Narrow home loss for Monarchs

Monarchs V’s Henley 4, Saturday 16th.

A dry but chilly day welcomed the teams to Altwood for a 2:15pm push back.

Monarchs fielded a full team with a mix of experience and youth, (mainly experience). Henley were a well organised team and from their warm-up drills to the way they started the match, they meant business.

Both teams started brightly, but Henley were first on the attack, with a well worked passing move through the centre of the field. The Monarchs defence were yet again in fine form and kept Henley at bay. Both teams moved the ball well through the mid-field, but each team kept the other from any real attempts on goal.

With both teams having subs, changes were made halfway through the first half. Monarchs started to move the ball well, with some great passes from Wayne and James. Mark and Clint linked up through the mid-field and Clint had a great shot saved by the Henley keeper. Jack was causing the Henley defence problems with his great running into to dangerous positions. Jack was unlucky with a great strike that flashed across the Henley goal line, but unfortunately the Monarchs didn’t have anyone on the back post.

Henley pushed hard for the first goal, they moved the ball quickly through the wide channels and before cutting the ball back into mid-field. They were soon taking shots on target, but Karl was on-hand with some good saves. Max, Randy, Nick, and Wayne also did a great job in defence. James also supported the defence, but towards the end of the first half, he took a knock to the knee and had to be subbed.

The second half started the same way, with lots of action. Henley had lots of youth on their team and their energy and pace meant the Monarchs had to work hard with plenty of running and support play. JC and Chris linked up well on the left and delivered the ball into the ‘D’ for Clint to have another strike on goal, but again the Henley keeper did his job and kept the score 0-0. Henley were quickly on the counter and ran the ball down the left channel and sent the ball into their striker. Another fantastic strike but Karl made a great save, and the loose ball was cleared by Randy.

Monarchs made changes again halfway through the second half, with James, Cameron, Chris, and Richard coming back on. Henley began to take control of the game and pressed hard, but the Monarchs defence stood firm, with Cameron making some strong tackles.

Both teams wanted the win and pushed hard for the opening goal. Jack did his usual runs from midfield into the Henley ‘D’, and got hold of a good pass from Chris, but again the Henley keeper saved well. Just as it looked like the game would finish goalless, Henley broke down the Monarchs attack and passed the ball into the danger zone, where their striker struck the ball cleanly and powerful to get the first goal. With only 4 minutes left to play, time was running out for an equaliser. The final whistle blew and the matched finished 0:1 to Henley.

A tough loss to take, especially with another strong team performance from the Monarchs.
Man of the match goes to Karl, who had a great game in goal.

Match report by, Chris Owens