Brilliant Barrass brace buries Banbury

Henley 3rd team delivered another superlative team performance to register another comprehensive victory to beat Banbury 3s 5-0, Tim Barrass capping a superb individual performance with two goals.

Henley continued to display the fast, flowing hockey of the previous week. The raw skill, pace and power of the forward line of Barrass, Leo Packham, Timothy Herbert and Sam Brown proved impossible for the Banbury defence to handle.

The midfield of Jack Draycott, Alex Price, Ian Roberts and John-Joe Cottam worked tirelessly to starve Banbury of possession, linking quickly with the forwards to create goalscoring opportunities.

The opening goal came from Brown, who finished confidently following skilful work wide on the left through Herbert and Price.

Leading 1-0 at half time and enjoying the majority of possession, Henley patiently built their attacking platform after the interval.

Barrass accounted for the second goal, slapping the ball home after Cottam delivered a pass of pin-point accuracy having robbed a Banbury defender of the ball.

The third came following Packham’s powerful drive down the right. Packham found Barrass with a strong cross, who finished sharply.

Draycott took the score to 4-0 following a neat penalty corner finish, with Roberts adding the fifth with an instinctive strike from another penalty corner rebound.

Banbury struggled in response to the Henley onslaught. The strong defence of Bodeker, Clarke and Austin did not concede a penalty corner and rarely looked troubled, with goalkeeper Ryan Foggoa comfortably snuffing out any Banbury attack.