Dramatic draw against Marlow

It was to be a game of two halves as Henley started strong with several entries into Marlow’s D from driving runs by forwards, Sophie Hoskins, Emma Walker and Taminah Brown. Midfielders Mel Joyce, Jemma Barham, Georgie Metcalfe and Lou England, ably feeding balls through and winning several short corners. Despite the pressure, Henley were unable to convert their chances, meaning it was 0 - 0 at half time.

Marlow came out strong in the second half, with Henley a little slow to find their rhythm, which Marlow capitalized on finding the back of the net first. Despite this setback, Henley’s defence of Kat Green, Rachel Herbert and Chloe Nelson rallied and held off further strong attacks from Marlow, with some well timed tackles from Charlotte Cockerton, Ellie Roseff and Kath Draycott, stopping any forward motion and turning defence into attack.

One of these moves led the ball to be worked up the right hand side of the pitch with skillful play between Nelson and Roseff. Roseff accurately fed the ball forwards to Captain Metcalfe, who drove down the right, slipping it inside past the Marlow defender to find a ready and waiting Hoskins, who determinedly slapped it into the goal to draw level. This led to Marlow increasing the attacking pressure and in the last few moments, a Marlow player drove into the circle and shot high and hard at goal. Luckily, goalkeeper and player of the match, Hannah Lavis was able to get a hand to it and push the ball wide in a dramatic end to the game. Final score 1 - 1.