Riches reaps man-of-the-match reward

Henley Men’s 1sts secured a dramatic 4-3 win over Oxford OBU in an action-packed away encounter, with both teams trading goals throughout the match.

Oxford OBU took an early lead, scoring first to go 1-0 up. Henley quickly responded, with Harry Rechner finding the net to level things at 1-1.

Phil Laurie then made his mark, scoring twice to give Henley a 3-1 advantage. However, Oxford OBU wasn’t done, pulling one back just before half-time to make it 3-2 going into the break.

The second half started brightly for Henley, with Ed Hughes-Burn scoring early to make it 4-2. Oxford OBU fought back once more, pulling a goal back to make it 4-3, setting up a tense finish to the match.

Henley dug deep in the final stages, holding firm defensively to see out the game and secure all three points. The win marked Henley’s second league victory of the season.

Matty Riches played a crucial role in the victory, with his defensive leadership earning him the Man of the Match accolade for his key contributions in helping Henley hang on to their lead.

Henley Men’s 2nds were spurred on by Saturday’s fine weather when they beat Staines 1sts 3-1.

The last time the teams met was in freezing temperatures and sideways rain.

Within minutes, Henley were off to a flying start as Geoff Joseph wound his way past defenders, and calmly slotted the ball past a charging Staines goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

The goal seemed to happen a bit too early for the home side, who softened their defences momentarily which allowed Staines through, stalemating the first half at 1-1.

After a splash of water to the face and a gentle rap on the knuckles, Henley kicked back into gear and took hold of the second half in stronger fashion.

A bundle for the ball in the opposition’s D led to Robbie Farina cracking one into the back of the net, taking Henley to 2-1. Not to be outdone, eagle-eyed Tim Herbert anticipated the play and intercepted the ball in Staines’ half, making short work of their back line and slotting another one home for Henley, to finish out another weekend with a win and three more points.

After a successful trip to Staines last week, the Men’s 3rds were back on home soil this week to continue their recent hot streak with a 1-0 win over the league’s bottom side, Oxford.

The home side got things under way and set the tone for the game with a period of controlled possession. The predominantly younger legs of Oxford sought to press energetically, chasing and closing things down quickly, but Henley kept the ball with great composure, particularly around the back line of Nichols, Conway-Hughes, Roberts, and Latchford, playing with patience and waiting for the openings to push forward to threaten the Oxford goal.

Several dangerous opportunities came and went though as Henley struggled to click as a unit in attack and on the occasions they did, the Oxford keeper made some impressive saves.

At the other end, Henley had largely been comfortable against the Oxford threat, but with two or three stand-out players making things happen individually, they did cause a few nervy moments, particularly with a succession of short corners towards the end of the half.

Defence held firm though, with Alex McDonald-Smith charging out well to close them down quickly, and Dave Bowyer equal to the few shots that did make it goal-bound.

The second half had a similar pattern, with the more controlled possession of Henley up against Oxford’s more speculative approach, but Henley gradually started to better exploit the space in attack and threaten more directly, with Jamie Taylor and James Rechner in particular causing problems with their direct running and skills to puncture the D and earn Henley a few short corners.

It was from one of these that Henley eventually took the lead, with Taylor slipping the ball left to be swept in towards the in-rushing Guy Harmer to slot it in behind the helpless keeper.

This proved to be the only goal of the game which made for a nervier finish than the flow of the game would have suggested, but Henley saw out a spell of late pressure to keep the clean sheet and take all three points, the latest in an impressive five-game winning streak that has taken them from the bottom of the table at the start of February up to sixth.

Henley Men’s 4ths put in a battling performance in a 3-0 away loss to promotion chasing Wycombe 3rds.

Wycombe put out a strong squad and with the 4ths missing a number of regulars, the challenge was tough. That said, James Edgell stepped in and proved a welcome addition in midfield working well with Ollie Paice, Zack Barass, Dom Proudfoot and Albie Tomlinson to make sure Henley matched the work rate of the hosts.

But as the half wore on, Wycombe built pressure and an inevitable short corner gave the hosts the chance they had been searching for to go one up. A quality shot from the top of the circle gave young keeper Tomas Chamberlain no chance and a second goal just before the break resulted in Wycombe going into the second half 2-0 up.

But the young Henley side has been maturing throughout the season and they battled hard to get back into the game.

And while they weren’t able to get the goal their play deserved, the 4ths showed resilience in the second half, only letting one further goal in from what was another well-worked short corner by the hosts.

Henley 5ths 6-1 defeat by Wallingford 4ths did not reflect the quality of their play as they produced some of their best hockey of the season

Henley started well and some very strong attacks down each wing produced two shots on goal, one from new player Bryn Balcombe which the Wallingford keeper did well to save.

James Lane at bottom diamond for the first time of the season Henley managed to hold off many challenges from a well-drilled Wallingford side, but the half still ended with Henley 2-0 down.

Midfield colts Charlie Tyler-Chamberlain, Oliver Whale and Toby lane worked their socks off in the heat of the second half – having to push forward and track back repeatedly due to near constant turnovers.

Despite efforts of the midfield and defence Wallingford managed several runs on goal which keeper Thomas Weatherby-Earl managed to mostly repel.

However, the home side put four more away in the second half.

A short corner to Henley in the second half provided some cheer to the visitors as Ed Earl deftly slipped a ball to Captain Sam Austin from top D who took advantage of the displaced goalie to get Henley on the score sheet.