Henley Hawks Men 31-31 Jersey
By Alistair Beynon
Henley Hawks Men were forced to share the points with Jersey on Saturday afternoon after a bruising encounter with the Channel Islanders at a sunbaked Dry Leas.
In truth, it was a fair result on the reflection of the game, with the experienced Jersey pack dominating up front, giving the Hawks limited territory and possession, particularly in the first half.
With both sides scoring five tries each in an entertaining, yet error-strewn encounter, it was Henley who had to rely on a late Seb Scott try to come away from the contest with three points in the bag. However, the Hawks have moved up to eighth in the National 2 East standings in the process.
With Dry Leas looking resplendent in the early Autumn sunshine, it was Henley who took the lead with their first meaningful foray into the Jersey half. Fin Basil managed to break through the heart of the Jersey defence, and his deft offload to Oscar Busby saw the speedy wing over for the opening score. Ollie Snook converted and Henley had their noses in front at 7-0 after just six minutes.
Sadly, that was Busby's last contribution to the game as he suffered a shoulder injury shortly afterwards and had to be replaced by Toby Howe.
The visitors slowly began to assert their dominance on the set piece, with their scrum in particular causing Henley problems all afternoon. With a penalty inside the Hawks half, the visitors kicked to touch deep into the Henley 22. From there, a powerful driving maul was finished well by hooker Jack Macfarlane in the corner. The conversion from Lewis Evans drifted just wide, but it was certainly a wake-up call for Luke Allen's side.
Henley were up for the challenge and a Iwan Hughes break into the visitors 22 following an excellent offload from Nelly Kinniburgh, saw the ball recycled quickly for Basil to cut a great line to crash over under the posts. Snook added the extras, and Henley had pulled away to a 14-5 lead after 25 minutes.
That was about as good as it got for the Hawks in the first half, as Jersey lifted their game for the remaining 15 minutes. With Luke Shpylka in the sin-bin, the visitors took full advantage of their numerical superiority when Evans sniped his way over from close range on 35 minutes. The lively fly half converted his own score and the visitors were right back in it at 14-12.
It got even better for the Channel Islanders just before the break when the Hawks were reduced to 13-men when Ollie Snook was yellow carded. And from the resultant lineout, Macfarlane crashed over the whitewash for his second of the game. Evans was narrowly wide with his conversion attempt, but Jersey had a slender 17-14 lead at the interval.
Whatever was said in the changing rooms during the break must have had the desired effect as Henley looked re-energised at the start of the second half.
Despite still being down to 14-men, the Hawks grabbed the first score of the half after a great kick into space from Henley fullback Tom Molhoek gave the Hawks an advantage with the visitors penalised for holding on. A quick tap penalty from Nelly Kinniburgh saw the powerful front rower surge over the line to give Henley back the lead at 19-14 with Toby Howe slicing the conversion attempt wide.
Henley were playing with more confidence than the first half, and extended that lead further just five minutes later when the impressive Molhoek put the finishing touches on an excellent team move. Another break from Basil through the heart of the Jersey defence saw the ball recycled well, and Molhoek powered his way over the whitewash from the 22. Howe made amends for his earlier miss with a fine touchline conversion to make it 26-17 to Henley.
However, the Channel Islanders refused to lie down and back they came again on 54 minutes when centre Harry Baty went through the middle of the Hawks defence far too easily to dot down by the posts. Evans added the extras and it was suddenly a one score game again at 26-24 and all to play for.
The next score was vital, and both sides looked nervous for the next twenty minutes hoping that they could force the other into a costly mistake. Yet, both defences held firm, making sure that neither side could find a half opening to exploit.
When Jersey Number 8 Kade Bird was yellow carded for a late hit on Hughes, Henley thought they could make the numerical advantage count. However, it was the visitors who grabbed the next score when experienced prop Huw Owen burrowed over from close range with 5 minutes remaining to give Jersey the lead again at 31-26 following Evans' conversion.
This Henley side never knows when it's beaten, and they put together some excellent phases to patiently work their way back into the Jersey 22. With a penalty advantage, the Hawks kicked to touch and from there continued to batter the visitors line, yet they refused to yield. Despite going close, Henley worked the ball out wide and Scott peeled off the back of a ruck to touch down by the corner flag.
The Henley faithful were elated to see the scores back on level terms at 31-31, leaving Howe with a difficult conversion from wide out. Unfortunately, his kick sailed wide, but there was still time on the clock for both sides to try and win it at the death.
Henley worked patiently to fashion an opening but nothing came of it, and both teams had to settle for three points each at the end of a breathless clash.
Next up for Henley is the visit to the East Midlands to take on Leicester Lions this coming Saturday, October 3rd. Kick-off at Westleigh Park is 2pm.
Match photos courtesy of Holly Hallett available here.
Henley Hawks
15. Molhoek, 14. Scott, 13. Phillips, 12, Leach, 11. Busby, 10. Snook, 9. Hughes, 1. Kinniburgh, 2. Rawcliffe, 3. Shpylka, 4. Elsey (c), 5. Harrison, 6. Basil, 7. White, 8. Lowe
Replacements: 16. Bailey, 17. Archer, 18. Brown, 19. Jones, 20. Howe
Attendance: 312
