Royals capitalise on Blues’ sluggish start
Marlow FC: Reading lift County Cup after deserved 2-1 win over Marlow
Marlow 1, Reading FC 2
Marlow weren't quite able to complete the double of winning promotion through the play-offs and lifting the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup as the Blues were beaten 2-1 by Reading's u21s side at Sandhurst Town's ground on Wednesday night.
Mark Bartley's side conceded twice in a sluggish opening half hour and couldn’t get themselves back on a level footing, despite Brandon Curtis's thunderous second half free kick which halved the deficit.
Having wrapped up promotion to step three with their impressive performances in the play-offs against Westfield and Leatherhead, the Blues had a week and a half to wait for the county cup final against Reading's Academy side.
And the young Royals would have had revenge on their minds going into the final, having lost out on penalty kicks to Marlow in the semi-finals of the competition last season.
They certainly seemed to have an extra spring in their step in the opening half, and when a poor clearance from Aaron Watkins fell to Wellens in the ninth minute, he coolly picked out his teammate Jeremiah Okine-Peters to his left and he slotted the ball inside the far post.
Marlow scrambled another attempt from Okine-Peters off the line a few minutes later, but the young Royals' early dominance was eventually reflected on the scoresheet when John Ryan was shoved over in the area and the referee pointed to the penalty spot in the 18th minute.
This time, Adrian Akande fired home high to Watkins' right to make it 2-0 and Reading had a
stranglehold on the game.
They had another penalty shout on the half-hour mark, when the ball hit the arm of a Marlow player, but these appeals were waved away, and the Blues managed to get into the interval without conceding again.
Whatever Bartley said to his players during the half-time break, it had the desired effect as they came out for the second half looking much more competitive.
They also grabbed a goal back quickly, through Curtis' thunderous low-strike from an indirect free-kick in the 53rd minute. On another night they may have forced an equaliser, but Reading had the clearer cut chances to kill off the tie, with Stickland heading the ball against the post from Akande's delivery in the 81st minute.
Bartley made some late changes to try and galvanise his side, but Reading proved worthy winners as they held on for a narrow, but deserved, 2-1 win.
Coach Aaron Steadman posted that it wasn't the way the side wanted to finish their campaign but said the result should detract from what's been an incredible season.
“A disappointing end with an especially below par first half this evening,” he wrote. “The players didn't really do themselves justice today.
“It's hard to detract from what has been a fantastic season and this team has been simply incredible.”
Manager Bartley added: “Showing too much respect to our opponents, and a couple of errors from us shaped a below par opening period.
“I was proud of our response after the break though, so despite coming up short, that is a slight consolation.
“Congratulations to Reading FC on their victory.”
The Reading coach, Noel Hunt, said: “It's good to win something. It was a good game, a tough game. First half, I thought we blew them away, in terms of how we started the game. Second half, we made it a game for them. We stopped doing the things that we are good at and gave them a little bit of life. But saying that, we still had two or three chances to kill them off.
“Emotions came into it, and we didn't pick the right options in those moments. But, overall, I'm delighted that we won, but we could have made it easier for ourselves.”