Written By : Tony Stone on 19/04/2026

Categories: Match Report

SIL Premier Division: Henley Athletic FC 2-0 Trimley Red Devils FC

 

A crowd of 87 saw a depleted Henley produce a fine performance to defeat a strong Trimley side 2-0. With next Saturday’s Suffolk Senior Cup Semi-Final in mind, Manager Jimmy Brown chose to rest a few regular starters, Bell, White, Francis, Tejano and Cates all taking a break. Sylla-Keita, Shore and Smythe dropping into defence, with Turner-Wilson and Hayden returning.

 

Henley took the lead after 15 minutes, Banya playing in Dende down the right, he beat his man, hit the byline and crossed to Hayden, who thumped home a bullet of a header for 1-0.  Trimley were enjoying a lot of possession and on 20 minutes Lee was called into action to make a fine stop to deny Chidlow.

From the subsequent corner, Knights was on hand to clear off the line to prevent a certain equaliser.

Henley doubled their lead after 43 minutes, Dende picking the ball up inside his own half, cutting inside and threading the ball through to release Knights one on one with Crump, Knights poked the ball past the onrushing Crump and rolled it into the empty net for 2-0. Henley threatened again on 45 minutes, Crump making a good stop to deny Dende, leaving the score 2-0 at HT.

 

Trimley had the lion’s share of possession in the second half, piling on the pressure to attempt to find a way back into the game. But time and again, they were denied by an excellent Henley defence which blocked and cut out any chance of a threat. Indeed, Lee was only called upon to make one, excellent save, after 69 minutes, in the entire half. On 87 minutes it was Henley who came closest to scoring, Dende’s press winning the ball deep in the Trimley half, he cut the ball back to Dozzell, who dragged his shot just past the post.

 

A great team performance from all involved today, against one of the better sides in the division, Manager Brown will certainly have his work cut out selecting his squad for next Saturday. Trimley had large spells of possession and played some nice football, but on the day, couldn’t unlock a determined Henley.

 

Dende’s electric showing earned him the MOTM vote on his 50th club appearance, with Knights and Banya also worthy of praise. But it was the defence, missing 3 usual starters out of 4 that dug in and gave a huge performance to gain the 3 points.

 

#UppaHens

 

The Hat