Henley progress after a penalty shoot-out

Suffolk Senior Cup: Henley Athletic FC 0-0 East Bergholt Utd (Henley win 4-3 on penalties)

If you weren’t lucky enough to have been amongst the bumper crowd of 119, you could be forgiven for assuming this was a dull 0-0 draw, but nothing could be further from the truth. Without some excellent stops from Scrivener in the Bergholt goal and some almost unbelievable blocks from the Henley defence, this game could have been 4-4! As it was, the goalkeepers and defences prevailed, leaving the tie to be settled by a penalty shoot-out.

Bergholt had the 1^st chance, but Spurling saved from a header after 5 minutes, whilst after 9 minutes Scrivener tipped over Cole’s vicious drive from a narrow angle. Only 2 minutes later, Cole spotted Scrivener off his line and unleashed an impudent effort from the halfway line, Scrivener backpedalled furiously and just managed to get a hand to it, to tip round. The subsequent corner saw Scrivener with another great stop to dent Bell’s header, under a minute later Dende’s shot whistled narrowly wide after taking a slight deflection. After 15 minutes, Scrivener was again the hero, getting fingertips to Monteith-Weed’s freekick to deflect it to safety.

Almost immediately the action switched to the other end, with only a top save from Spurling and three subsequent heroic blocks by the Henley defence kept Bergholt out, after they peppered the Henley goal with four strikes inside 15 seconds. Again on 30 minutes Bergholt saw a shot fly just over the bar, whilst Scrivener again pushed away a Monteith-Weed freekick. Leaving the score 0-0 at the break and the clubhouse full of disbelieving supporters of both sides.

Bergholt had the 1^st opening after the restart, when on 50 minutes a corner saw pinball in the Henley box, as time and again Henley threw their bodies in to block. On 65 minutes Bergholt MOTM Scrivener produced his best save of the game, tipping over a volleyed effort from Tejano, struck directly from a Cole corner. Scrivener the hero again on 72 minutes, saving well from Monteith-Weed after he’d burst through. Bergholt saw a shot fly narrowly wide on 82 minutes, with a header coming even closer a minute later, as both sides pushed for the winner. Scrivener still sharp in the 89^th minute as he yet again denied Tejano, the game finishing 0-0 and going to penalties.

Spurling was the Henley hero, saving Bergholt’s 2^nd and 5^th penalties, whilst Cole, Taylor, Monteith-Weed and White made no mistake from the spot, sealing a 4-3 win, without the need to take our 5^th penalty.

Wow, what a game, absolutely scintillating stuff, both sides giving their absolute all and playing some good football. The two keepers were indisputably the heroes of the hour, with Scrivener clearly the Bergholt MOTM and Spurling the shoot out king. But this was a real gritty team performance from Henley with MOTM Cole, demonstrating not just his usual trickery but epitomising the character displayed on the day.

#UppaHens

The Hat