A Strong Falcons side

A large crowd of 103 saw a strong Falcons side defeat the new look Henley 0-3, who were left to rue not taking advantage of their early pressure.

Henley started well, Cole forcing a save after only 2 minutes, again on 13 minutes a fierce drive from Wharton-Richardson was touched over the bar. But after the opening 20 minutes Falcons came more and more into the game, with Storey having to make a simply outrageous goal line clearance after 23 minutes to keep the score at 0-0. However, from the resulting corner a goalmouth scramble saw the ball poked home by Southgate to give Falcons a 0-1 lead, which they maintained until the break.

On 50 minutes Falcons increased their lead, winning the ball in midfield they broke well down the left, Rampley with a fine finish to make it 0-2. On 62 minutes, Henley’s task became much harder, as they were reduced to 10 men with Barnard seeing a red card. Henley still pushed, looking for a way back, but it wasn’t to be and on 86 minutes Falcons put the game to bed, yet another seemingly impossible goal line clearance from Storey, but he could do little as Rampley was on hand to slot home the rebound for 0-3.

In the 91^st minute Falcons were awarded a penalty after a challenge from Bull, but Nunez’s scuffed spot kick bobbled wide of the post as the game finished 0-3.

Probably a closer game than the scoreline suggested, with the red card effectively snuffing out any hope of a Henley come back, but Falcons were fully deserving of their victory. Their strength and physical size will cause many sides an issue this season, which combined with their direct but neat playing style makes them formidable opponents.

As for Henley, had we have taken advantage of those early chances, things may have been different, we played some good football, but ultimately couldn’t find the end product on the day. Heroics from Storey, seeing the most obvious MOTM decision in recent memory.