Coxy’s Swansong

After 12 years of fairly indifferent form during which: he had to resort to captaining the team for 4 years in order to retain his place; he conceded a South Hockey League record of 756 goals, a mark that will surely never be surpassed; and he kept a mere 3 clean sheets - the time had finally come for Roy Cox, Henley’s long-suffering, but much loved (in the same way one loves their Granny), goalkeeper to hang up his colander resembling pads. So what better way to go out than a trip to the seaside resort of Lewes with 3 points required to most likely secure Henley’s tenure in South Prem 1.

On the back of a run of 3 wins in 4 games including a dramatic added time winner at Banbury, Henley had guaranteed no worse than a 9th place finish and ensured they avoided one of the 3 automatic relegation slots. With 8th placed London Wayfarers travelling to the free-scoring, unbeaten at home, second placed Havant it appeared a win against already relegated Lewes should allow Henley to leapfrog Wayfarers, secure absolute safety, and avoid the need to rely on the National League Relegation play-offs to go their way.
In a sign of desperation, Interim Manager Ian Heggie made 2 crucial and controversial selection decisions. Defender Rob Rowe was dropped for the 2nd XI golden stick Richard Woolfrey, a decision which Rob Rowe described as “the most humiliating of my career”, and utility man David Ralph was also dropped following a training pitch bust up with the interim manager, apparently around the philosophy of playing only 3 at the back with such a weak keeper behind them.

Despite these decisions it was still a confident Henley squad that made the lengthy trip South. Particularly buoyant was the mood in the Interim Manager’s car where Roy Cox made his season debut trip and was thoroughly entertained by wide ranging topics, culminating in Ed Hughes-Burne’s rather eye watering views on the merits of a dictatorial political system, the need for the death penalty and the inadequacies of the US presidential electoral system. It was educational.

To the game itself. In the pre-game pep talk Heggie and Joyce placed emphasis on keeping it tight in the first half, trusting the system, running with the opposition, not diving in and discipline. The first 30 seconds went pretty well. Benji Hetherington picked a tackle in the middle of the park and swift interplay down the right side involving Joyce, Hibberd and Gupta cut through a porous Lewes defence and resulted in Gupta squaring for Henley’s best ever player Chris Green to slot comfortably from 8 yards out. Nerves settled.

Unfortunately the first 30 seconds were as good as it got in the first half. Lewes possessed 2 or 3 very talented dribblers and they soon discovered that they could pick the ball up on the halfway line and set off on mazy runs through a loose Henley press, avoid the diving in tackles of the Henley players and make their way to the top of the circle with relative ease, before finally being either upended by a riled Robbie Mortimer, losing control of the ball or firing wide of a befuddled Cox in goal. This became the pattern of much of the first half with Lewes dominating filed position and possession.

When Henley did get hold of the ball they looked dangerous. Playing the ball around nicely they were able to breach the Lewes half court press relatively easily and feed the ball to Henley’s best ever player Chris Green along with the other hard working forwards, Luke Gupta and the underrated Geoff Jospeh, who created 2 or 3 good opportunities in the half. The problem was Henley had precious little of the ball in the first period.

Lewes eventually equalized on 24 minutes in unsurprising style when Chris Spruce picked the ball up on the halfway line close to the right touchline, cut inside, avoided 4 lunging tackles, drove to the top left of the circle and unleashed a reverse stick shot, their first on target, through the legs of Roy Cox. Old habits die hard.

Despite a number of other forays and excellent opportunities Lewes failed to translate their dominance into any more goals, and whilst Ed Hughes Burne received a yellow card just before the interval for a clumsy challenge that tripped up Chris Spruce on another mazy dribble, Henley got to half-time reasonably unscathed.

The second half was much better. A much more disciplined press and a much more disciplined tackling display saw Henley pretty much nullify the Lewes dribbling tactic, and momentum and control of the game swung the Amber and Blues’ way. Hetherington and Joyce started to dominate the middle of the park, as they have done so many times this season, and provided the launch pad for the front 5 to cause the Lewes defence increasing problems.

Ross Hibberd was at his mischievous best, tormenting the Lewes left back, Foster found increasing pockets of space between the Lewes midfield and defence and Taylor provided excellent energy and overlapping runs down the left side. With Joseph producing a magnificently energetic display upfront complimenting the work of Luke Gupta and Henley’s best ever player Chris Green, Henley looked in control. All the while Interim Manager astutely kept Richard Woolfrey back – much in the way Klopp deals with Benteke….
At the other end Tom Walter was used in a defensive role this time out and he provided much need calm and assurance on the ball particularly during the second half, and all seemed very comfortable at the back with Rob Mortimer, Sam Heaver and Ed Hughes Burne looking increasingly assured. Indeed bar a five minute spell following the inevitable Rob Mortimer yellow card after the long running spat with the Lewes centre forward boiled over once too many times, and a flurry of short corners late on, Lewes rarely threatened in the second half.

Henley had to wait until 13 minutes from time to convert their pressure into a lead. Some more excellent work form Hibberd and Heaver down the right saw the ball flash across the goal and partially cleared. Henley’s best ever player Chris Green picked it up on the wide left, played a very neat one-two with Gupta, before slotting from a very tight angle to collect his second of the game.

A few minutes later Gupta scored a well earned goal of his own. With Lewes throwing men forward, Henley created several break opportunities resulting in a number of 2 on 1s or 3 on 2s. From one such break the ball was worked well to Gupta who was left 1on 1 with the keeper and produced a delicate squeezed shot that looped over the very impressive Josh Pewter (there’s a slot going at Henley if you fancy it next season Josh!!) in the Lewes goal.

With the game almost secure and 6 minutes left on the clock, Richard Woolfrey was unleashed from the bench, and should have scored with his first touch, as a well placed Joyce aerial need the merest of dinks over the advancing keeper, but Woolfrey failed to make contact. Seconds later he had another chance to score with his first touch as another Henley break found Woolfrey unmarked in the circle, but he failed to stop it cleanly.

In the end it was a well deserved win, albeit in the end for nought. Havant produced a lacklustre home display to lose to Wayferers, and so Henley will have to rely on either Chichester or Bromley and Beckenham to win the National League relegation play-offs. The first match saw Chichester travel to Wakefield on Sunday and record a 4-1 victory, which is a great result for the Amber on Blues.

At the start of the season the 1st team set themselves a number of goals, but the two key ones were:
- To achieve 24 points or more – achieved… albeit turns out 24 points wasn’t quite enough for certain safety!
- To assist the 2nd XI in winning their league – achieved – congratulations to the 2nd XI and in particular to Dan Hebert the 2nd XI skipper who finally had some consistency in team selection this season

As a first effort in Southern Prem 1, the team can be really proud of their achievement, whatever the outcome of the National League Play-offs. The squad effort has been exceptional and the positivity within the group even when results were not going our way was well rewarded in the end with a run of 4 wins in 5 games, and should provide the momentum for a strong basis next season.

Finally, a proper mention for Roy Cox. He has been a stalwart for the club over the 12 years he has been involved. His time as Captain came at the most challenging time for the Men’s section, with pressure on playing numbers and a team struggling in the MBBO regional league. He showed huge leadership qualities at the time and his tenure as Captain turned the 1st XI around, culminating in promotion back to South Prem 2 and helped support the maintenance of 4 Men’s sides through the leagues, and he is a key driver of why the club is in a strong position today. On the pitch he has been exceptional. Despite the grief he gets he is a great keeper and has won us, or kept us in, many a game over the years. A true gentlemen of the club, he will be sorely missed on and off the pitch. It will be a huge hole to fill. Oh and thanks for the big break….

Report by Ian Heggie (1st XI Interim Manager)

Team: R Foggoa, R Mortimer, E Hughes-Burne, T Gaze, D Herbert, R Hibberd, R Joyce, B Hetherington, J Taylor, E Foster (C), J Measures, G Joseph, R Woolfrey, C Green