Battle of the Hawks II

It was another battle of the Hawks on Saturday 24th November as the U12 AFC Henley Hawks hosted Windsor Youth Merlins Hawks. The home side anticipated a competitive match - they had played the Windsor Hawks 3 times last season - Windsor won one, Henley won one and the other fixture was drawn. The Windsor Hawks were second in the league with only one loss so far this season, so on good form.

Henley came out strong and in the third minute, Jessica Reed (pictured left) took full advantage of a poor clearance by the Windsor keeper, intercepting it and then putting it past him to make it 1-0. More pressure and a series of corners followed for Henley. Lucas Wilson had a chance when a cross came over from the right, but the it was just a bit too deep and the keeper managed to get there first.

The teams were well matched, and Windsor had their chances too. Max Messias got the slightest touch on a shot across goal - pushing it just wide of the post. Windsor had a couple of corners after this great intervention but couldn’t convert any in to goals.

Michael Dowling and Daniel Flowers were strong in defence, Michael Dowling making some solid blocks and Daniel Flowers feeding the Henley attack with well-placed long clearances. Lucas Wilson tracked up and down the pitch using his speed to confound the Windsor players and putting in a cheeky overhead flick through to Jenson Lea in mid attack.

At 18 minutes, Lucas Wilson won a corner and Jenson Lea went very close to scoring from the corner kick - the ball bounced off the post. Play went back and forward, the Windsor players had some great breaks but got caught offside a few times in their enthusiasm.

Following a clearance from Michael Dowling, Jessica Reed picked up the ball and had a shot - but the keeper managed to save it. A corner followed for Henley, Louis Catlin played it in and it was knocked out for a corner the other side. George Acock took a great corner in, Louis Catlin found himself in the right place in front of goal and deflected it into the net, making it 2-0 to Henley.

A couple of minutes later, George Acock was in the centre of things again after Conor Quinn fed him through a great ball. George Acock shot but went just wide. Seconds from half time, Windsor were again victims of a poor clearance that Jessica Reed again intercepted, she passed through to Jenson Lea who took a great shot past the keeper bringing the score to 3-0 as the half-time whistle blew.

From experience, Henley knew Windsor came out strong in the second half, so couldn’t rest on their laurels. Jenson Lea and George Acock were key in the Henley attack, but the Windsor side were hungry to make up the difference. Much of the play was in the Henley half with a series of corners to Windsor forcing a defensive approach to Henley’s play.

The visitors’ persistence paid dividends at the 42nd minute when a shot (that keeper Max Messias had covered) took an unlucky deflection off a defender taking the score to 3-1. Max Messias soon after had to make another great save and Henley followed this up with a run from Lucas Wilson up the left, the resulting block gave a throw in to Henley - strongly taken by Jenson Lea to Michael Dowling whose shot went into the side netting.

Midway through the second half it was all Windsor again with a series of 3 corners that Henley successfully defended, but corner 4 was a bridge too far and Windsor made it 3-2 at the 50-minute mark.

After this wake-up call, Henley focused, became less reactive and regained control of play, pressuring the Windsor defence again. At 54 minutes, the Windsor keeper mis-kicked the ball - Jenson Lea picked it up and curled it round the keeper making it 4-2.

Windsor did not give up and fought to bring the score line back in their favour - they had 3 more corners and Max Messias made another key save. The defence worked tirelessly and Vibhu Vadhoolan really came into his own in the second half. At 58 minutes Windsor’s pressure was rewarded by another goal - 4-3 with only minutes on the clock. The final minutes were a proper battle - with everyone on the pitch giving it 100%. It was messy and no-one could fault the effort and energy levels.

After a well-fought competitive match, Henley were again victors in the battle of the Hawks. They now have a run of 4 games undefeated and are sitting 3rd in the league with 2 more matches and a cup tie pre-Christmas.

The all important Man of the Match awards:
For strong runs down the left, being a constant threat to Windsor and tracking back to defend - well done Lucas Wilson (pictured middle).
For an ever solid role in goal, THAT finger tip save (and staying on the last quarter to see the Hawks through to victory) - come on down Max Messias! (pictured right)