Northwood 2-7 Marlow

Northwood's playoff ambitions were well and truly dashed as they slumped to a 7-2 defeat against Marlow at Northwood Park.

A goal for the visitors in the opening minutes set the tone for the rout, which saw Jon Bennett bag four in a starring role.

Player-manager Mark Burgess was absent for the game, and his stand-in as captain, James Duncan, felt the side missed his leadership at the back.

He said: “He's a big miss because obviously he's the manager but he's also a very good player and he leads us well.”

“We had Steve Brown missing as well. They've formed a really good partnership at the back and it's ripped the heart out of the team.”

The Woods were forced to play two young central defenders from the club's youth setup, and Marlow, who travelled to Chestnut Avenue having lost eight of their last nine games, quickly put them to the sword.

The visitors took the lead just three minutes in – a long ball found Ian Davies on the right hand side, and his ball into the box was hammered home by Bennett.

Northwood struggled to string passes together in attack, and they conceded again in the 26th minute when James Rusby's free kick from the left evaded a cluster of players and found its way into the far corner of the net.

The hosts' task was then made even harded as two quickfire goals from Bennett saw them go into the interval 4-0 down and in dire need of a lift.

The Woods made a poor start to the half, however, as Bennett netted his fourth just three minutes after the break.

Northwood were given a glimmer of hope in the 59th minute, as Niko Muir raced through and found the bottom corner for his 20th league goal of the season.

Karl Oliyide then capitalised on a defensive mistake to make it 5-2, coolly slotting home past Simon Grant.

But Marlow soon put the game beyond doubt. Marcus Mealing found the net in the 82nd minute, before substitute Carl Davies completed the drubbing, scoring with his first touch.

Duncan believes that the absentees in defence were no excuse for the Woods' performance.

He said: “We've let ourselves down a lot today. We're disappointed because that's our play-off hopes over.

“It's a brand new back four and we've given a chance to two under-18 centre halves, but all of us take responsibility for the result. The senior players have got to play better, including myself”

The full back was disappointed that his side have dropped points over the course of the season in winnable games.

He added: “The small margins and key moments in games have cost us six points that could have had us closer to the play-offs.”

Northwood have been plagued by inconsistency this season, and a good string of results could have seen them compete for a play-off spot. They travel to Aylesbury on Tuesday as they look to finish the season on a high.