Men's 2s win again to maintain pressure

Ramgarhia 1s 0 (0) vs Henley 2s 5 (4)

In years gone by, this has been a feisty encounter. Even though, Henley had won the same match last season by 10 goals, it was “competitive” until the end with the bad tackles and yellow cards distributed evenly between teams. Now a more professional outfit, Henley sought to take control of this game in the first half and did just that. A strong midfield quartet of Herbert, Herbert, Forester & Nield (sounds like an unscrupulous Solicitors firm) began the game strongly and created a great opening for Jean-Jean, which just went wide. The mercurial Frenchman made amends minutes later, sweeping home a gentle cross from the right. Nield, revelling under the pressure of a big money move from local rivals Windsor, doubled the score with a near post whammy and Forester justified his place in the penalty corner routine with a clever mis-flick to go 3.0 up. Henley started to up the tempo; Measures – adrenalin pumping - dropped back into midfield to earn a free hit and sprinted downfield to collect a 30 yard aerial. Unfortunately, the pitch had been well-watered in that corner and Measures was unable to avoid a theatrical swan dive. Fortunately, there was no card for simulation and Measures was able to continue to play for 30 seconds before being substituted.

Then the move of the match; Nield to Measures to Woolfrey on the left touchline, who played a perfectly weighted ball for Timothy Herbert to tap in. This capped an excellent half of hockey which Henley would try – and ultimately fail – to live up to in the second half. Forester, imperious in the first half, struggled under the weight of his pre-match Wagyu and Moore left the field after taking a bullet in the left knee. As the game got more stretched, Henley continued to dominate but the Ramgarhia keeper made several excellent saves. Jean-Jean hit the post, Dan Herbert hit the keeper and finally Tim Herbert hit the net for 5.0. Great credit goes to the Henley defence and the mighty Bowyer in goal for another clean sheet. They will have more difficult days but after Saturday, Henley can now boast the strongest defence in the league. To top off an excellent day, Oxford Hawks, one place above Henley in the league, lost meaning that the race for promotion is wide open and likely to go to the wire.

Henley: R Woolfrey, D Bowyer, D Herbert, J Baker, J Measures, B Smith, K Neild, J Forrester, T Herbert, J Moore, T Bodeker, M Herbert, N Jean-Jean