Men's 2s lose narrow to Harrow

Henley 2s got the second half of their campaign off to a stuttering start against Harrow last weekend. Missing quite a few regulars, they struggled to deal with Harrow’s counter attacks, and ultimately finished on the wrong side of a 9-goal match.

On a cold afternoon in Henley, it was the home side who started the brighter. Enjoying more possession & creating some good opportunities in the opening exchanges. They failed to take advantage & it was Harrow who took a 1-0 lead into half time.

A familiar start to the second half where Henley enjoyed more of the ball, but couldn’t convert that into goals. A neat breakaway from Harrow secured a 2-0 lead after 45mins. This moment seemed to act as a catalyst for Henley who finally found a way through Harrow’s defences & went on a 3-goal scoring spree over a 15-minute period. A great goal from Geoff Joseph was backed up by finishes from Jody Measures & Guy Harmer. 3-2 Henley with 20 minutes to go.

Taking the lead seemed to be a burden to the home side, who again relinquished their grip on the game, conceding 2 loose goals to trail 4-3 as the match entered its last 10 minutes. Both teams created more chances, but it was Harrow who provided the killer blow with a 5th & decisive goal to thwart Henley’s hopes of taking anything from the game. Joseph converted a scrappy goal in the closing minutes, but it was too late for Henley to go again & the final whistle went with the score at 5-4 to the visitors.

Henley will need to create more from their possession in the coming weeks if they are to stop their poor run of form. They welcome back skipper & stalwart Dan Herbert next week for their trip to Eastcote where 3 points would be a great help to their league position.