Henley travelled to local county rivals Oxford OBU in search of 3 points from the as yet unbeaten league leaders. With the returning Tom Walter, Luke Gupta and Robbie Mortimer (kind of) to the fold, and losing Ed Hughes-Burne to mysterious circumstances at the last minute – reports of a number of sightings still in “The Joker” Halloween fancy dress as yet unconfirmed – the team were confident of claiming a victory on a rain soaked surface that was bound to play well.

After a cagey opening few minutes, with good chances created by the visitors, Jeff Ghosep reminded everyone why he is not allowed to play bottom diamond, after rolling out the red carpet to welcome the Oxford player into the Henley D to give the home side the lead.

Henley remained very much in the game, breaking down their opponents half court press with regularity and carving out a number of opportunities, but were unfortunate to not get the goal that would have taken them into half time level.

The second half began in frantic fashion, with Henley quickly conceding, but almost immediately fighting back to within a goal, thanks to a deflected effort from Matt Riches. Some further sustained pressure from Henley brought out a rash challenge from the Oxford goalkeeper, and saw a penalty flick awarded to the visitors. Joyce duly wound up his sizable back swing, and gave the ball a hit – a la Wayne Gretsky – nicely into the bottom corner, using his powers of persuasion to convince the umpires they had seen nothing more than a gentle push.
More end to end action followed, with Oxford breaking quickly against the Henley defence, and scoring 3 goals in quick succession, leaving Henley with a sizable task if they were to get anything out of the game.

Henley did not give in, however, and found more joy in the Oxford D, with a lovely far post deflection at full stretch from the 7ft 3 Frenchman Nico Jean-Jean. So good they named him twice. A second goal from Riches saw ensured a nervy 5 minutes, and with Henley piling on the pressure, an equaliser seemed destined to arrive. Alas, it was not the case, and the match ended 5-4 to Oxford, but with plenty of positives to take, and a feeling the game would have a different result in the return fixture.

Goals: Matt Riches x2, Rhys Joyce, Nico Jean-Jean
Man of the Match: Geoff Joseph
Dick of the Day: Beaver
Next match: Tulse Hill & Dulwich (away)

Author: Sam Heaver