Henley Hawks 8-12 Westcombe Park 

By Alistair Beynon

Despite throwing the kitchen sink at Westcombe Park in the second half, Henley Hawks came up just short in a game that despite being thin on the scoreboard, made up for it in the physicality between two very evenly matched sides.

It was very much a game of two halves. The first dictated by the visitors who were good value for their 12-0 lead at the break, dominating the breakdown to great effect. However, the second period saw the Hawks stage a valiant comeback, but fell short against a stoic defensive effort from Combe who edged it come the final whistle.

Luke Allen's men will be frustrated that they couldn't build on last Saturday's excellent victory at Dorking, but they knew the physical challenge that awaited them as Combe have had a good season, currently sitting in fifth place in the National 2 East standings. 

And it was the visitors who started the game on the front foot. With the ground very heavy, both sides were using their forwards to make the hard yards, and with a large, physical pack, Combe were gaining good ground with Ben Charnock, Nick Cook and Najee Mundicha all impressing early on. The pressure eventually told when prop Sam Kenny powered his way over the line after 20 minutes to open the scoring for Combe. Nathan Wyman converted and the visitors had grabbed the initiative at 7-0.

Henley just couldn't get going and any opportunities to build a platform quickly evaporated as the Combe lineout put a stranglehold on the Hawks ambitions. A frustrating half got worse for the Hawks as Mundicha extended the visitors lead on 25 minutes when the big second row powered over in the corner following a well-worked catch and drive. Wyman missed the conversion attempt, but Combe had stretched their lead to 12-0. 

It was proving to be a scrappy contest with both sides cancelling each other out. Wyman had a further penalty opportunity on the stroke of half time but the Hawks breathed a sigh of relief as his kick floated just wide. 

Some hard words were said during the break and this appeared to have the desired effect as Henley started the second half on the front foot, and were rewarded when Nelly Kinniburgh spotted a gap on the blind side to cross the whitewash for the home sides first score of the game. Max Titchener was narrowly off target with the extras, but Henley were back in it at 12-5. 

With the introduction of flanker Jake Rawcliffe and debutant hooker Ivor Langley into proceedings, both players had an instant impact giving the Hawks some much needed momentum. 

A Titchener penalty on 57 minutes narrowed the gap further to just four points and with Combe second row Raf Dutta yellow carded not long afterwards, the Henley faithful were sensing that another comeback triumph was on the cards. 

However, credit to the away side who defended excellently in the face of waves of pressure. And with the Hawks turning down kickable penalties for the lineout option, the visitors kept shutting the door, forcing Henley into mistakes time and again. 

With the clock in the red, the Hawks had one final opportunity to claim the win with a 5-metre lineout, but yet again the Combe defense held firm to repel the home sides advances. 

Henley will feel it was three points dropped, but in truth it was one that could have gone either way. Luke Allen's men will undoubtedly draw a line under it and turn their attention to the visit of Colchester to Dry Leas this coming Saturday and hopefully a return to winning ways. 

HENLEY

Howe, Richardson, Jones (Wood 45), Webb, Rawsthorn (Gordon 63), Titchener, Pattison, Collins (Robertson 71), Kinniburgh (Langley 48), Mason, Goodison (White 78), Lunnon, Basil, White (Rawcliffe 54), Benning

Reps: Robertson, Gordon, Wood, Rawcliffe, Langley

Tries: Kinniburgh 42

Penalties: Titchener 57

WESTCOMBE PARK

Burkett, Jowett, Harrison, Braithwaite (Griffiths 72), Webster, Wyman, Fryatt (Friday 72), Muhlemann (Roof 40), Wagstaff, Kenny (Richards 54), Mundicha (Harris 63), Dutta, Cook, Devine, Charnock

Reps: Harris, Roofe, Richards, Griffiths, Friday

Tries: Kenny 21, Mundicha 24

Conversions: Wyman 22

Star Man: Ben Charnock (Westcombe Park)

Referee: Alan Chandrachud

Attendance: 227

Halftime scoreline: Henley 0–12 Westcombe Park  

Match photos courtesy of Andrew Turner available here