Last Saturday Wimborne gave their best whole-game performance of the season as they defeated Taunton 3-0; today’s performance, against a team who hadn’t won at home all season, was at the opposite end of the scale. Twice the Magpies came from behind to equalise, but three times the Blues took the lead to deservedly take the points.

Not surprisingly manager Tim Sills stuck with the outfield team from a week ago; with Alex Rutter injured in Tuesday’s Dorset Cup tie, the only change was in goal with Ben Rodwell making his first appearance of the season.

Wimborne’s bright and confident start on the soft and bobbly surface gave no indication of what was to come. In the second minute Will Fletcher won a long ball and set up Matty Burrows for the first shot of the game which flew over the bar. On six minutes Jez Bedford’s snap shot was well saved by Watkins who also saved Harry Morgan’s follow-up. At the other end, Ben Rodwell confidently caught Marlow’s first corner after a deflected shot span wide of the post. Right-back Oladunjoye’s prodigiously long throw-ins, from both sides of the pitch, were a prime weapon in the hosts’ armoury.

And it was from one of these that the Blues took the lead on 20 minutes. Wimborne failed to clear the throw from the right, and when the ball came to Hoath to the left of the “D”, he struck it low and hard across the keeper into the far bottom corner. It was Marlow’s first goal for 280 minutes.

A stunned Wimborne came looking for a leveller. Bedford’s twinkling run into the box from the right left defenders trailing in his wake, but his pull-back could only find a man in blue; Morgan’s flick from Matt Neale’s free-kick was blocked; Neale and Morgan combined to set-up Fletcher who shot wide; Burrows was causing problems with his pace and trickery on the left wing; in the final five minutes of the half, a defender’s touch on Sam Jackson’s inviting cross was cleared off the line, Fletcher’s header from another Jackson cross was also cleared off the line, and Billy Walker headed a corner over the bar. But it hadn’t been all one-way traffic as Rodwell twice made super saves when Harper was played through.

Three minutes after the interval, Brown had the ball in the net from a slick Marlow move on the right but the eagle-eyed lino spotted an offside. But on 57 minutes Wimborne had the ball in the net, this time legitimately: Neale spread the ball wide on the left to Burrows who beat his man for pace to slot past the keeper. Two minutes later the visitors almost took the lead: Walker’s header from Adam Biss’s free-kick wide on the right was cleared off the line.

Then, just as hopes were rising among the away supporters, Marlow regained the lead on the hour mark. A route-one clearance down the middle was flicked on for Nawaf to poke the ball past Rodwell from 20 yards. Full of confidence, the hosts were winning the midfield battles and disrupting attempts to get Wimborne’s passing game going, and very nearly bagged a third. Spotting Rodwell off his line, Sani tried an audacious lob from 35 yards only for the shot-stopper to brilliantly tip the ball over the bar as he frantically back-pedalled.

On the 76th minute Wimborme equalised again. Substitute Jack Lovell beat the keeper to Biss’s cracking cross from the right. With scores level again, the game was there for the taking. And on 85 minutes it was the Blues who grabbed it with almost a carbon copy of their second. Nawaf raced onto another through ball from mid-field, poked the ball past the on-rushing Rodwell, and calmly stroked the ball into the unguarded net. Wimborne threw everyone and everything forward in a desperate attempt to get a third equaliser, but the closest either team came to scoring again was when Rodwell made another excellent tip-over during the six minutes of time added-on.

In your reporter’s opinion, Marlow were one of the weakest teams we’ve faced this season. However, credit to them for out-fighting and out-thinking Wimborne. It’s one of football’s great mysteries to work out how a talented team can be so good one week, and so poor the next. The result lifts Marlow off the bottom of the table; Wimborne remain 13th.

Wimborne: Rodwell, Biss, Walker (Salifu 86), Wright, Jackson, Carmichael (Lovell 61), Neale, Morgan, Bedford, Burrows (Beale 88), Fletcher (Munn 88)

Unused sub: Scorey 

Attendance: 301

Match stats: