Henley Ladies take second win of the weekend

The day was a miserable rainy one and the warm up disjointed. The Ladies, on a high from the win of the previous day against Milton Keynes, started the match in the positive and competitive fashion that they had finished the last one. It was a game which provided challenges to the Henley defence of being overloaded by the opposition and which previously in the season the HHC Ladies had struggled with. Despite this the team rallied early and managed the situation admirably with great coaching from Jenny Buckham-Hedges and much improved communication across the team. This then set the tone for the rest of the game.

During the rocky start and intense pressure from the Oxford Hawks, Henley fought well, they managed the pressure defensively with exceptional composure from Kat Green at right back providing awesome cover across the whole of the back of the pitch and Kath Draycott stepping in to make some crucial and perfectly timed tackles. This defensive pair were then complimented by the critical composure shown by Meg Moran in the centre of the pitch and the tireless work of Jem Barham up and down the pitch. This then allowed for Georgie Metcalfe and Ellie Roseff to power forward and work with Louisa England whose silky skills, working just behind forwards, earned her the short corner penalties that Henley deserved. It was shortly after the breakdown of one of these short corners that the ball, in a panicked outlet by the Oxford defence, was picked off by Moran who then sprinted from the halfway line, took on two Oxford defenders, dodged another one on the edge of the circle and took an early shot which powered into the net. This took Henley Ladies into half time 1-0 up.

The second half saw Henley Ladies more controlled but with continued impetus and spirit from the first half. Rachel Herbert offered composure to the Henley back line and distributed great left side balls from which Emma Walker was able to drive up the side of the pitch and feed into Emma Buckham-Hedges and Billie Moore who made short work of the Oxford defenders. Moore managed to earn Henley yet another short corner penalty which Green slid with pace and accuracy to the left post of the goal where Metcalfe took a final touch to ensure the ball ended up in the net.

Shortly after, the Oxford Ladies had a free hit in their defensive 23m area which Emma England did exceptionally well to close down and working with Moore and Louisa England, produced another penalty corner. The ball was expertly injected to Green who this time took no prisoners firing the ball into the bottom left of the goal. The match finished as a 3-0 win the Henley Ladies.

It was a superb team performance and a much needed second win of the weekend, securing Henley Ladies a position in the South Division 3A league for another season.