2s battle ends in a stalemate

Henley 2’s welcomed Eastcote 2’s to Jubilee Park on Saturday 9th Feb.

The game started well for Henley with high pressure and a couple of half chances created. The good start was countered with a fast breakaway and Eastcote striking first with a powerful low reverse shot! 0–1 Eastcote.

Henley continued to play well but struggled sometimes to pin Eastcote in and allowing runners to cause them problems defensively.

Ironically Henley struck back during one of their poorer sections of the game. A ball played long into the stick of Nico J-J left him a 1-1 with the last defender he cooly strolled past him and hit a powerful shot low towards the corner, a kind bounce off the post and keeper left the ball in the back of the net. 1-1!

Having found themselves level Henley were disappointed to quickly concede what they thought to be a soft penalty corner. Eastcote punished them with a rebound goal after an initial fine save from GK Dave Bowyer. 1-2 Eastcote.

Half time came and the challenge to pick up intensity and take back control of the game were met by Henley conceding within the first couple of minutes of the restart. 1-3 Eastcote. Not quite the start that was desired!

This was the point of the match where Henley stepped up. The hockey improved. The work rate improved and 3 quick fire goals. A neat deflection from Jeremy H-B, followed by a Penalty Corner goal from Kevin Jones and finally a powerful strike from the top of the D from Captain Richard Woolfrey. This left Henley 4-3 infront with approximately 15 minutes to play.

Throughout this period Henley were fighting against adversity as they spent the last 20 minutes of the game with 9 or 10 men with a flurry of green and yellow cards. Some were harsh, some were avoidable. Eastcote also felt the wrath of the umpires cards but to a less extent. This visibly effected the momentum and flow of Henley’s powerful second half performance and Eastcote started to sneak back into the game.

With around 10 minutes left Eastcote equalised with a smart close range deflection from a powerful injection into the D. 4-4!

Henley left disappointed not necessarily at the result but specifically with spells of the game in which they did not perform to their high standards. They are unbeaten in 6 games but in this league draws won’t be enough to displace the top 2.

The quest for promotion rolls onto next week with a number of must win fixtures ahead. Starting next week away at Bicester.