Herbert strike seals hard-fought win for Henley Ladies over Fareham

Ladies 1s Ella Shute wrong foots the Fareham defender. Credit: Lucy Herbert.

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HENLEY LADIES 1sts secured a hard‑earned 1–0 victory over FAREHAM in front of a vibrant home crowd whose constant energy pushed them from the first whistle.

Although it was Fareham who had first pushback, they chose to aerial the ball to Mel Joyce, who controlled it and released a crisp pass to Lucy Wiseman.

An explosive drive up the pitch found Caitlin Barrass, whose skilled play won Henley an early short corner.

Rachel Herbert stepped up with confidence, drilling a powerful strike straight through the keeper’s legs, rattling the backboard to put Henley ahead within minutes. The early breakthrough set the tone, but the match quickly turned into a gritty contest.

At the back, Rachel Herbert continued to fire piercing passes up the pitch, while the defensive unit held firm with disciplined, intelligent positioning.

Henley came close to scoring on several further occasions; however, it was not to be. Instead, they had to settle for a true ground out team performance, full of resilience and determination, earning Henley a valuable three points and keeping them solidly placed in 5th - a great place to be in their first season of the new league.

Division 2 North leaders HENLEY LADIES 2nds made the most of their sunny, early home fixture against SLOUGH 2nds, winning 7-0 against the team currently sitting bottom of South Central Division 2 North.

A professional win would secure promotion and bring a league title win very close indeed, so Captain Emma Buckham-Hedges urged a relentless approach and continued to drum home that point throughout the game, leading by example with selfless runs and clever passes in and around the D.

Slough were only able to bring 10 players and set up deep but eventually Henley’s passing game and persistence paid off when, around 10 minutes into the game, great work from Harri Hayes saw the ball fall in the D to Chloe Lyons, who sprinted across, taking the ball on her reverse and flicked the ball into the net.

Hayley Munt, cameoing at left midfield, dribbled into the 25 and expertly hit the ball to the back post to the waiting Harri, who finished calmly - the pick of the goals.

Lyons went on to turn and hit sharply, the shot on target, but beating the very good Slough keeper due to a slight deflection off a defensive stick.

Slough maintained good discipline despite the frequent switches in play but there was time for one more Henley goal in the half, a melee in the D latched onto by Hayley to slam the ball home from close range.

After a half time pep talk from coach, Hayley Rogers, to try and up the intensity and speed of play, the team responded. Munt scored again, this time a well worked short corner back to her as the injector to touch and finish, before Harri scored almost a carbon copy of her first goal by finishing calmly at the back post as the ball came across from the wing. The seventh Henley goal came midway through the half, where Lily Baker was first to react to a short corner rebound at the keeper’s feet.

Henley continued to apply pressure and saw out the win untroubled defensively. Such was Henley’s dominance, keeper, Georgie Grocock only got one touch in the whole game.

A draw or win next week would be enough for the Ladies 2ndss to be crowned league champions at Maidenhead, with a game to spare.

HENLEY LADIES 3rds fell to a frustrating 2-1 home defeat to STAINES with their game plan going out of the window in the final periods.

With only two substitutes available, the focus was on controlling possession and trying to secure an early goal. However, a few uncharacteristic errors in the opening 20 minutes meant Henley were under more pressure than expected as Staines pushed hard early on.

The breakthrough eventually came for Henley thanks to a great individual effort from Emily Matthews, who made a strong run down the right wing and showed real determination to force the ball past the goalkeeper.

After the break, Henley struggled to maintain the same shape and discipline, allowing Staines to capitalise on a short corner to level the score. Despite this setback, Henley showed some excellent moments of play, and Fi Dunn was unfortunate not to score from a penalty flick. Late on, Staines broke quickly through the defence to score a decisive second goal. Despite pressing hard in the final minutes, Henley were unable to respond, ending the match with a frustrating 2–1 defeat.

HENLEY LADIES 4ths delivered an emphatic 8–0 victory against STAINES LADIES  4ths on Saturday, overcoming a slow start and the absence of several regular players to produce a commanding performance.

Henley opened strongly, pressing into the Staines half and earning three early short corners, though none were converted.

Staines responded with a period of pressure of their own, forcing a short corner that resulted in a miraculous goal-line clearance from Isla Hallett, and a crucial one-on-one save from goalkeeper Jasmine Hillyard, both of which kept the score level. These defensive interventions proved pivotal, sparking Henley into action.

A well-worked move saw Emilia Ziegler break the deadlock with a reverse-stick finish into goal, before adding a second minutes later from a lifted flick over the goalkeeper. Sustained pressure followed, and Henley extended their lead to 3–0 before half-time through a close-range shot from Amy Hill, finished off by Katherine Alderton on the post. The second half saw Henley take full control. Charlotte Clarke converted from a short corner, before adding a second from another set piece.

A further attacking move resulted in Clarke completing her hat-trick, and she added a fourth shortly afterwards to take Henley 7–0 ahead. With Staines tiring, Henley continued to dominate possession.

A late strike from Nicola Nott sealed the 8–0 victory, rounding off another effective team performance and bringing the goal difference to 120 this season.