Men's 2s
Matches
Sat 23 Mar 2019  ·  Middx, Berks, Bucks & Oxon - Division 1
Henley Hockey Club
Men's 2s
C Green (20'), J Measures (29')
2
0
Sonning 2
2s win again to make promotion play off next Sat

2s win again to make promotion play off next Sat

Richard Woolfrey25 Mar 2019 - 12:09
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2s win again to make promotion play off next Sat

Henley 2XI vs Sonning 2XI

Henley 2-0 Sonning

Henley’s push for promotion continues unabated with an industrious two goal home victory over local rivals Sonning. With the league title already in the hands of Harrow, the focus on Saturday was to ensure Henley set up a promotion deciding-game next Saturday when Henley can steal second place with a victory against Oxford Hawks.

From the early encounters, it appeared that Sonning’s vocal 16-man squad was enjoying the opportunity to prove that they were better value than their tenth place in the league. Both sides tested out their opposite midfields without many rewards, but it was Henley that seemed to edge the territorial battle, eventually conjuring some D entries and goal-scoring opportunities that brought out the best in the Sonning keeper to maintain parity. A string of Henley penalty corners came to nothing, and from open play Henley’s Chris Green, on his return from a long lay-off with a hamstring injury, could have secured a hat-trick within the first period were it not for the Sonning keeper. However, he remained a threat to the Sonning defensive line with his ability to find space and time in the D, and eventually a Richard Woolfrey cross from the right found Green unmarked at the back post to slot past the stranded keeper. This provided some much needed buoyancy to the home team who surged forward in greater numbers to apply pressure to the Sonning back line, paying off with a well-executed strike by Jody Measures from a penalty corner.

With the pace of today’s hockey, a two goal lead can evaporate within minutes so the message in the Henley camp at half-time was essentially 'more of the same'. The break seemed to recharge the visitors though and they piled on as much pressure through the midfield as they could muster, resulting a number of penalty corners and some shots ably dealt with by the defence of Smith, Moore and Bodeker and by Roy Cox in the Henley goal. As the game drew on it became more attritional which seemed to affect the Henley team more adversely. Temporary suspensions to Jones and Measures unbalanced the midfield but ultimately Sonning’s bluster petered out when they found no way through and they realised their efforts were in vain. With the game more stretched, a few more opportunities saw Tim Herbert blast wide from a reverse stick shot and Dan Herbert force another save from the Sonning keeper.

Overall, job done and the stage is now set for a promotion showdown away at Oxford Hawks on Saturday.

Team:
R. Woolfrey, K. Jones, T. Herbert, D. Herbert, R. Cox, B. Smith, T. Bodecker, J. Moore, A. Slay, C. Green, J. Measures, J. Hughes-Burne, A. Price

Match details

Match date

Sat 23 Mar 2019

Kickoff

11:45

Meet time

10:45

Location

Competition

Middx, Berks, Bucks & Oxon - Division 1

League position

1
Henley 2
12
Sonning 2
Team overview
Further reading