Henley Hawks stage stirring comeback to secure first away win

Henley Hawks Leo Webb

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Westcombe Park 19-25 Henley Hawks

An excellent second half display full of determination and resilience provided Henley Hawks with their first away win of the season over Westcombe Park on Saturday afternoon.

Trailing 12-3 at the interval, it looked like the Hawks would come away empty-handed, but three tries in the second period, coupled with an excellent rearguard effort, propelled Luke Allen's side to what could be a vital victory come the end of the season.

The only downside for Henley were the injuries sustained in what was a bruising encounter, with George Wood, Fin Basil and Callum Jones all picking up knocks.

It was a cagey opening with neither side able to find much fluency in the early exchanges. Henley's cause wasn't helped with Wood limping off after just nine minutes of the contest gone.

The home side slowly began to assert their dominance on the game with a series of penalties within the Henley 22, and the pressure finally told on 13-minutes when their inspirational captain Nick Cook was the man to dot down following a driving maul. Fly Half Max Brown was wide with his conversion attempt.

However, Henley quickly hit back just a couple of minutes later with a well-struck Jones penalty to put the Hawks on the board at 5-3 to the Kent side.

Frustratingly for the Hawks, prop Moses Fakatou was yellow carded on the half hour mark for persistent infringements, and the home side made them pay when Cook's break from the back of a scrum on the Henley 5-metre line was well finished by fullback Toby Wallace. Brown converted well from out wide and Westcombe Park had a built an imposing 12-3 half time advantage.

Whatever was said in the Hawks changing room during the interval clearly had the desired effect, as Henley looked a different side in the second half.

They pulled themselves back into the contest on 43-minutes when flanker Fin Basil cut an excellent line to power his way through the Park defence to cross the whitewash. Jones missed the conversion, but Henley had a foothold in the game at 12-8.

Jones, who has been in excellent form this season, went off with what looked like a nasty ankle injury five minutes later, forcing Henley into a reshuffle of the backs. However, the setback didn't derail their ambitions as they took the lead for the first time on the hour mark.

With Harry Hudson in the sin bin for Park following a no-arms tackle, Henley quickly took advantage when a powerful scrum on the Park 5-metre line saw Oskar White the man to dot down. Toby Howe, now with the added responsibility of kicking duties, made no mistake with the extras and Henley had their noses in front at 15-12.

However, that lead didn't last long as the home side quickly found themselves back in the ascendency. They retook the lead with just over 10-minutes remaining when prop Najee Mundicha peeled off the back of a driving maul to crash over. Replacement scrum half Mikel Davies added the conversion, and this see-saw contest was now back in the hands of Westcombe Park, who had a narrow 19-15 advantage.

And that lead could've been extended further had it not have been for Howe's sensational covering tackle on Cook which saw the big Number 8 pulled down just short of the try line, eventually conceding a knock-on.

Henley refused to buckle, and with eight minutes remaining on the clock, grabbed their third try of the game when Leo Webb's quick tap penalty in the home sides 22 saw the ever-present scrum half dart through the Park defence to dive over, much to the delight of his team mates. Howe added the extras, and Henley had regained the initiative at 22-19.

With Cook yellow carded for a high tackle, with just over a minute remaining, Howe sensibly added the straightforward penalty to further the Hawks lead to 25-19.

However, there was still time for one last twist, as Park rolled the dice with a brilliant catch at the re-start, and when Henley infringed at the ruck, were rewarded with a penalty which was kicked to touch just 5-metres out.

From the resultant lineout, Hudson broke through the middle of a ruck, but Webb's superb tackle stopped the big second row from what would've been the game winning try. Spinning the ball wide, Park had one final chance to claim the points, but to the relief of the Hawks players, the ball drifted forward despite Wallace dotting down in the corner.

Henley saw out the remaining minute, kicking the ball into touch to signify the end of what was a physical clash, but a very much-needed four point triumph.

Next up for Henley is the visit of an in-form Havant side to Dry Leas this coming Saturday in what will be another huge game for Allen's men. With the win at Westcombe Park, Henley have now opened a seven-point gap on Sevenoaks in 13th, but they will also have one eye on Esher's visit to Oundle in the hope of clawing back some ground on the London side in 11th place. Esher now sit four points ahead of Henley following their excellent win over Old Albanian.

There's still plenty of rugby to be played this season, in what is building to a fascinating and nerve-shredding finale for all Henley supporters.

Henley Hawks

15. Wood, 14. Busby, 13. Jones, 12. Leach, 11. Gordon, 10. Howe, 9. Webb, 1. Fakatou, 2. Hayhow (c), 3. Niazi, 4. Elsey, 5. Lunnon, 6. Basil, 7. Brown, 8. Benning

Replacements: 16. Kinniburgh, 17. Shpylka, 18. Taylor, 19. 0. White, 20. S. White