Henley Hawks 28-17 London Welsh

By Alistair Beynon

An injury time try from Louis Bailey, and a huge defensive effort from the whole squad saw Henley Hawks come away from their clash with London Welsh on Saturday with a vital five-point triumph in their bid to avoid relegation from National 2 East. 

It was an absorbing, nerve-shredding clash played out in beautiful Spring sunshine in front of the largest crowd at Dry Leas in over six years. And those in attendance certainly had value for money with the scoreline very much in the balance until the very end. 

With the victory, it also meant that Henley avoided automatic relegation, but they will need to defeat Guernsey this coming weekend, and hope that either Esher or London Welsh slip up if they are to avoid the Promotion/Relegation Playoff on Saturday, May 9th. Alternatively, they could theoretically come back from Guernsey with two points, and if that beats Esher's points tally at Sevenoaks, they would skip the playoff fixture that way. However you look at it, there are still several permutations left in play. 

With the stakes high and buoyed on by their vocal supporters, Henley hit the ground running and deservedly took the lead on the 10-minute mark when Jimmy Leach's superb break in midfield and deft offload to Callum Jones saw the centre sprint clear to dive in under the posts. Toby Howe added the extras and Henley had got off to an excellent start. 

That lead was doubled shortly afterwards when Hawks captain Spencer Hayhow was the man to dot down following a powerful driving maul. Again, Howe converted and Henley were in a commanding position with a 14-0 lead.

Shellshocked, Welsh slowly got a foothold in the game and they wrestled themselves back into the contest five minutes before the interval when prop Andy Black did well to muscle his way over the whitewash. 

And they quickly grabbed themselves a second on the stroke of halftime when wing Adam Dunne did brilliantly to get his hands on an excellent kick-through from centre Max Bodilly, just before the ball ran out of play.  Crucially for Welsh, Matt Hodgson was narrowly wide with both conversions which meant that Henley had an important 14-10 lead at the break. 

The second half started in a similar vein to the first with Henley back in the ascendency, and they secured their third try of the afternoon just five minutes into the second period when livewire scrum half Leo Webb sniped his way over from close range. Howe calmly slotted the conversion and Henley had built daylight again on the scoreboard at 21-10. 

However, before they had a chance to even draw breath, Welsh were back in the Hawks 22, and former Exeter Chief Bodilly ghosted his way over out wide for the visitors third score. Hodgson struck the conversion straight through the uprights, and this end-to-end contest was now a one-score game again at 21-17 to Henley. 

The nerves were evident from both sides, with errors creeping into the game.  For Henley, they were struggling to find the same cohesion they had earlier in the game, giving the visitors the opportunity to attack. 

Throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at the Hawks in the final quarter, Henley looked fatigued, but to their great credit, the blue wall kept out wave after wave of Welsh attacks. And despite the away side looking likely to grab a fourth try which would've seen them come away with a bonus point win, they left Dry Leas empty handed. 

With the clock ticking over into the red, Henley won a raft of penalties to get themselves out of trouble and move up the pitch. Setting up a driving maul in the visitors 22, they were brought down just short of the line. Eventually, the ball was spun wide to prop Bailey, who did excellently to get himself across the line. Oskar White added the extras, and Henley had somehow come away with a huge 28-17 bonus point victory. 

As it is, it all boils down to the final weekend of the season, where there will undoubtedly be several twists and turns to come before this fascinating of seasons reaches its conclusion.

Match photos  courtesy of Holly Hallett available here. 

HENLEY

Howe (Jones 65), Busby, Jones (Cunningham 56), Leach, Scott, Snook (O White 61), Webb, Bailey (Kinniburgh 40), Hayhow, Fakatou, Elsey, Lunnon, Brown, Basil (Sichel 61), Benning (S White 48)

Reps: Kinniburgh (Bailey 73), Sichel (Benning 69), S White, Cunningham, O White

Tries: Jones 10, Hayhow 17, Webb 45, Bailey 80

Conversions: Howe 11, 18, 46, White 80

LONDON WELSH

McAvoy, Lang, Bodilly, Staines (Forshaw 40), Dunne, Hodgson, Nixon (H Williams 51), Black, Lloyd (Botha 66), McKenna (Dyer 66), Couzens, Wem (T Williams 9), Dallaglio, Souto, Breeze (McKenna 77)

Reps: Botha, Dyer, T Williams (Wem 18), H Williams, Forshaw

Tries: Black 37, Dunne 40, Bodilly 47

Conversions: Hodgson 48

Star Man: Max Brown (Henley)

Referee: Harry Parsons

Attendance: 728

Halftime scoreline: Henley 14–5 London Welsh