Henley defeated by Banbury

Fresh off the back of an excellent victory against Guildford in the opening week of the season, Henley returned to Banbury, the scene where they completed last season’s Great Escape – pulling off an incredible 3-2 in added time, leading to the safety of the side, as well as an extension of Interim Manager Ian Heggie’s contract, keeping him safe for the summer at least.

Things started well for the away side, soaking up pressure in the early stages of the match, before countering quickly and effectively to stun the home support and give themselves a 1-0 lead through Henley’s Greatest Of All Time – Chris Green. The lead however did not last long, as they were afforded far too much time and space in the Henley 25, waltzing into the D, before clinically finish into the bottom corner. The intensity shown by the home side right up until half time put pressure onto the Henley back line, forcing the error which led to the goal to make it 2-1.

The second half started as the first had ended – with Banbury coming out very quickly from the blocks again, and after some sustained pressure, soon made it 3-1. Henley looked to get themselves back into the game before a number of puzzling cards were handed out to the away side. This led to some disorganisation at a short corner, allowing the home team to easily flick into the net, and leave the task for Henley a little too much.

The closing stages saw a bit of a fightback from Henley, with a goal from #GOAT, and an excellent chance for Gupta, almost bringing them back into striking distance. This fightback was ended in the closing stages with a bizarre series of events which saw the umpires give too much credit to Ed Hughes-Burne's spatial awareness, deciding he “should have known” he was off the pitch, before showing him a Yellow Card, followed by a Red for a second yellow, which was immediately rescinded, as this was in fact his first yellow.

A final score of 4-2 leaves Henley with a win and a loss from their opening 2 games, and they will be hoping to put this result out of their minds, and go back to winning ways as they welcome league new boys London Edwardians to Jubilee Park next Saturday.