Guernsey Raiders 39-19 Henley Hawks Men

By Alistair Beynon

Despite trailing by just three points at the break, Guernsey Raiders eventually pulled clear of a determined Henley side to record a 39-19 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Henley went toe to toe with an in-form Raiders side in the first half, exchanging two tries each, but were ultimately outgunned by a bigger, more physical side in the second half. 

The victory extended Guernsey's unbeaten start to the season, whilst Henley slip to ninth in National 2 East with a victory and two defeats in their opening three games. However, Hawks Director of Rugby Luke Allen and his coaches will be pleased with how is side faired in the first half, particularly when they were short of four or five first team regulars. 

The hosts played with power and precision, putting Henley on the back foot early on, but the visitors defended tenaciously. The pressure eventually told on the quarter mark when the referee signalled a penalty try following a powerful driving maul that was deemed to have been brought down illegally over the line. Scotty White also received a yellow card as the perpetrator. 

However, despite the setback, this seemed to spur the Hawks into life and they levelled the scores a few minutes later when an excellent break from Callum Jones inside his own half saw the centre offload to Leo Webb to sprint in from 40-yards out. It was an excellent score for the Hawks, and showcased their attacking intent. Ollie Snook added the extras and Henley were right back in the contest. 

Henley had an opportunity to launch another attack, but they lost the ball in midfield far too easily, giving Guernsey a chance to counter. Recycling the ball well, the hosts were quickly in the Henley 22 and second row Joel Broadhurst powered his way over the whitewash on the half hour mark. Gwyn Parks added the extras and the Raiders had edged back in front at 14-7. 

However, back came Henley once again and they levelled the scores for the second time when Seb Scott managed to evade several errant tackles to ghost his way over the line for a fine solo effort.  Snook again added the conversion, and it was all square at 14-14 five minutes before the break.

And that was about as good as it got for the Hawks as a penalty just before the halftime whistle by Parks gave the hosts a slender 17-14 advantage at the interval.

The second half became increasingly one-way traffic as Guernsey just had too much power, particularly up front where the Hawks were starting to get bullied by the Raiders pack. Replacement hooker Tom Ceillam grabbed the home sides third try, ten minutes into the second period following a dominant driving maul in the Henley 22. Parks converted again and there was now daylight on the scoreboard at 24-14. 

That score quickly came 29-14 on 65 minutes when Henley were again reduced to 14-men, this time with Luke Shpylka upsetting the referee, and Guernsey were quick to capitalise. Sustained pressure on the Henley line saw the ball eventually moved out wide, and wing Ethan Smith had space and time to finish well for the hosts bonus point score. 

To their great credit, Henley refused to lie down and scored their third try of the game on 73 minutes when Scott finished well in the corner after Toby Howe's flighted pass gave him space to run into. Snook missed the tricky conversion and it was 29-19 with roughly 7-minutes remaining. 

However, despite hope from the Henley supporters who had made the trip over that they could come away with something from the contest, that feeling quickly evaporated as Guernsey snatched a fifth try through the ever-lively Anthony Armstrong. And that score was extended further with another Parks penalty on the stroke of full time, making the final score 39-19. 

Henley won't have time to lick their wounds for long as they face the leagues other Channel Islands side this coming Saturday, when Jersey RFC make the trip to Dry Leas. Kick-off is at the earlier time of 2pm.

Henley Hawks

15.  Howe, 14. Scott, 13. Phillips, 12.. Leach, 11. Busby, 10. Snook, 9. Webb, 1. Bailey, 2. Kinniburgh (c), 3. Shpylka, 4. Elsey (c), 5. Floyd, 6. Brown, 7. White, 8. Lowe

Replacements: 16. Rawcliffe, 17. Archer, 18. Lee, 19. Jones, 20. Hughes

Match photos courtesy of Martin Gray Sports Photography available here.