Henley 3s 15-33 Slough
By David Lewis
For Henley 3’s the only way is up as they languish at the bottom of the league. With an encouraging number of new players joining the team in recent weeks, they were once again able to field a full squad to face Slough, with one substitute apiece.
Lying fifth in the league Slough looked to be a challenge and the game commenced from Henley’s kick off with some strong attacking moves by Slough. However, as it would throughout the game, Henley stood firm with some robust defence. Against the run of play Henley were the first to score with a backs breakthrough and Captain Tom Longley taking the prize of the unconverted try.
The game became a dogged battle for the next half an hour with both sides pressing hard and testing each other’s defence. It was Henley who always looked the more positive in attack and eventually a second score came from Joe Beesley on the wing with Brad Fox converting.
With a 12-point lead at half time, Henley clearly had the upper hand which was rattling Slough. This led to two yellow cards, one for each side as each team battled to score. Slough were finally able to take 7 points with a converted try of their own only to see Henley forge ahead with a well taken penalty by Longley.
At 15 points to 7 in Henley’s favour, matters looked promising, but Slough seemed to find an extra dimension to their game and out of nowhere they scored two very quick tries, taking the wind out of Henley’s sails.
Henley had had to defend so strongly throughout the game that they seemed to have nothing left and it was not long before Slough scored again, having achieved four tries in the last eighteen minutes of the game.
The final score of Henley’s 15 points to Slough’s 33 did not seem a fair reflection of Henley’s efforts but the team is rebuilding and there are many games ahead to restore their league position.
