Late fightback falls short as Park take the spoils

A BRACE from captain Nick Cook steered Westcombe Park to victory against Henley Hawks, despite the home side scoring twice in the last five minutes and nearly pulling off a shock draw in the final play of the game last Saturday.

It was yet another losing bonus point to add to the collection, which shows that Henley are close to turning their fortunes around, but with just two victories to show from their opening 10 fixtures, Luke Allen’s side will be desperate for any kind of victory to help lift the mood around camp.

It was a damp and dreary day at Dry Leas, and both sides struggled to assert themselves with a succession of handling errors and some disjointed play.

Henley lost influential loosehead Kadeem Collins to injury in the first few minutes, which also had an impact on the game, but replacement Louis Bailey more than held his own against Park’s much vaunted front row.

However, it was the visitors who slowly began to take control of the match, and took the lead on 10 minutes when Kieran Thompson ghosted his way through a couple of errant tackles to dive over out wide. Max Brown converted from the touchline and the Orpington-based side had their noses in front at 7-0.

Despite working hard, Henley just couldn’t find any fluency to their game and any potential scoring opportunities were contained by an excellent Westcombe Park defensive effort. The visitors pulled further clear on the quarter mark when Cook powered his way over from close range for their second of the game. Brown converted again and it was 14-0.

Henley had a couple of half chances to get themselves on the scoreboard before the interval, but with their line-out not functioning at its best, the visitors were able to repel any potential threat.

The second half continued to be a scrappy affair with both sides guilty of poor handling in the greasy conditions. Brown had a chance to extend the lead a few minutes into the second period but pulled his kick wide.

The game was slowly petering out into a forgettable affair until it burst into life with 10 minutes to go. Firstly, Cook grabbed his second of the afternoon when he saw a gap on the blindside to dot down. This moved the visitors into a seemingly unassailable 21-0 lead with Brown adding the extras.

However, with Park’s second row Sam Fombo in the sin bin, the Hawks took full advantage. Firstly, George Wood did well to find space out wide to cross the whitewash following sustained pressure, and this was followed by Will Benning’s close-range effort a couple of minutes later.

Both scores were well converted by Will Baildon and out of nowhere, it was suddenly game on. Henley had one last chance to fashion an opening to snatch a draw, but their line-out in Park’s 22 didn’t quite land, giving the visitors the chance to clear into touch to secure a well-deserved victory.

Hawks director of rugby Luke Allen was pragmatic at the final whistle. He said: “It’s another case of what could have been, but I can’t fault the boys’ effort or work rate.

“We pushed hard until the very end, and on another day, we could well have nicked another point. However, we’ve got to dust ourselves down and go again for another tough test against Havant on Saturday.”

Henley Hawks: Baildon (Gordon, 40 mins), Wood, Leach (Baildon, 66 mins), C Hayhow, Busby, Snook, Webb, Collins (Bailey, 3 mins), Hayhow S, Fakatou, Elsey (Poiner, 56 mins), Goodison, Lunnon, S White (Taylor, 66 mins), Benning. Replacements: Sichel, Bailey, Taylor, Poiner, Gordon.