Allen names same side for visit of league leaders

HENLEY Hawks entertain National Division 2 East league leaders Old Albanian to Dry Leas tomorrow (Saturday) for their first home game of the year, kick-off 3pm.

Following their encouraging performance in the 13-13 draw at Dorking, Hawks’ director of rugby Luke Allen’s side will be aiming to bottle the level of intensity and team spirit shown in last weekend’s clash against their old rivals.

Particularly pleasing for the Hawks coaches was the attitude shown in the last 20 minutes of the Dorking clash, when Henley came under significant pressure but managed to hold out for a well-deserved draw.

The Hawks will be under no illusions of the task that lies before them with Old Albanians leading the rest of the pack with 13 victories and three losses to their name this season and lead Oundle at the top of the table by two points.

The two sides met back in early October at The Woollams with the home side prevailing 31-22 over Henley. With the draw against Dorking, the Hawks moved to just a point behind third from bottom Sevenoaks in the table. As for team news, there are no fresh injury concerns for Henley meaning that Allen names the same starting 15 that faced Dorking. On the bench, Louis Bailey comes back into the matchday squad in place of Nelly Kinniburgh, while Oscar Busby replaces Morgan Macrae

The provisional Henley Hawks side to face Old Albanian is as follows: 1 Moses Fakatou, 2 Spencer Hayhow, 3. Edem Adablah, 4. Liam Goodison, 5 Ben Elsey, 6 Fin Basil, 7 Scott White, 8 Sam Lunnon, 9 Leo Webb, 10 Max Titchener, 11 Lailand Gordon, 12 Jimmy Leach, 13 Callum Jones, 14 Seb Scott, 15 George Wood. Replacements: 16 Luke Shpylka, 17 Louis Bailey, 18 Will Benning, 19 Oscar Busby, 20 Oskar White.

Elsewhere tomorrow, Henley 2nds are at home to Bletchley on the riverside pitches, whilst Henley 3rds travel to Maidenhead 2nds. Kick-off for both games is 2pm. On Sunday, Henley Hawks Women travel to Thurrock, kick-off 2pm.