Marlow get season up-and-running with thumping 3-0 win over Aylesbury United

Marlow got their season up-and-running with a thumping 3-0 victory over Aylesbury United as Mark Bartley plots an immediate return to Step 3 football.

The Blues endured a bruising 2024/25 campaign which ended in their relegation from the Southern League Premier South.

But the long-serving Marlow boss has been scouring the non-league pyramid to refresh his squad in the off-season and appears to have assembled a promising squad.

New midfield additions Kwesi Ntim and Calvin Gitiba were among the stand-out players on Tuesday night as Marlow recorded their first win and clean sheet of the season.

Bartley told the Advertiser: “There’s been a lot of hard work. As a management team, as soon as we knew where we were going to end up we started putting names on a list.

“I watched a lot of videos of this league last year and a lot of videos from Step 5 leagues just watching game after game trying to identify players.

“We knew what type of players we wanted and we have a type of profile of the types of players we like.”

Bartley’s preference is to have four dangerous wingers in his squad and the tools at his disposal were clear to see on Tuesday.

Cheyce Grant, a summer signing from Beaconsfield Town, played a hand in Marlow taking the lead five minutes into the game as his out-swinging corner was headed home by Seb D’Aversa.

Grant could have extended the lead later in the half as he was slipped through by the impressive Gitiba, only to curl his shot narrowly wide.

But as Marlow’s starters tired, Bartley was able to bring on dangerous fresh legs and it was substitute Luqman Kassim who put the game out of sight.

The former Aylesbury winger bundled home a delicate chip from Ntim 10 minutes from time before rifling home a third a minute later.

It was no less than Marlow deserved although Bartley will be keen for them to be more clinical with their chances as the season progresses.

“We’re going to have to play better than we did today to beat a lot of the top teams but I think we’re on the right track,” Bartley said.

“For the first home game, it’s important to just settle those nerves, get your first three points at home, first clean sheet at home and try and build from there.”

He added: “Ultimately we needed to win and bounce back from Saturday. The clean sheet was massive for us as well.

“We scored three but I felt like we were worth a few more. On another day, for me, that should probably be a five for us.

“It’s the same as on Saturday, we got into good areas and just didn’t quite finish it off. That will come with a little more cohesion as there’s been a lot of turnover in the squad.”

Marlow lost their opening match of the season 2-0 away at Barton Rovers but the Blues boss is aiming to be competing at the top of the division this season.

“The aim is to win the league, that’s what we’re here for. Last season was tough, we learnt a lot of lessons. Some of the players will be better for it, we’ll be better as a management team for it.

“You’ve got to take that experience and try and make it work for you.

“We know we’re capable at Step 4. This is a different league and we’ve got to learn about the teams pretty quickly but we’re willing to put the hard work in.”

Marlow will be back in action at the Alfred Davis Memorial Ground on Saturday as they take on Binfield in the preliminary round of the FA Cup.

The Blues suffered a 4-1 defeat against the Moles in pre-season so Bartley is well aware of the dangers they pose ahead of Saturday’s clash in football’s oldest cup competition.

Bartley added: “They came here in pre-season and beat us 4-1 so we know they’re a good side but so are we.

“We’ll be prepared for that, we’ll have a look at what they were better than us at in pre-season and make sure we’re better than that come Saturday.”