United go down to narrow defeat to well organised Marlow side

The first team continued their pre season on Saturday when they faced Marlow at John Madejski Academy. This was a tough test for United as their opponents play in the Sothern League Central Division two tiers above Woodley.

Marlow started well and went ahead on four minutes when a long range drive wrong footed United keeper Ben Hitchins and found the right corner. The visitors were having a lot of the ball but were not able to further test Hitchins.

Woodley registered their first shot on twenty minutes; Greg Beckett missed to the left from twenty five yards. United grew in confidence as the half progressed but struggled to create any clear cut chances.

HT Woodley United 0-1 Marlow

Moments after the restart Hitchins pulled off a fantastic stop diving to his left. The resultant corner fell to a Marlow player whose powerful shot was blocked by centre back by Brad Hoy.

With an hour gone Woodley started to get on top of the game; playing some nice football and looking a threat in the final third. Beckett hit the post from the left side of the box; the rebound fell to a blue shirt who went over in the box with strong appeals for a penalty.

United continued to press forward and were rewarded with eighteen minutes to go when Jake Nicholls finished well with a low shot into the left corner. Minutes later Woodley nearly went ahead when Idris Kamara hooked goalwards after a deep free kick.

With the game winding down Marlow retook the lead when a shot from distance found the top left corner. Two minutes later the away side nearly got a third thanks to some sublime individual skill. After controlling the ball with his chest the Marlow player smashed an unstoppable shot off the underside of the bar.

FT Woodley United 1-2 Marlow

After the game I spoke to both the Woodley goalscorer Jake Nicholls and manager Michael Herbert.

Jake - 'I think we are slightly ahead in our pre season preparation. I am settling in well, getting to know the lads and am pleased with the performances in both games. The results have not gone our way but I feel we are playing well.

Michael - 'The first fifteen minutes Marlow dominated possession; a sloppy pass allowed them a shot which was miss hit but went in. Our reaction to the goal was fantastic. I felt our shape and structure was good, making it very difficult for Marlow to create further chances.

Second half we upped it and became a bit more dominant. For twenty minutes we were in the ascendancy; Greg Beckett hit the post and we had a few penalty appeals turned down. Jake got us back into the game with a good goal and the shape of the team following the goal was good.

The last fifteen minutes Marlow raised the tempo and took advantage of a mistake to retake the lead.

Overall the positives outweighed the negatives. Some very good individual performances by Greg Beckett, Ryan Farmer and Idris Kamara. I thought it was a very hard working and honest performance with us showing signs of what we worked on in training'.