladies 1sts 1 - 1 Sevenoaks 3s Once again Marden were without our regular goalie and this week Hannah Selway bravely put on the pads. The last thing the captain told the defenders before the game was not to allow the her to face any one-on-ones. Three minutes after the game started Hannah found herself on her own against a Sevenoaks forward who slotted the ball thoroughly into the left-hand corner. At this point it looked as though Marden were going to be thrashed as Sevenoaks passed the ball round the pitch in a well-drilled fashion. However, Marden woke up eventually and dominated from then on in. The Sevenoaks goalie deflected a number of shots whilst Hannah kept out the few that made it through the Marden defence. The second half saw Marden pick up the pace and very little penetration from Sevenoaks. Zoe Sage was on good form, demonstrating a good combination of stick skill and passing, and it she who neatly popped the ball over the goalie’s pads from a penalty-corner slip to make it 1 – 1. Despite intense pressure from Marden thoughout the final minutes, the Sevenoaks goalie wouldn’t be beaten again and the scoreline remained the same. Folkestone Optimists 0 - 2 Marden Russets 2nd XI On a bright but cold Saturday, Marden travelled to the coast to take on 3rd placed Folkestone. Marden took the game to Folkestone early on but their were few scoring chances or incidents at either end, other than a fine double save from Jason Bristow in the Marden goal. Marden pressure had not led to any short corners where many of our goals had come from so far this season. About 20 minutes in Rob "No Willpower" Dixon appeared mysteriously on the left wing and, contrary to the pre match instruction, did not try to put the ball on a foot in the D but reverse-sticked a fierce cross which Stuart Slaughter converted at the far post. The massed ranks of the Marden travelling fans (Peter Stanley's Fan Club, well, Family) went wild again as Marden added to their lead before half time. Paul Sunnucks powered a free hit into the D and Rob Harmer's trusty stick got in the way long enough to deflect it past the static Folkestone keeper. Folkestone applied more pressure in the second half but the Marden defence, well marshaled by Sunnucks, held firm for the most part. Their best chance came when Steve Redman's foot/stick combination on the goal line was spotted by the umpire. Bristow was equal to the stroke and saved well to his left. Marden deserved the win and the benefits of a more settled squad this year are being shown in the results. Marden 3rd XI 3 - 0 Herne Bay For the second week in succession, Marden kept the final outcome tighter than required as they failed to capitalise on long periods of possession and a string of decent chances. Despite starting with only 10 men, Russets dominated and carved openings in the HB defence but were guilty of selecting the wrong option at the vital moment and unfortunately gave away possession in crucial areas of the pitch. It didn't help that they also found the visiting keeper in inspired form as he somehow managed to get his body in the way of any number of goal bound efforts. After the visitors had almost snatched the lead with a rare break, Burdge converted a short corner with some aplomb as his reverse flick whistled into the net for the only goal of the half. The second period was more of the same, with HB having two clear shots on target pushed away for corners before Russets finally made the game safe. After another scramble on the goal-line the keeper, who had earlier produced an amazing triple save to deny most of the Marden team was penalised for an illegal stop and Hancox coolly slotted the resultant flick to give Russets a fully deserved cushion. Cooper added a trademark third goal near the end, bursting through at speed onto a neat pass and firing hard and low into the corner to end the visitor's resistance. Canterbury 7 - 1 Marden Russets 4th XI Playing Canterbury always brings the best out in a Marden side, and this game was no exception. There were many 'firsts' to applaud this week: nearly the whole side being at the ground about 30 mins too early ( traffic not so bad as expected ), Will Steel forgetting his astro boots (well nearly!), John Lawton deciding not to have a half time fag, John Walker not being spoken to by the umpire whilst playing ( although when umpiring the second half nearly falling out with their umpire ) and Gerard Venes striking a superb short corner goal, hopefully the first of many this season. We would have done very well to win the game, and at times put together some good moves, so all in all not such a bad day out. | 
