Macclesfield 0 Henley Hawks 16
Played in probably the worst conditions that players from both sides will encounter all season this game deservedly went the way of Second Division Henley Hawks who now await the draw for the 4th Round at Twickenham but the Blues injury hit squad can take plenty of consolation from their performance and attitude on the day which will stand the squad in good stead for the games to come as survival in Three North now takes precedence of place in games now for the remainder of the season.
After a last minute pitch inspection the game went ahead despite water standing on the surface of the pitch and Macclesfield kicked off into the flood with Henley taking early advantage through their powerful pack and after just 8 minutes they went ahead through a penalty from Full back Nathan Lambden who kicked well throughout after a high tackle. Despite this the Blues hung in and with the pack soaking up plenty of pressure and even managing to take one ‘against the head’ before a 70 metre break put Henley in a good attacking position.
Another alleged high tackle enabled Lambden to strike another three points after 20 minutes and just before the break a fortunate charge down in the home 22 enabled their Centre James Chapman to touch down under the sticks for an easy conversion to give the visitors a 13-0 lead but despite more intense pressure from the visitors pack they were unable to add to the scores before the break.
Lambden put the Hawks further ahead after just 5 minutes of the second half but some concerted Macclesfield pressure saw play in the Henley 22 until after 25 minutes they managed to move away and attack the Macclelsfield line but they were unable to add to their score with the home defence holding out to the end as the rain simply poured down.
After the game, whilst gutted to lose the game, Steve Mannion said, “I was proud of the way the lads played in extreme conditions and they stuck at the game when they could have been swamped. I was impressed with the professionalism that Henley showed and we can learn from this for our future games”
Team:
Latham, Moss, Robinson, Lear, Bostock, Kerr, Baines, Clark. Walker, Winney, Wilding, Hughes, Bartle, Laing & Macey.
Replacements: Allen, Rice, Harding, Brian, Roberts, Brocklehurst & Mosey
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