Henley Hawks 45-26 Sevenoaks 

By Alistair Beynon

Henley Hawks put together arguably their best performance of the season with a six-try victory over fellow strugglers Sevenoaks at Dry Leas.

In what was a must win for both sides in their bids to retain their National League statuses, Henley were helped by an excellent brace from captain Spencer Hayhow, along with a faultless 15-points from the boot of Callum Jones which guided them home.  

With the victory, not only did Henley retain the Savills Shield for the third consecutive season, but more importantly they overtook Sevenoaks in the National 2 East league standings with five games remaining of the season. 

The Hawks were dominant in the early exchanges, playing with pace and precision and opened their account with just four minutes gone when Number 8 Will Benning cut a great line to bulldoze his way over the whitewash. Henley were certainly up for the challenge in front of them and they doubled their lead shortly afterwards thanks to Ben Elsey’s smart finish from a driving maul.

A superb break from George Wood put the Hawks back in the visitors 22, but the ball went loose and Sevenoaks fullback Benji Hewitt did brilliantly to gather his own hack through to gallop in from the halfway line to pull one back. 

However, the setback didn’t derail Henley’s ambitions, and they scored a third five minutes later when scrum half Leo Webb spotted a gap in the visitors defence to crash over. And the try bonus point was secured not long afterwards thanks to Ollie Snook’s excellent finish following more sustained pressure.

The visitors finished the half strongly and were rewarded with Hewitt’s excellent second following a fine backs move. They had another opportunity to claw back the deficit further just before the interval, but Henley’s defence worked hard to repel the threat.

The second half started with Oaks back in the ascendency and they grabbed a third on 55-minutes when wing Barney Stone powered his way over from close range. However, any chance of a comeback was quickly extinguished when Hayhow extended Henley’s lead shortly after. And the ever-present hooker scored the Hawks sixth when he put the finishing touches on a fantastic team try.

A Jones penalty with five minutes remaining sealed the win, but the visitors had the last word with what could prove to be a valuable bonus point try when centre Ed Shepherdson glided over just before the final whistle. However, it was too little too late as the Hawks had secured a vital victory in their hunt for survival. 

Henley were well worth their win which left Director of Rugby Luke Allen a very happy man. ‘I thought our work rate was excellent, along with how clinical we were when opportunities presented themselves. There’s still a lot of rugby to be played this season, and if we can match that intensity every week, I know we have what it takes to climb the table’.

Henley have a well earned rest weekend before their trip to Orpington to take on Westcombe Park on Saturday, March 14th. Kick-off at Goddington Dene is 2pm. 


Henley Hawks

Tries: Benning 4, Elsey 8, Webb 17, Snook 22, Hayhow 58, 68

Conversions: Jones 5, 9, 18, 23, 59, 69  

Penalties: Jones 75

Wood, Busby, Jones, Leach, Gordon, Snook (Webb 79), Webb (O White 71), Fakatou (Shpylka 67), Hayhow, Shpylka (Bailey 35), Elsey (Lunnon 77), Lunnon (Delaney 67), Basil, Brown (White 60), Benning

Reps: Bailey, Delaney, S White, O White, Howe

Sevenoaks

Tries: Hewitt 12, 40, Stone 55, Shepherdson 80

Conversions: Adams 40, 56, Begbie 80

Hewitt, Ivell, Shepherdson, Begbie, Stone, Adams (Livett 70), E Jones, J Simmons (Z Jones 73), Sedgwick, T Simmons (Strainge 24), Lee (Engelbrecht 77), Chapman (Irvine 66), Green (Chapman 80), Hutton (T Simmons 50), Engelbrecht (Porteous 24)

Reps: Strainge, Irvine, Porteous, Z Jones, Livett

Referee: Alex Rose

Match photos courtesy of Holly Hallett available here.