Henley Mens 5s  secure win against Sonning 6s

Henley Mens 5th XI played a local derby match away against Sonning 6s on Saturday 19th January.

Having struggled the week previously, Henley 5s went to Sonning with renewed focus. The pre match ask of playing wide and high and passing the ball around the opposition was bought into by the team and Henley started strongly, creating numerous chances in the first few minutes, including both Mike McAllister and Jon Grocock hitting the Sonning post. Much as Henley put Sonning under a lot of pressure, they were still susceptible on the break, but a combination of scrambling defence and good goalkeeping kept the home team out. The first goal came just before half time; a rebound from a short corner pushed in to the far corner of the goal by Matt Carter.

Start of the second half saw Henley step up a gear with Philip Biggs scoring two goals in quick succession. Pressure continued with Josh Batty playing great hockey in midfield and a blossoming partnership between Fergus Heggie and Matt Carter being extremely effective down the right. The opportunities kept coming with numerous crosses passing in front of the Sonning goal, but on each occasion, a Henley stick just inches too far away to score. As the match wore on and having made some positional changes, Henley took their foot off the peddle, allowing Sonning to score two goals on the break. Henley stepped up their game in the final 10 minutes and dug in to secure a very well deserved win.