Henley Hawks Men 27-38 Esher

By Alistair Beynon

Esher came away with a bonus point victory at a misty Dry Leas after a bruising encounter with Henley Hawks Men on Saturday afternoon. 

Despite trailing by just six points heading into the final moments of the match, a late Lewis Pickford try for the visitors denied Henley a second bonus point for their efforts. 

In truth, Esher were the better side, but the Hawks never gave up and despite losing influential captain Ben Elsey to injury after just four minutes, they refused to capitulate and fought hard until the end. However, just like last weekend at Dorking, they had to overturn a 16-point half time deficit that proved to be a step too far despite a much improved second half display. 

The early exchanges were physical, which set the tone for the match, and with Elsey limping off with a knee injury early on, Henley needed to re-organise the pack quickly. Given how important he is to the team, it was a big loss, and Esher took full advantage when they opened the scoring thanks to prop Jacob Morris powering over from close range after sustained pressure in the Henley 22. Ex-Hawk Matt Dalrymple converted and the visitors had an early advantage at 7-0. 

Henley just couldn't get their hands on the ball for any length of time, and with the set piece struggling in the opening exchanges, it gave the visitors opportunities to regain possession. A powerful driving maul on 17-minutes was well finished by hooker Sam Westacott, and Esher doubled their advatange with Dalrymple adding the extras. 

However, with former Ram Mike Cooke pulling the strings at fly half, Henley patiently began to work their way back into the contest. A penalty advantage was kicked to the corner, and this time the lineout worked perfectly with Nelly Kinniburgh putting the finishing touches on a well-worked forwards try. Cooke converted and Henley were back in the contest at 14-7 with a quarter of the game gone. 

Henley had their tails up, and with Callum Jones and Jimmy Leach back in their favoured positions, the Hawks midfield were stretching the visitors defence. Likewise, wings Aaron Bello and Seb Scott were both making hard yards on the flanks. A Cooke penalty for Henley on 27-minutes narrowed the gap further at 14-10. 

That was about as good as it got for Henley in the first half as Esher pulled away with two quick scores before the break. First, the visitors patiently worked an opening for wing Alex Gribbon to cross the whitewash out wide to extend the lead to 19-10 with Dalrymple narrowly wide with the conversion. 

This was quickly followed by a gift of a try from Henley after they were guilty of trying to force an opening in midfield, and with the ball going loose, Esher's excellent scrum half Pierre Thompson was the first to collect it to run in unopposed. It was a real gut punch for the Hawks to concede such a soft try just before the interval after working so hard to get themselves back into the contest. Dalrymple converted, and the visitors had built an imposing 26-10 lead at the break. 

With Scott picking up a thumb injury, Henley were again forced into making changes during the half time interval with Leo Webb moving to the wing and Iwan Hughes coming into scrum half. 

Henley suddenly looked a different side, playing with real aggression and more than matching the visitors for physicality. Kadeem Collins was back to his rampaging best, and with Bello breaking through the Esher defence on 45-minutes, his deft offload to Jones saw the centre dive over for Henley's second of the game. Cooke converted, and it was now 26-17 to Esher. 

However, it was clear why the visitors had won seven games in a row heading into this game, and with both Thompson and Dalrymple continuing to be a thorn in Henley's side, Esher patiently worked the ball into the Henley 22. Knowing an opportunity would eventually present itself, prop Will McKenna was the man to find a gap in the Hawks defensive line to dot down. Dalrymple again converted and Esher had pulled clear again at 33-15. 

However, to their great credit, this Henley side never know when they're beaten and back they came again. First, a half break from Collins put the Hawks on the front foot, and the ball was worked wide at speed for Tom Molhoek to glide over the whitewash to pull the score back to 33-20. Cooke was narrowly off target with the conversion. 

Henley had their tails up, and a fantastic flat pass from Cooke found Jones on a great line to cut through the heart of the visitors defence to dot down underneath the posts for his second.  This time, Cooke converted and the Hawks had pulled it back to 33-27.  All of a sudden, the game was in the balance with just 15-minutes remaining. 

Frustratingly for the home supporters, Henley struggled to build on the momentum and couldn't fashion another opening into the Esher half. The visitors upped their game again, and with a couple of minutes left on the clock were rewarded with their sixth score of the game when replacement hooker Pickford was the man to cross out wide, much to their jubilation. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Luke Allen's side who had worked so hard to get more out of the game, but with the late score, it meant the Hawks only game away with a try bonus point for their efforts. 

The fixtures don't get any easier for Henley as they travel to current league leaders Oundle next, with the Northamptonshire side claiming nine wins from nine games. 

Henley Hawks

15. Molhoek, 14. Scott, 13. Jones, 12. Leach, 10. Cooke, 9. Well, 1. Collins, 2. Kinniburgh, 3. Darlington, 4. Elsey (c), 5. Harrison, 6. Lowe, 7. Brown, 8. Benning 

Replacements: 16. Shpylka, 17. Peacock, 18. Taylor, 19. White, 20. Hughes

Match photos courtesy of Rhiannon Jones available here.