Henley Hawks vs Colchester – Saturday, February 8th, kick-off 3pm
By Alistair Beynon
Henley Hawks welcome Essex side Colchester to Dry Leas for the first time tomorrow (February 8th) for their latest National 2 East fixture. Luke Allen’s men will have been disappointed with their overall performance in the narrow defeat against Westcombe Park last weekend, and will be looking to put that right against a side who currently sit second from bottom in the league table.
However, there are no straightforward fixtures in this division as was proved when the Hawks travelled to Essex back in October. On a day of torrential wind and rain, Henley edged past their hosts, 10-7 with the only real bright moment coming in the first half when Jamar Richardson’s wonder try lit up an otherwise dour contest.
Colchester have had a tough introduction to life in National 2 East with their solitary victory coming at Sevenoaks back in November. However, they have secured several losing bonus points and have put in some strong performances against some of the top sides in the league, so Henley cannot go into the clash showing any signs of complacency.
In terms of team selection, Allen and Head Coach Rob Cain welcome back several faces into the match day squad that were unavailable for the Westcombe Park clash. In the pack, Spencer Hayhow will go straight back into the starting XV at hooker, whilst Marcus Lowe and Roan Noone also come back into the side. Shek Sheriff, the second row on loan from Chinnor, is still injured but hopefully will be back in contention soon.
In the backs, Toby Howe switches to fly half with Jamar Richardson moving to full back. George Wood and Lailand Gordon come back in on the wings.
The provisional Henley side to face Colchester tomorrow is:
15. Jamar Richardson, 14.George Wood, 13. Callum Jones, 12. Leo Webb, 11. Lailand Gordon, 10. Toby Howe, 9. Joe Pattison, 1. Kadeem Collins, 2. Spencer Hayhow, 3. Rory Mason (c), 4. Marcus Lowe, 5. Sam Lunnon, 6. Fin Basil, 7. Roan Noone, 8. Will Benning
Replacements: 16. Louis Bailey, 17. Scotty White, 18. Max Titchener, 19. Morgan Poiner, 20. Ivor Langley
Elsewhere this weekend sees a triple header of fixtures at Dry Leas on Saturday with the 2nd XV facing off against Rams 3’s in a big local derby. The 3’s are also at home to Windsor 2’s with both games kicking of at 2.30pm on the Riverside pitches. The Hawks Women have a rest weekend.