Woodley suffer narrow defeat in front of biggest home crowd of the season

Woodley went into their penultimate game of the season looking to extend their winning run to three games and in the process dent Henley's promotion push.

The opening stages of the match saw the away side have a lot of the ball but fail to test Ben Hitchins in the United goal. Ex Woodley man David Stevens had the games first shot; his free kick went straight into the wall before Ryan Szram saw his shot from distance blocked by a Henley defender.

On twenty seven minutes United took the lead from the spot after a foul on Tim Green. Matt Lambert stepped up and made no mistake with a low shot to the bottom right corner; this was Lambert's first Woodley goal.

Five minutes later it was all square when a corner from the right was headed in by Ben Clark. Henley then went ahead minutes later and once again it was from a corner; Jack Thomson-Wheeler got up well to nod home.

HT Woodley United 1-2 Henley Town

Woodley started the second half brightly; Luke Nichols forced Andrew Nunn into a decent save diving to his left whilst Henley defender Richard Thomas showed good positional sense to cut out a Szram through ball after a swift United counter attack.

Just past the hour Thomson-Wheeler headed wide from twelve yards before Woodley made their first change when Rupen Limbu replaced Green. Woodley were starting to look much more of a threat; Nichols missed to the left after finding space in the final third.

It wasn't all one way traffic however; a Grant Kemp effort from eighteen yards went just over Hitchins crossbar. With thirteen minutes left Woodley made another change when Fraser Mowat came on for Szram.

With the game entering its final stages Limbu fired a free kick into the Henley wall before the same player shot over from distance. On eighty four minutes United made their final change: centre back Curtis Robertson made way for Ollie Bridges.

The final chances of the match went Woodley's way. Good link up play between Mowat and debutant Charlie Hiscox saw the latter whip in a low cross that the visitors hacked clear. Moments later Nunn recovered from a fumble to produce a good save to deny George Douglas.

FT Woodley United 1-2 Henley Town