Henley Hawks run riot in final quarter to blow Havant away

Spencer Hayhow. Photo: Steve Karpa

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Henley Hawks 49-38 Havant 

By Alistair Beynon

Henley Hawks blew Havant away with a rampant final quarter, coming away from a bruising encounter with a richly deserved five-point win to help their National 2 East survival bid.  

With the game in the balance with twenty minutes remaining, a three-try salvo from the Hawks, which was in part aided by the Hampshire sides discipline deserting them at crucial moments, put daylight on the scoreboard. And despite the visitors scoring two late tries themselves, Henley had done enough to secure the victory. 

With Dry Leas baked in early Spring sunshine, the Hawks came out of the blocks with real energy and purpose, taking the game to Havant straight from the whistle. Their intensity was rewarded with just four minutes on the clock when flanker Max Brown did brilliantly to wrestle his way over the whitewash. Toby Howe converted and Henley had built an early 7-0 lead. 

The home side continued to press, but an errant pass in midfield from Ollie Snook was gleefully snapped up by Havant wing Will Perry who darted in from a full 75-yards out to level the scores. It was Perry's first of a hattrick of tries, and he looked a real threat for the visitors all afternoon. 

The game became fragmented and despite both sides having further opportunities, defences were on top in what was proving to be a real cagey affair. It was the visitors who took the lead on the half hour mark, when Perry grabbed his second after Lailand Gordon's slip on the blindside gave Havant a straightforward score in the corner. Joel Knight added his second conversion, and the Hampshire side had their nosed in front at 14-7. 

With just three minutes remaining in the half, Henley came to life. First, Snook made amends from his earlier error with a superb crossfield kick which was gathered by Oscar Busby to dot down to level the scores. And Henley took the lead on the stroke of halftime when centre Jimmy Leach cut a great line to finish an excellent break from Will Benning. Howe added the extras to both scores, and Henley went in at the break with a narrow 21-14 lead. 

It was the visitors who looked the side most likely to score first after the interval, taking the game to Henley, and they brought the scores level again on 47-minutes when fullback Dylan Evans did brilliantly to evade a couple of errant tackles to dot down under the posts. Knight converted again and the scores were locked at 21-21. 

However, back came Henley in what was proving to be a real end-to-end contest. This time it was Havant's turn to giftwrap the Hawks a try when a poor pass in midfield saw Howe intercept, and he outpaced the tiring visitors defence to dive over. Converting his own score, Howe had secured the all-important bonus point try for the home side, who had their noses back in front at 28-21. 

Havant refused to lie down, and they bagged their own bonus point try when scrum half Ben Holt gathered a lose ball in his own 22 to sprint clear and dive over in the corner. In truth, it was another soft try to concede, but Knight missed the difficult conversion from out wide which meant Henley still held onto a narrow lead at 28-26. 

With prop Moses Fakatou continuing to make hard yards through the middle of the Havant defence, the visitors began to look fatigued, and their discipline also started to fall apart. With Number 8 Jack Colbourne yellow carded, which was followed closely by lock Craig Durnin for a dangerous tackle, Henley took full advantage heading into the last quarter. Firstly, Benning powered over from close range to pull Henley into a two-score lead at 35-26. And this was closely followed by debutant centre Tom David's score out wide, which was converted well by Ollie Snook. 

With 8-minutes remaining, replacement prop Nelly Kinniburgh sealed victory with Henley's seventh of the game, again converted by Snook which pulled them clear at 49-26 to the Hawks. It sparked jubilant celebrations from both players and supporters alike, with the large crowd getting good value from what they were watching on the pitch.

With the game now marred with scuffles between the two sets of players, Henley lost replacement flanker Roan Noone to a straight red card for kneeing an opponent, and Havant took full advantage with late scores through Perry again to seal an impressive hattrick, and lastly through flanker Wes Dugan, which made it 49-38. Havant had one final chance to steal a second bonus point, but Henley turned the ball over to signal the end of the contest. 

It was a breathless game, undoubtedly helped by the conditions, but more importantly for the Hawks, they managed to gain some ground on Esher, who are now just a point ahead in the all-important safety of eleventh place. 

However, it doesn't get any easier for Luke Allen's side as their next cash is a trip to league leaders Bury St. Edmunds on Saturday, April 11th. With a well-earned break for Easter, it will give Henley time to rest some tired bodies before their final three matches of what is proving to be an exciting climax to the season.  

HENLEY

Howe (Snook 56), Busby, David, Leach, Gordon, Snook (O White 50), Webb, Fakatou, Hayhow, Shpylka (Niazi 54), Elsey, Lunnon (Kinniburgh 71), Brown (Taylor 54), S White (Noone 65), Benning (Brown 73)

Reps: Kinniburgh, Niazi (Shpylka 65), Taylor, Noone, O White

Tries: Brown 4, Busby 37, Leach 40, Howe 51, Benning 64, David 66, Kinniburgh 72

Conversions: Howe 5, 38, 40, 52, Snook 65, 67, 73

HAVANT

Evans, Perry, Joel Knight, Jacob Knight, Trodd (Sisk 40), Gwyther, Holt, Vince (Maxfield 69), Shepherd, Morgan (Sowerby 40), Burnin, Parkins, Saunders (Owen 45), Dugan, Colborne

Reps: Maxfield (Morgan 80), Sowerby, Young (Saunders 57), Owen, Sisk

Tries: Perry 8, 30, 76, Evans 47, Holt 55, Dugan 79

Conversions: Knight 8, 31, 48, 77

Star Man: Moses Fakatou (Henley)

Referee: George Jones

Attendance: 353

Halftime scoreline: Henley 21–14 Havant