Guernsey Raiders 19-57 Henley Hawks
By Alistair Beynon
Henley Hawks put together their best performance of the season in a 57-19 demolition of Guernsey Raiders on Saturday, but it was a step too far to avoid the National 2 East Accession Final on May 9th.
Henley scored ten tries in a scintillating display of running rugby, but with both Esher and London Welsh also securing victories over Sevenoaks and Dorking respectively, it meant that Henley's fate was already sealed. However, they will go into the clash against either Letchworth Garden City or Tunbridge Wells full of confidence after another committed performance full of heart and endeavor.
The victory made it five wins in six games for Luke Allen's men, but they will know full well that anything can happen in a one-off game, and will need to find the same level of performance if they are to retain their league status for another year.
On a beautiful day on the Channel Islands, it was Henley who hit the ground running with Seb Scott back to his best making early inroads into the Raiders half. A quick tap penalty by Leo Webb caught the home sides defence napping, and the livewire scrum half crashed over for the opening score with just three minutes on the clock. Callum Jones converted, and Henley's nerves were settled with the early 7-0 lead.
The Hawks kept probing away with Scott at the forefront of everything positive, and when Guernsey flanker Bradley Webb was yellow carded for a high tackle on the Henley wing, it wasn't long before the Hawks doubled their lead when the ball was spun wide for Oscar Busby to cross the whitewash. Jones was narrowly off target with his conversion attempt.
The Hawks continued to press and on the half hour mark scored a sensational effort when Scott galloped in under the sticks for a fine score after a fantastic break from Jones in midfield. The centre converted well and Henley were on fire at 19-0.
However, this seemed to stir the home side into action, and two quick scores from Callum Roberts and Tom Teasdale just before the interval brought the scoreline back to 19-12. Teasdale's try in particular was an excellent effort after Anthony Armstrong had made a surging break into the Hawks 22.
With Dorking beating Welsh at halftime, it seemed like Henley might avoid the playoff game, especially when their second half performance was even better than the first.
Number 8 Will Benning secured the Hawks bonus point score several minutes into the second period when he spotted a gap in the Guernsey defence to power his way over from close range. Jones added the extras and Henley had moved into a 26-12 lead.
And it got even better for the Hawks when Sam Lunnon's try in his last league game for Henley on 52-minutes, pulled them further clear at 31-12 after the fantastic second row galloped clear of a tiring Guernsey defence to dot down.
Henley were running riot and Benning grabbed his second of the game on the hour mark when he peeled off the back of 5-metre scrum to dot down. Jones added the conversion and it was now 38-12 and the game was seemingly won.
However, with Scott White in the sin-bin for Henley, the home side kept going and scored their third of the game when centre Jonathan Dawe did well to find space in midfield to charge over the line. Ciaran McGann struck the conversion, and it gave the Raiders a glimmer of hope at 38-19.
However, three more tries in the space of 10-minutes blew the Raiders away. First, Busby crossed for his second after a superb Ollie Snook crossfield kick, and this was followed shortly afterwards by Zack Taylor's fine effort. And lastly, Webb went over for his second and Henley's tenth of the game in injury time when the Hawks turned the ball over deep inside the Guernsey 22.
It capped a fine performance for Henley, but with news filtering in that both Welsh and Esher had won, it ended up being a bittersweet afternoon as there is plenty of work still to be done before the season comes to an end.
Henley Director of Rugby was proud of his players efforts after the game. 'That was the best we've played in several years, and I couldn't be prouder of how we applied ourselves against a team that are very difficult to defeat on their own patch. Whilst we're disappointed not to have avoided the play-off game, we did everything we could, and we know that we need one more big performance to stay in the league'.
Henley Hawks:
1. Fakatou, 2. Hayhow (c), 3. Shpylka, 4. Elsey, 5. Lunnon, 6. Brown, 7. S. White, 8. Benning, 9. Webb, 10. Snook, 11. Busby, 12. Leach, 13. Jones, 14. Scott, 15. Cunningham
Reps: 16. Kinniburgh, 17. Bailey, 18. Taylor, 19. O. White, 20. Howe
