Challenging game against Chiswick

A confident home side made their intentions clear from the start, with wave after wave of attacks, but with Kath Draycott at centre back holding fort, the circle was protected and they were allowed only a few attempts at goal; and Hannah Lavis between the posts was ready to clear any up.

Henley gave as good as they got, with Charlotte Cockerton, Billie Moore and Emma Buckham-Hedges creating their own opportunities upfront. It was the Henley side that took the lead following a favourite short-corner routine of Kat Green disguise passing the ball to Lou England for a deflection in. Not long after though Chiswick broke through the barrier and equalised.

End-to-end hockey continued, with rotating outside midfielders Emma Walker, Ellie Roseff and Georgie Metcalfe running shuttles down the sidelines as both teams turned the ball over quickly. Henley’s second short-corner saw Lou England feed the ball to Charlotte Cockerton on the right-post to tip it in. However the amber and blues were unable to hold on to the lead for long and they went into half time at 2-2.

Henley made the second half hard for themselves with poor decision-making and basic skills, gifting Chiswick with stray balls and easy turn-overs all over the pitch. Fortunately birthday girl Katie Butler, Lou England, Jem Barham and Meg Moran plugged the centre of the pitch so that Chiswick still had to work hard to gain any ground. A questionable umpire decision saw Chiswick awarded a short-corner, for which a straight strike was enough. With Henley still shaky, Chiswick soon scored again.

This woke Henley up and they retaliated, pushing Chiswick back into their own half and advancing towards the D. A precision pass from Meg Moran found Jem Barham on the p-spot ready to tip through the keeper’s legs. Henley were alive again and a come-back felt possible; wide defenders Sophie Hoskins and Kat Green broke down attacks and distributed the ball back up the pitch for more attempts towards goal. Yet despite numerous short corners and goal-mouth scrambles, Henley could not get back on the score sheet. A sudden break from the Chiswick side saw them secure a fifth goal, leaving the score 5-3 and making the hoped-for equaliser out of reach.

Written by Kat Green.