Gupta on target twice as Henley seal victory

Unbeaten Henley faced fellow promoted side from last season’s campaign, Ashford (Middlesex) on Saturday 1st November, in what proved to be an eventful encounter.

With confidence high after winning all 4 matches prior to this one, Henley started strongly and found themselves dominating the match in the opening half. After 10 minutes Ed Foster flicked the ball high into the Ashford goal, following good work from Luke Gupta and Ross Hibberd down the right wing. This lead was then doubled just minutes later, as Gupta sprinted past the spritely Ashford backline to finish calmly when one-on-one with the goal keeper. Just before the half-time break Henley increased their lead to 3-0, Gupta again on target after Rhys Joyce played a well-weighted through-ball over the top of the Ashford defence.

The second half proved to be much more difficult for Henley however. The home side pulled a goal back 5 minutes into the half to keep the match alive, but Rhys Joyce scored again for the visitors and then Richard Woolfrey soon maintained Henley’s 3-goal cushion after he unleashed a ferocious shot in the corner of the Ashford goal. With the match all but won at 5-2, Henley then had a mini-implosion, with Ashford finishing very strongly, throwing everybody forward in hope of late goals.

Following some good fortune and good drag-flicking, these goals came, and with 1 minute left to play the home side remarkably had a chance of salvaging a point as they were awarded a short-corner on the stroke of full time. Henley stood firm however, and managed to scramble the ball to safety, meaning that they won their fifth league match in a row. The final score Ashford 4, Henley 5.