Earley Gunners got off to a winning start with a 6 - 2 victory over newcomers Henley YMCA on a hot Sunday morning.
It was also nice to see one of Gunners favourite opponents making an appearance against us for Henley after the disbanding of GWRSA.
However it was not plain sailing as Henley took a shock lead after a defensive mix up between Paul Ali and keeper Jon Allen allowed the opposing attacker a free shot at goal.
However Gunners came back into the game with goals from Kevin Rapley and a well driven shot from Dave Owen to give the team a 2 - 1 lead at half time.
In the second half Gunners could have killed the game off in the first five minutes with three glorious chances none of which were converted.
Paul Clark then settled the teams nerves by adding a third goal.
However Henley struck back straight from the kick off to give themselves a chance of a point before Gunners assumed control of the last twenty minutes and added three more goals, two came from leading marksman last season Kevin Rapley and a well flighted lob from Ian Thornhill (or should we class it as an own goal by the keeper?)
The final result was a convincing 6 - 2 win for the Gunners who despite a slow start managed to play some decent football towards the end and could have easily scored a couple more goals with a few chances being wasted.
Match Facts
Goals : K Rapley (3), P Clark (1), D Owen (1), I Thornhill (1)
Team
