Late Slough surge leaves hosts reeling following bright start

FOR Henley 3rds the only way is up as they languish at the bottom of the Counties 2 Tribute Ale Berks/Bucks & Oxon East table following their defeat against Slough at Dry Leas last Saturday.

With a number of new players joining the team in recent weeks, Henley 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 started from Henley’s kick-off with some strong attacking moves by Slough. However, as they 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 had the upper hand which was rattling Slough and led to two yellow cards, one for each side as each team battled to score.

Slough were finally able to take seven points with a converted try of their own only to see Henley forge ahead with a well-taken penalty by Longley.

At 15-7 in Henley’s favour, Slough seemed to find an extra dimension to their game and out of nowhere they scored two quick tries, taking the wind out of Henley’s sails.

Henley had to defend strongly throughout the game and they seemed to have nothing left and it was not long before Slough scored again, having achieved four tries in the last 18 minutes of the game.