Colchester 26-17 Henley Hawks Men
By Alistair Beynon
Despite building an early 12-0 lead, Henley Hawks Men fell to a disappointing 26-17 defeat to Colchester on Saturday afternoon, leaving Essex empty handed in the process.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Luke Allen's side, and they will rue not capitalising on the opportunities that presented themselves throughout the course of the match. However, the home side were good value for their win, playing some excellent attacking rugby at times.
As it is, Henley slip down to eighth place in an increasingly crowded National 2 East table ahead of the visit of second placed Old Albanian to Dry Leas this coming Saturday.
Kicking off against a stiff breeze at Raven Park, Henley played with confidence in the early exchanges and were rewarded with just five minutes on the clock when the continually impressive Tom Molhoek managed to break a tackle and put the afterburners on to ghost through the Colchester defence. It was a fine score from the fullback, and with Callum Jones converting, Henley were up and running at 7-0.
That lead was extended further just three minutes later when Molhoek did brilliantly to dot down in the corner following an excellent break from Jimmy Leach through midfield. Jones was wide with the conversion attempt, but the Hawks were running rampant at 12-0.
Sadly, that was about as good as it got for the Henley faithful as the home side began to wrestle back the initiative. With 12-minutes on the clock, flanker Daniel Whiteman powered his way over from close range after the home side patiently worked an opening following a breakdown penalty. Ben Mills converted to make it 12-7 to Henley.
The Hawks kept applying pressure, but were frustratingly held up over the line and the chance went begging.
The rest of the half became something of an arm wrestle, with the strong wind causing unforced errors for both sides. However, the Henley defence held firm when called upon, with Aaron Bello in particular doing brilliantly to steal the ball on the Hawks line. The two sides went into the break with Henley holding a narrow advantage.
The second half became a more one-sided affair with the Ravens looking far more assured in attack, and they deservedly took the lead for the first time on 43-minutes when Findlay Gilmour crossed the whitewash for the hosts second try. Mills converted again, and they had their noses in front at 14-12.
The Hawks tried their best to get back into the contest but were denied what looked like a certain score from Bello by some excellent cover defence.
Close to the hour mark, the home side extended their lead further when centre Archie Kean opened up the Henley defence with a great break through midfield, and Number 8 Ed Reid put the finishing touches on their third try of the contest. Again Mills added the extras, and there was daylight on the scoreboard at 21-12.
Five minutes later, the home side put the game to bed when wing Louis Martin crossed for their bonus point try out wide. Mills was off target with the extras, but the lead was now at a seemingly unassailable 26-12.
However, Henley refused to yield and centre Ashton Phillips went over for his first try in Henley colours to narrow the contest to 26-17. Frustratingly, Jones was narrowly off target with the conversion which would have put Henley in bonus point territory.
There was still five minutes remaining for the Hawks to try and snatch a couple of points from the contest, but the home sides defence held firm to send Henley home empty handed.
Next up for the Hawks is the visit of second placed Old Albanian to Dry Leas this coming Saturday, kick-off 3pm.
Henley Hawks
15. Molhoek, 14. Bowers, 13. Phillips, 12. Leach, 11. Bello, 10. Jones, 9. Webb, 8. Lowe, 7. Brown, 6. Basil, 5. Harrison, 4. Elsey (c), 3. Shpylka, 2. Rawcliffe, 1. Kinniburgh
Replacements: 16. Fakatou, 17. Collins, 18. Benning, 19. Howe, 20. White
Match photos courtesy of Rhiannon Jones available here.
