Bartley calls for higher standards after Marlow's Trophy blow and league setback

Marlow’s Alfie Agar was named man of the match following the Blues’ 3-2 defeat to Beaconsfield Town on Monday. Credit: Marlow FC

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Marlow boss Mark Bartley has spoken about his new group of players needing to understand the expectations of the club after the Blues bounced from a disappointing result in the FA Trophy on Saturday to one in the league on Monday.

Marlow are out of this season’s FA Trophy competition after going down 3-0 at home to Three Bridges on Saturday,

Destiny Ojo headed Bridges in front before half-time from a Velvick cross and a brilliant team move saw Charlie Bennett set up Adeyinka for the second after the interval.

Nearing the end, Bennett rubbed further salt in the wounds with a third from Noel Fisher’s pass and with that Marlow’s run in this season’s competition was over before it really got going.

Bridges play in the equivalent Isthmian League South East division and have made a solid start to their campaign, winning two of their opening three matches, but Bartley would have expected the Blues to be much more competitive on their own patch.

Afterwards he spoke with club media and said: “I know this is a new group, and it’s important that the players quickly understand more of what is expected of them from the management team, but also expectations they should place on themselves and each other.”

However, those words didn’t have an immediate impact on the group as they were beaten 3-2 by Beaconsfield Town at Oak Tree Road on Monday.

After plummeting to relegation last season, the Blues are still searching around for form in their return to Step 4 action in the Southern League Central Division. So far, they’ve managed just one home win against Aylesbury United, the other two results being defeats to Barton Rovers and Beaconsfield.

The Blues twice came from behind with goals from Luqman Kassim in the 30th minute and Mitch Parker in the 56th. Those goals cancelled out strikes from the Rams’ Joshua James Borchers Marcon (20') and Jamie Lloyd Davies (49' pen) but Manuchim Samson Oke-William (93') won it for the visitors in the dying embers of the game.

Parker said: “We thought we were the better team throughout, we just got to lift our heads up and go again.”

#MarlowFC #TheBlues #WeAreMarlow pic.twitter.com/pkvAvbYmYN

— Marlow Football Club (@MarlowFC) August 25, 2025

Manager Bartley added: “On a balance of play I think we deserved something but sometimes I think we didn’t make the right decision.”

The defeat leaves the Blues in 16th place ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup first qualifying round clash at Chatham Town.

The Isthmian League Premier outfit (step 3) side Chatham will fancy their chances of heaping further frustration on the Blues with a win this weekend, while Marlow will be hoping their new-look squad will click and claim the kind of result that could kick-start their season.

Flackwell Heath are also in FA Cup action this weekend with the Heathens hosting Lewes in the first qualifying round stage at Wilks Park.

Flackwell are unbeaten in all competitions so far this season and moved up to fourth in the Southern League Central Division table after Tuesday’s 2-0 away win at Aylesbury United.

The Heathens had the better of an end-to-end first half, creating two big chances towards the end of the period, but they finally got the rub of the green in the 58th minute when Charlie Bacon capitalised on a defensive mistake to slot home.

The visitors then killed the game 20 minutes later when Eli Grant doubled their lead.

The result puts them three points behind leaders Biggleswade with a game in hand, while they’re two points adrift of Leighton Town, who’ve won all three of their matches so far.

Like Chatham, Lewes also play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, but like Flackwell they’ve made a solid start to the season, winning four of their five matches so far They’ve won four matches on the spin in the league and head to Wilks Park sitting fourth in their step 3 division, so this will be a tough hurdle for Chris Ayres’ side to overcome.

The tie kicks off at 3pm and the club is keen to ‘pack the park’. Tickets are £12 for adults, and £6 for concessions. U18s go free.

FA CUP TIME!

This Saturday we host Lewes FC at Wilks Park in the 1st Qualifying Round.

Pack the park, back the lads & let’s cause an upset ⚽️#Heathens #MagicOfTheCup pic.twitter.com/ftEjumEMyR

— Flackwell Heath FC (@FHFC1907) August 26, 2025