M1's defeat local neighbours to remain top of the pile

The M1's entertained Oxfordshire neighbours Henley on Saturday for what is always a keenly contested fixture. Henley started brightly but they quickly came to regret not making the most of a couple of early chances when Matt Wood opened the scoring for Hawks on fourteen minutes, latching on to a good pass from Andy Watts.  Hawks were now in the ascendancy, but their play too often broke down through basic ball handling errors and they were unable to increase their lead until seven minutes before half time when Ted Bennett finished off an excellent move involving Tom Godding and Ryan Hammond.

Three minutes into the second half Rob Dunnill popped up for a rare goal after an initial shot from Hammond was blocked.  But Hawks ball handling continued to let them down in a tired looking second half performance.  Fortunately Chris Price in the Hawks goal was alert to most dangers, but Henley pulled a goal back with fourteen minutes remaining.  Hawks managed to avoid a nervy finish and just about had enough in the tank to add a fourth goal with four minutes left on the clock when Tom Godding finished off the best move of the match following neat interplay from Matt Wood, Mike Cullimore and Andy Watts.

Many thanks to Clive Jones for the excellent photos.