Marlow's women put seven past Amersham to maintain six point lead at the top

Martha Goodridge scoring one of her two goals against Amersham & Chalfont. Photo: Margot Nicholls

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Marlow's two first team squads amassed an impressive 13 goals between them with the women's first team putting seven goals past Amersham & Chalfont to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the South Central Women's Premier Division.

The men's first team have more modest aims this season, but they picked up their third win in four matches at the weekend with a thrilling 6-5 win at Trojans.

Having netted twice last weekend, Martha Goodridge was back on the scoresheet for the women as they came from behind to thrash visitors Amersham at Pound Lane.

Amersham made the stronger of the starts and were rewarded for that when they netted a superb individual goal in the opening minutes. However, the goal served as an alarm clock for the undefeated league leaders, and they were back on terms within minutes through Goodridge.

After that Marlow began to dominate possession and the visitors went into their shell and looked to protect what they had. It proved to be an unwise tactic with Lauren Hilditch firing the Reds ahead in the 26th minute. Amersham continued to pose a threat, with the Reds keeper Alys Ramm pulling off a great save to deny the visitors an equaliser, however, Vic Allens' goal in the 30th minute gave the home side some breathing space heading into half-time. The Reds went on to dominate the second period, with Collete Fitzpatrick scoring her first of the game shortly after the restart and Allen powering home her second of the game following a selfless pass from Goodridge.

Goodridge added her second of the game for good measure in the 62nd minute, but the Reds weren't done there, and Mabel Daw set up their seventh with an incredible run from defence. She played in Fitzpatrick who slotted home with minutes to spare to register her second of the game.

The win - one of the side's best of the season - keeps them six points clear of second placed Oxford Hawks 2nds ahead of Saturday's visit to Wycombe 1sts.

Elsewhere the women's third team drew 1-1 away with Oxford Hawks 3rds and the 5ths were 3-0 winners over Newbury & Thatcham 4ths.The 6ths lost heavily to Newbury & Thatcham 3rds away from home while the 7ths were well beaten 5-1 by Reading 7ths.

The men's first team enjoyed an incredible 6-5 victory over Trojans with the momentum ebbing and flowing between the two sides throughout.

Chris Sewell fired the sixth-placed visitors in front after only three minutes, adjusting himself to fire home a brilliant overhead volley from a rebound.

The hosts then took advantage of some lax defence to score three goals without reply, however, Marlow never looked out of it and fought back with two goals of their own through Mark Lowden and Josh Morgans to make it 3-3 at the break.

That gave both teams a chance to pause for breath, however, the action was just as relentless in the second half. The visitors seemed to be in control for much of the half, but they fell behind again before Sewell scored impressively once again to make it 4-4. Still, the Trojans came again, scoring to make it 5-4, but Marlow showed great character to score twice in the final minutes to seal victory.

The first came from captain Sam North from a penalty corner before Isaac Maddern grabbed a dramatic winner.

Marlow's 2nd team were also impressive 3-1 winners away to previously unbeaten Basingstoke 1sts.

The hosts came into the clash on top of the table, but the Reds ensured this would be an even clash from the first whistle.

They fell behind when Basingstoke scored from a drag flick at a penalty corner, however, they made a bright start to the second half with Lloyd Francis scoring after good work from Johnny Mee and Joe Hoggan.

Some well drilled play earned Marlow a series of corners in the second half, and they profited from one with Dave Harding's firm strike deflecting past the keeper. for Alex Land to volley home.

Basingstoke threw everything at Marlow as they looked to avoid losing their first game of the season, but they were caught on the counter when Mee took on the whole of the home side's defence and played in Land who finished coolly to make it 3-1.

Elsewhere, the Men's thirds were 2-0 winners away to Milton Keynes 2nds and the 4ths defeated Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead 2nds 4-0.