7 straight wins keeps Santa happy

Staines 3rd XI 2 – Henley 2nd XI 10

Henley 2s make it 7 wins in a row

I thought that only junior hockey was played in the AM…. Instead of taking this issue up with hockey gods, the new look 2nd XI decided to tackle the problem head on. The skipper, full of festive cheer offered a slightly more relaxed meet time given the anti-social hour. This even afforded Measures his standard lay in. The skipper’s faith was not repaid as Measures also delivered with his standard poor time keeping. On this occasion it was Slay who delayed him - shopping at the Oracle for sun lotion apparently.

Bolstering 2 juniors in the squad – Newbold & local head boy ‘Tall Sam’, the team hoped to get a flying start. They did just that, when veteran Pollard arrived at the far post to tip in before cartwheeling in celebration (he’s comfortably old enough to remember Faustino Asprilla in his Newcastle days). This was the only highlight in a jittering start from the traveling side. Rock bottom side Staines looked the busier of the two & turned the match round to lead 2-1 after 20 minutes.

The free flowing hockey we have become used to, was found to be lacking in all areas of the park - probably distracted by imminent arrival of Santa. However, pressure told as the number of short corners eventually gave way to goals. 2 drag flicks from returning old boy Al Slay made sure of a 3-2 lead at the interval. Henley will need more of this from Slay in early 2016 if they are to win this league.

The second half was a more familiar performance, as the skippers rousing words at the interval had an immediate effect. A barrage of goals from Newbold, Woolfrey & Measures ensured the Christmas spirit wasn’t dampened. The second time the team has reached the milestone of double figures in this campaign so far. It was nice to see some other familiar sights in the second half – a sniper incident from Cottam, a tumble from Pollard & some ‘sweet’ skills from Harmer before he also hit the deck (evidence suggest this was caused by an errant shoe lace). Fortunately for all, we didn’t see any antics from new hockey midfield enforcer that is Jack Draycott.

Half way through the season, with 9 wins & 59 in the goals for column is a great place to be. Twinned with a sturdy defence, the team will be hoping for a strong result at the end of this campaign. They will need to start well in January, with some tougher fixtures on the road ahead & the small matter of 2 teams with better records that need to be hauled in. However, off the back of 7 straight wins they will arrive into 2016 full of confidence they can get the job done.

The first game back is on January 16th, when Henley host Abingdon.

Henley: D Herbert, D Bowyer, T Gaze, A Slay, J Clarke, R Woolfrey, I Roberts, J Draycott, F Newbold, JJ Cottam, G Ruggiero, J Measures, S Hall, G Harmer, T Pollard