Henley Mens 5s v Amersham & Chalfont 5

Henley Mens 5th XI played their eighth league match of the season against Amersham & Chalfont 5 on Saturday 17th November 2018 away at Amersham & Wycombe College Campus.

With the sun hanging low in the sky, winning the toss meant that Henley got to start the match playing with the with the sun behind them as they took on Amersham & Chalfont, currently ranked second in the league.

Amersham managed to take an early lead, catching Henley off-guard and scoring an early goal in the first half. Recovering from this initial shock, Henley then settled into a more composed game. Despite a series of short corners, the Henley defence managed to keep the Amersham forwards at bay and the Henley keeper made some fine saves from some well-aimed Amersham strikes on goal. Making some great clearances through in to the midfield, Henley advanced the game up in to Amersham’s half and colts Toby Phillips, Henry Davis, Louis Poundall, Fergus Heggie and Eddie Williams worked hard to create some opportunities in the forward line. Some great play down the left wing saw the ball passed in the capable hands of Ben Williams, who then fed the ball toward the penalty spot where striker Jamie Furness was able to turn and flick the ball in to the goal in between the keeper’s pads. This equaliser certainly rattled Amersham’s confidence and highlighted to them that the Henley 5s team was not going to be a push-over. Henley stepped up the pressure on Amersham an and more great play down the left saw the ball once again inside Amersham’s 25 yard line.

Bringing the ball in to the D, colt Louis Poundall drew the opposition defence, who once again left Jamie Furness unmarked in the D. Poundall made a great pass across to Furness, who with plenty of time to play with hit a lifted shot past the keeper in to the top right of the goal. With the score at 2-1 to Henley, Amersham stepped up their game and made some strong challenges. A long ball from the Amersham midfield allowed an Amersham forward to make a clear break. Henley’s goal keeper calmly stepped out to the top of the D, forcing the forward wide and resulting in him losing control of the ball taking it out of play. Amersham made a couple of similar challenges but Henley was swift to block these and deny them of their equalizer. It was only in the final 10 minutes of the game that Amersham was able again to advance in to the D and score their second and equalizing goal. Both teams fought unto the last until the final whistle and the end result was well earned by both teams. Final score Henley 5s (2 – 2) Amersham & Chalfont 5. Congratulations to Jamie Furness who was voted man of match.