Men's 4 hard-fought win

Henley 4s set off to Bracknell with some trepidation to play South Berks 4s who were holding a strong 2nd position in the league, this trepidation heightened by a team weakened by the half term holidays. However, at the back of many player’s mind’s was the fact that a win here could catapult the 4s into the promotion race.

Fastest out of the blocks however were the home team, looking to cement their position in the league and looking strong across the pitch, Henley spent the first 10 minutes camped deep in their own half. The inevitable opening goal came for South Berks when a lightning fast break caught the Henley defence out of position and a resulting 3 on 2 saw the Henley keeper drawn to the player with the ball with the result that a quick cross field pass saw the home centre forward finish the move with a simple tap in to an open goal.

Two minutes later and again the home attack were sweeping their way up field and only a desperate lunge from keeper David Rechner kept the scope at 1-0. However in clearing the ball he also cleared out the Henley left back, Jonathan Williams, who had to leave the pitch for running repairs, further depleting Henley’s team. Stung by the ferocity of the South Berks attacks, Henley needed to regroup, which slowly but surely they did, with the Mid-field of Josh Batty and Phil Biggs stepping up and taking control. Henley now had a series of short corners but frustratingly the South Berks keeper was the match for the Henley attacks. The constant pressure was beginning to tell, and from a free hit Phil Biggs drove strongly into the opposition D and a well struck shot was saved by the diving keeper only for Tim Cima to pick up the rebound and flick the ball over the prone keeper’s body to force a deserved equaliser. South Berks were clearly rocked by the determination of the visitors and were progressively retreating further and further back into their own half. From yet another short corner a well worked move saw the ball fall to Tim Cima who again flicked over a prone keeper to put Henley 2-1 up just before half time.

The second half started much as the first half had with South Berks dominating the opening exchanges. Disaster stuck for the visitors when a pressure relieving free hit was badly struck by Martyn Watkins giving the opposition a chance to counter attack, the attack was quick and decisive and again the Henley keeper found himself exposed and a simple goal was scored to restore parity.

From here on in it was now anyone’s game. Henley’s midfield continued to impress with Max Hems particularly showing composure and control beyond his years and providing opportunities for the Henley forwards but without the desired outcome. South Berks again pressed and were looking favourite to score the decider David Rechner in the Henley goal was equal to the challenge denying a number of clear chances to score.

Henley pushed forward and were awarded a short corner somewhat against the run of play. The initial shot from Biggs was blocked, with the rebound coming back to him, Phil Biggs skilfully beat one defender before slipping the ball to Martyn Watkins 2 yards from the near post who calmly slotted home to give a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Not surprisingly, South Berks threw the kitchen sink at Henley in the final 10 minutes to try and force an equaliser, but cometh moment cometh the man, and in this case young Enzo Chessman stepped up and showed determination and composure working along side the vastly experienced Adam Warner in defence to keep out multiple South Berks attacks. With the final whistle blown is was time for the Amber and Blues to celebrate a deserved if somewhat unexpected win that puts them in an outside chance of promotion.