Hawks Men’s 4s suffer agonising 4-4 draw with Oxford 3s

Oxford Hawks men’s 4s threw away a three goal lead to draw 4-4 with Oxford 3s.

Despite a vastly improved performance, again, the 4s simply couldn’t hold off a determined late comeback from Oxford.

In a positive first half, Hawks were bright and full of energy. A clear improvement from the first two games was their movement off the ball. This provided no end of chances, which would eventually be put away. The first coming from young Adam Hamid, who showed his potential in his first game at BRN. The second coming from skipper Guy Biggs who rounded the goalkeeper to slot away. Oxford did manage to put some pressure on Hawks with a goal from a short corner, but a third goal from Luke Piper- a belter of a finish- ensured Hawks would go in to the interval 3-1 ahead. No less than they deserved.

The 4s’ achilles heal this season has been the second half. A fourth goal from a short corner, notched by Barnaby Barber, should have seen Hawks home and dry. However, panic set in and Oxford took advantage of this. Three goals from the opposition in the closing twenty minutes saw Oxford claim a surprising point from this fixture.

Nonetheless, this was a generally positive performance from the 4s- better game management was required on the day but they will carry this optimism into their forthcoming fixtures, with a win surely only just around the corner.

A big thanks to Simon Dawson for managing from the sideline, without whom the 4s would not have performed as well as they did.

Also thanks to Evelyn Hargraves for the excellent photos.