SPORT ITALIA HELLENIC LEAGUE

DIVISION ONE EAST

Henley Town - 2  Marlow United - 2

HONOURS EVEN IN LOCAL THAMESIDE DERBY

Marlow and Henley shared the spoils in an entertaining 2-2 draw at The Triangle this bank holiday Monday.

United took the field with a side showing six new faces from their game at Chalfont Wasps with injuries and work commitments taking there toll and it certainly showed in the first 45 minutes.

Henley dominated the opening exchanges and refused to loosen their grip on the game throughout the first half. Given a little luck and some more accurate shooting the Town could well have enjoyed their half time cuppa three or four goals to the good, hitting the bar through captain Darren Russell and seeing the ball cleared of the line twice as well as notching the only goal of the half through Jemel Johnson, his fourth goal in two games.

A disjointed United team could find little cohesion in their play as a defiant Wiltshire at centre half and tireless displays from ex Town player Dougie Buchanan and rookie Ollie Flint kept the home team at bay.

The turning point for United occurred after 30 minutes when right back Dan flint was injured in a tackle to be replaced by the late arriving Tristan Heywood who slotted along side Wiltshire at centre back.

With a now solid pairing in the centre of the defence United were able to nullify the dangerous Johnson and restrict the deficit to 1-0 at half time.

 Half time 1-0

 Manager Carvell’s half time talk obviously made an impression on the United team as they began the second half in a more positive mode taking the game to their opponents in a manner not seen in the first half.

Adam Lanaway’s cross caused panic in the Town defence early on before Dougie Buchanan's 50^th minute pass found Ollie Flint who was tripped inside the area as he advanced on goal.

The prolific Ryan Davis stepped forward to send Pratley the wrong way and notch his fifth goal of the season, his first from the penalty spot.

Marlow’s joy was short lived though as Town hit back and three minutes later they were awarded a less obvious penalty when sub Chris Farrelly was deemed to have been fouled in the area.

Gary Wiltshire was penalised for what looked a good headed clearance and from the resultant free kick the ball arrived at Farrelly’s feet.

Surrounded by three United defenders the Henley player appeared to collide with one of his own colleagues as he attempted to make space for himself. To the dismay of the Marlow players the referee awarded a spot kick from which Kieron Penglase restored Henley's one goal advantage.

This time United refused to lie down and they took the game to Town.

It was that man Buchanan again who set up the equaliser on 58 minutes collecting and passing the ball through to Davis who in turn found Rino Sepede. The Marlow forward ran on and guided the ball past Pratley into the left hand corner to restore parity for the Bucks team.

United almost snatched the lead three minutes later as Davis cheekily back heeled the ball goalward from a free kick only for the effort to be cleared of the line.

Marlow continued to dominate proceedings with Buchanan, Sepede and Flint all seeing efforts go wide.

In between this Farrelly saw his shot sail wide and later an uncharacteristic error by Wiltshire, losing possession on the touchline, saw Cooper save his blushes by denying Henley the chance.

As the game entered injury time Sepede burst through the Town defence only to be bought down by two defenders in the area. United were dismayed to see the referee wave play on when a penalty kick seemed the only decision that could be given. Even then they should have snatched the victory when Buchanan, with the goal at his mercy, blasted the ball over the bar in what was almost the last kick of the match.

Scoring the winning goal would have been a fitting finale for the Marlow midfielder after what was his best performance of the season against his old team mates.

 After the game manager Kevin Carvell commented “A draw was probably a fair result over the 90 Minutes although for the second game running Marlow have been on the wrong end of a penalty decision, still they say these things even themselves out over a season. One point from two games could easily have been four and bearing in mind the weakened team today I am not to disappointed”

MOM

DOUG BUCHANAN