Henley Entertain with 7 unanswered goals

A patient 1^st half performance and an utterly ruthless 2^nd half was enjoyed by the majority of the 71 spectators, as Henley comprehensively defeated a brave and determined Leiston side.

The writing was on the wall early on, with Henley taking a lead in the 4^th minute, Tejano flashing in a near post header from an Ablitt corner for 1-0. Whilst Henley controlled most of the half, Leiston still looked dangerous coming forward, but failed to force Spurling into serious action. On 38 minutes it was 2-0, another Ablitt corner was cleared upfield by the Leiston defence. But, as they had all eleven back defending, Spurling, sweeping close to the halfway line, had all the time in the world to pick out a ball, back into the box, Bell outjumping Leiston keeper Clouting to head home from just inside the penalty area. Leiston’s Mhango, unleashed a fierce drive just before the break, which Spurling acrobatically tipped over to keep it 2-0 at HT.

Henley were quick out of the blocks at the restart, extending their lead to 3-0 after 50 minutes, an Ablitt corner was only half cleared and Bull was on hand to pick his spot and precisely sweep home into the bottom corner from just outside the box. On 57 minutes it was 4-0, a misplaced pass at the back, gifting the ball to Field on the edge of the box, he gratefully received the opportunity, firing home into the corner.

To their credit Leiston kept playing the right way, trying to get something from the game, a cannon of a free kick from Doyle, once again forcing Spurling to tip over. But the Henley goals kept coming, on 70 minutes Tejano, beautifully directed in an Ablitt free kick with a deft header for 5-0. Soon after Ablitt came close, his low drilled shot hitting the post. Henley further increased their lead on 83 minutes, White charging out from the back, his pass picking out Tejano on the edge of the D, turning provider, he spun and played the ball into the path of Hillyard, he took his time and finished calmly for 6-0. There was still time for another though, on 87 minutes Field’s header coming back off the bar, Tejano reacting the quickest to poke home to complete his hat-trick and bring the final score to 7-0.

Another solid team performance from Henley, an outstanding defence, enabling our attacking play, all involved played well, although it was especially pleasing to see Bull and Field back on the scoresheet and to see young Hillyard net for the 2^nd week running. Good also to see a bit more of promising young defender Collins, who was able to get a decent run out. But MOTM could only go to one man, scoring 3 and making 1, Tejano was the Ultra’s unanimous vote.

A word for Leiston, who were a credit to their club, positive until the final whistle, not once did their heads drop, their commitment was evident throughout.