Ladies' 1s beat Bristol Firebrands beautifully

Oxford Hawks faced Firebrands on Saturday with both teams looking for their first three points of the season. It was Firebrands who struck first after their centre forward scrambled the ball into the goal after a fantastic initial save from Hawks goalkeeper Jess Hughes. Hawks settled well however and looked dangerous with Abi Flory's devastating combination of pace and skill causing countless issues for the Firebrands defence. The home side levelled just before the break after Caro Harris finished brilliantly from a penalty corner.

The second half continued to improve for Hawks, and their hard work was rewarded again from a corner as captain Bex Oakes finished perfectly. Oakes almost had her second moments later but it was correctly disallowed for the strike being just too high. Hawks also hit the post twice as they continued to push forward. Firebrands did ride the storm however and had a dangerous ten minute spell with a number of corners of their own, but Gemma Darrington was in commanding form at the back and allowed nothing through. Hawks got the game back under their control and player of the match Annabelle Denly created a number of fantastic attacks down the right, and they were rewarded ten minutes from time when Flory's strike was deflected into the goal by a Firebrands defender. Hawks now look forward to their trip to Exeter next weekend to face Isca.