Blues hand the Dons a lesson in semi-final
Brace from Tarpey helps Marlow to 4-2 win over young MK Dons side
A brace from Dave Tarpey and one each from Kai Hamilton-Olise and Dawid Rogalski saw the Blues progress to the final of the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup on Tuesday with a 4-2 victory over a youthful Milton Keynes Dons side at Oak Tree Road.
Having wrapped up second place in the Isthmian League South Central Division with Saturday's win at South Park, Mark Bartley's side could focus their attention on the visit of League 2 MK Dons for this semi-final clash, and they produced a fantastic display on their own turf to book their place in the final for a second successive season. Reading FC's u23s side lie in wait for the Blues in the final at Slough Town's Arbour Park ground on Tuesday, May 14.
“Having secured second place, it was about giving ourselves the chance to make it to the final and win a cup we just narrowly missed out on last year,” said Bartley. “We did a little bit of work on them which was difficult because they do have a young side. But over the 90 minutes I felt we deserved it. There were times when they had a lot of the ball and we had to be patient and stay in our shape. But when we did get possession, we were decisive in our attacking play. Their keeper played really well on the night and on another night, we might have added another two or three to the tally, but we can't really complain.
“Having Dawid and Tarpey at the front end in these big games is important and when the chances came to them, they took them.
“We were able to run Dawid and Tarpey for the full 90 minutes yesterday (Tuesday) because we know that if needs be, we could take them out on Saturday. Dawid might be one that gets a bit of a rest on Saturday. Ben Mulley has also played a lot of minutes.
“We don't really need to worry too much about Saturday (at home to Hanworth Villa). It would be nice to finish on a high, but if there's anyone that's borderline or has a niggle, we'll take them out of the firing line.”
Marlow started well under the lights at Oak Tree Road, with Josh Masters' corner causing panic in the Dons' defence in the opening minutes before Toby Raggett forced a smart save from the visiting keeper Stacey.
MK Dons also had their moments, with Aaron Watkins pulling off an instinctive save from a near post flick in the 15th minute.
But the hosts took the lead a minute later when Raggett crossed for Tarpey who supplied the finish from five yards out.
Tarpey then had his second of the night in the 25th minute when he was the sharpest to react to a goalmouth scramble and slammed the ball home.
MK Dons pulled a goal back before half-time with a fantastic strike from outside the area from Callum Tripp.
Tarpey might have had a hat-trick in the 40th minute when he went clean through on goal and was denied by Stacey. A third goal was eventually celebrated by the 286 supporters inside Oak Tree Road in the 70th minute when Hamilton-Olise tapped home from close range after Stacey had parried Raggett's initial effort.
The drama was far from over however, and nerves were jangling once again when Tripp scored his second with a snapshot inside the box in the 75th minute.
But the Blues wrapped up their place in the final when Tarpey played a lovely one-two with Josh Boorn and crossed for his strike partner, Rogalski, to score with a lovely flick.
Having lost narrowly to Bracknell Town in the final last season, the
Blues will be keen to go one better in the competition this time around but before that they'll also have their sights set on promotion via the playoffs in the league.
They're set to host the league's fifth placed side, currently Westfield, at home on Wednesday, May 1, 7.45pm kick-off, and if they were to win, they'd be at home again for the play-off final on Sunday, May 5.
“I think we've got a few more matchwinners in our squad this season,” Bartley added. “We have more of a goal-threat now and in those one-off games that could be important. We'd back ourselves against anyone this season. This is where we want to be. The whole point of playing football is to be involved in these kinds of games.”