'Architects of our own downfall' – Marlow punished for errors as Thame cling on

Mitch Parker. Photo: Theo Edwards

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Marlow 1, Thame United 2

Mark Bartley felt Marlow were ‘architects of their own downfall’ in Saturday’s disappointing home defeat to Thame United.

The Blues were hoping to build on their big midweek win over Stotfold at Oak Tree Road but instead they gave away two sloppy first half goals which left themselves chasing the game.

They improved after the interval, with Mitch Paker firing them back into contention from the penalty spot.

But their second half pressure failed to yield a second goal as Thame doggedly clung on to all three points.

The game was only 12 minutes old when Thame took advantage of a defensive error and Lance Benjamin Williams found the back of the net. Harry Alexander then found the net to make it 2-0 in the 37th minute and the Blues were in catch up mode from then on.

The hosts began the second half reasonably brightly and created a couple of openings that needed a better final ball or finish.

But they did give themselves a foothold in the clash just before the hour mark when Parker was played in by Tiamuna and was brought down in the box by the Thame keeper.

Parker picked himself up to slot away the spot kick and give the home side renewed hope. Gyawu-Kyem came closest to a leveller with a stinging shot that flashed just wide of the post in the 82nd minute, but the visitors held on for victory.

“We were architects of our own downfall today,” said Bartley. “The first goal, unfortunately, is one we just shouldn’t concede and when you do that you give your opponent’s something to hold onto. I think the second goal; we shouldn’t concede that opportunity anyway. It looked like the player might be offside but, again, it’s another one we were disappointed at conceding.

“You give away two sloppy goals to any team in this league and you’re going to struggle to get back into the game. We’ve given them two goals to hold onto, and they didn’t have to work too hard to get their opportunities today. Outside of that, they haven’t created a whole lot, but they didn’t need to. We gave them two and that was probably enough.”

Following their demotion last season, Marlow would have hoped to be among the front runners in the Southern League Central Division. Instead, they sit 14th in the table and are closer to the relegation zone.

They return to action on Saturday, away to 12th placed Beaconsfield Town. A win for the Blues at Holloways Park would lift them above their hosts.

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Leighton Town 5, Flackwell Heath 2

In the same division, Flackwell Heath are having similar problems after they were comfortably beaten away from home by league leaders Leighton Town.

Saturday’s emphatic – but not entirely unexpected – 5-2 defeat leaves the Heathens 16th in the table, eight points above the relegation zone.

The Heathens finished in the play-off places last season, making it all the way to the final. But after a solid – if low key – start to the campaign, their form has fallen away in recent months.

Encouraging performances have been difficult to come by and consistency has evaded them, at least in a positive sense.

Saturday’s win for Leighton lifts them eight points clear at the top of the table. They were always in control of this clash at Bell Close, racing into a 3-0 half-time lead through strikes from Godlove Oppong (14), Kyal Williams (23) and Oppong again on the half-hour mark.

Jack Shakespeare grabbed a goal back a minute or so later, but it failed to inspire the visitors to make a comeback. Sydney Ibie made it 4-1 in the 53rd minute, and BJ Christie made it 5-2 after Juwon Akintunde had netted another consolation for the Heathens.

After playing four away games on the spin, the Heathens are back at Wilks Park for the visit of Milton Keynes Irish on Saturday, however, that will be followed by tricky-looking trips to Marlow and Hadley in first week of the new year.