After a disappointing loss the previous week, the Henley ladies 1s arrived at Oxford eager and determined to walk away with those sought after 3 points.

From the starting whistle, the amber and blues showed Oxford what they were made of, with Charlotte Hetherington turning with the ball to give a precise pass to Caitlin Barrass who was already on her way to Oxford’s goal, putting the home side’s defence straight under attack. Sadly to no avail this time, however the Henley ladies were hungry. The Oxford side slowly fought back, and eventually managed to get the ball into Henley’s half, but some flat, strong tackles by Maisie Robinson and Rachel Herbert in defence, meant they couldn’t get a shot at Henley’s goalie Anjana Sothynathan, who was ready and waiting.

Throughout the first quarter, Henley had the majority of possession, however, after a stick tackle in their defending quarter, the blues won a short corner. After a carefully placed shot, Oxford just managed to slot the ball past Sothynathan’s foot to put the home side in the lead. Down but not out, Henley went into the second quarter with real intent and a confidence that they deserved to equalise.

The ladies consistently put the home side under pressure, with Kiera Halloran on the wing and Ella Shute in the forward line working together to deny Oxford any attack. The hard work eventually paid off in the second half with Halloran intercepting the ball and using her speed to get into Oxford’s D and win a vital short corner. An accurate injection by Charlotte Hetherington to Charlotte Granger- Holcombe at the top of the D lined Herbert up to smash the ball at the blues goalie who scrappily cleared the ball. It landed however with Henley’s Lucy Wiseman who pounced to reclaim possession and wallop the ball straight into the home sides top right hand corner and level out the game to 1-1. An equaliser, but Henley were still yearning for more.

After some tactical switching play between Lucy Jean-Jean, Herbert and Mel Joyce in the defensive line, Joyce was able to find Granger-Holcombe in the middle who won a free hit. The quick ball enabled Henley to find Emma Jean-Jean on the left who skilfully passed two Oxford players to reach the base line and pass across the congested D to find Granger-Holcombe on the back post who gracefully slipped it past the goalie, putting the Henley ladies in the lead with just three minutes left on the clock.

The last 3 were a battle all the way to the final whistle but it was Henley who eventually walked away from Oxford their heads held high and a 2-1 win to be extremely proud of.