Worthing Raiders 34-55 Henley Hawks
By Alistair Beynon
With their offense having not quite clicked into gear so far this season, Henley Hawks put on an attacking masterclass at Worthing on Saturday, running in nine tries in a comprehensive 55-34 victory.
With a brace each for Spencer Hayhow, captain Rory Mason and Jamar Richardson, the Hawks played some scintillating rugby at times moving themselves up to fifth place in National 2 East in the process.
Henley set their stall out right from the off and earning a penalty in the Worthing half, Max Titchener kicked to the corner to set up a driving maul. Having been a real weapon for the Hawks over many seasons but not quite working as well this year, it was encouraging to see the Hawks make full use of it on the Sussex coast and Spencer Hayhow powered over to put Henley on the board after just 4 minutes. Titchener converted and the away side were up and running at 7-0.
With games between the two sides often resulting in very high-scoring affairs, this game proved to be just as exciting as Worthing hit back straight away courtesy of a Harrison Dakin try. The hooker barrelled over from close range but Tom Meyer was wide with the conversion attempt making it 7-5 to Henley.
The Hawks were quickly back on the offensive and Hayhow grabbed a second try on 10 minutes following another catch and drive try. Titchener converted again well from out wide and the Hawks moved clear at 14-5.
Despite the rain having caused problems for both teams, the Hawks adapted better to the conditions and with the hosts getting on the wrong side of the referee's whistle, it gave Henley plenty of possession and territory to launch further attacks. Captain Rory Mason grabbed a third try for Henley on 18 minutes when he crashed over following another driving maul that was stopped just inches from the line. Titchener again added the extras and the Hawks were running rampant at 21-5.
The home side pulled themselves back into the contest on 25 minutes when flanker Rob Ure bounced off some poor tackles to score out wide. Meyer was again off target with the conversion but the score moved to 21-10 to Henley.
With the Hawks scrum dominant, Mason scored his second for the away side on the half hour mark following yet another well worked driving maul. This time Titchener was wide with his conversion, but Henley had their try bonus point in the bag for only the second time this season.
It got even better for the Hawks a few minutes later following a superb solo score from Lailand Gordon. The speedy wing took an excellent inside pass from Titchener and he glided his way through the Raiders defence to score the try of the game. Titchener was narrowly wide again, but the Hawks had stretched their lead to 31-10.
There was still time for two more tries before the half time whistle. Worthing bagged a third when Dakin went over following yet another catch and drive try. With the conversion wide again, it moved the score to 31-15. However, Henley had the final say in what was a crazy half of rugby when Scott White crashed over from close range just before the break. Titchener converted and it was 38-15 to the visitors at the interval.
Despite the home side making several changes during the break, it was the Hawks who started the second half back in the ascendency. A yellow card to Raiders Harry Forrest gave Henley the chance to launch further attacks in the home sides 22, and with Marcus Lowe scoring the Hawks 7th try following another searing break from Gordon, Henley had the game all but sealed at 45-15.
To give the Raiders credit, they refused to fold and mounted a spirited comeback when Hawks centre Guy Rawsthorn was yellow carded for a high tackle. Number 8 Frank Taggert intercepted a pass and ran it in from 50 metres out to dot down by the posts. Dillon Worsley converted and it was now 45-22 after 56 minutes.
Jamar Richardson continued his excellent run of form for Henley with his first of the afternoon with 20 minutes remaining following an excellent break from Toby Howe. Titchener was wide the conversion but Henley moved the score to 50-22.
The end-to-end contest continued when a Jack Forrest grubber kick saw scrum half Jack Rutherford the first to dot down to reduce the arrears to 50-27. Richardson bagged his second not long afterwards following a deft kick through from Titchener which gave the wing the opportunity to put the finishing touches on the Hawks final try of the afternoon.
Worthing rounded up the scoring 5 minutes from time when Rob Ure went over for his second. However, it mattered not as the Hawks were good value for their 55-34 triumph against their old rivals and Director of Allen will have been left in a buoyant mood seeing his side move up to 5th place in the National 2 East league table.
Henley now have a well earned rest week before they welcome Guernsey Raiders to Dry Leas on Saturday, November 9th, kick-off 2pm.
Henley Hawks
15. Howe, 14. Richardson, 13. Rawsthorn, 12. Webb, 11. Gordon, 10. TItchener, 9. Pugh, 1. Collins, 2. Hayhow, 3. Mason (c), 4. Goodison, 5. Lunnon, 6. White, 7. Noone, 8. Lowe
Replacements: 16. Bailey, 17. Sheriff, 18. Rendell, 19. Gibbins, 20. Jones
Match photo courtesy of Steve Goodger.
