The day started brightly for Henley at Amersham, as they quickly took control of the game with some well-executed counterattacks down both flanks. The first goal was quickly scored - an absolute beauty by skipper Sam Heaver – a reverse shot, pinged neatly into the bottom corner. The second; let’s call it a “goalkeeping mishap” after an aerial ball slipped through Amersham & Chalfont’s (A&C's) keeper, leaving an easy slapped finish by Ed Foster to put Henley 2-0 up before anyone could catch their breath.

However, A&C weren’t going down quietly. Their overlaps started to cause problems, and they clawed one back after a scrappy short corner that led to a back-post tap-in to get their first. Things went a bit sideways after that: A defensive error on the right post let a reverse sneak past and into the back of the goal followed by another turnover high up the pitch which gave A&C yet another back-post tap-in, putting them ahead 3-2 at half time.

At half-time, a rousing team talk from Rhys Joyce brought some much-needed confidence to the squad, and Coach Grant Hunt’s heart rate, thankfully, dipped below 100 BPM (he’d been firmly in zone 2 until then!). With a fresh outlook, Henley came out strong, stringing together some lovely passes that eventually led to Foster slotting home a textbook short corner drag flick. Despite a handful of goal-line scrambles – and the left post clearly being against them – Henley held their nerve.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. A couple of heated exchanges with the umpires led to a flurry of cards for both sides, just to keep things spicy. Then, with five minutes left on the clock, A&C broke down the left and, after a few mis-traps, bundled the ball into the middle for a tap-in, making it 4-3.

Henley kept pushing until the final whistle, but time wasn’t on our side, and the match ended with another narrow defeat.