Ladies' 1s lose to Exe by one last-minute goal

Hawks Ladies' 1s faced a lengthy away journey to play Exe, minus Coach Andy Clark who tested positive for Covid just the day before (he’s fine). Further complications occurred when one of the allocated umpires where unable to make the game due to traffic after the destruction from Storm Eunice. After finding a new umpire, Exe capitalised on a slow start from Hawks side and scored 3 goals in 30 minutes. Hawks were heading into half time 3-0 down, with 3 minutes to go, Claire Werlinger comfortably deflected a ball in from the baseline of the D from Gemma Croker, pulling one back for the away side.

A quicker start to the second half, saw Hawks take control and frequently gain possession from the opposition’s outletting. The Oxford side closed the gap again when Lexie Spurr drove into the D and slotted past the keeper into the goal, following a quick pass forward from Emily Smith. Hawks now had momentum and had the better of the second half. The score line was equaled when Claire Werlinger once again found the back of the net and further closed the gap. Hawks were controlling the game and had chances to pull ahead. Unfortunately, in the final minutes of the game, it looked like the score was going to stay level, except Exe managed to thread the ball through to the top of the D and scored. Long journey home!