Men’s 1s bounce back

The M1’s travelled to the south coast for the second successive Sunday to take on Fareham.  Having lost the previous week to Chichester, Hawks needed to bounce back in order to keep up the pressure on Bristol University at the top of the table.

The game started at a fair pace, Hawks winning their first penalty corner inside two minutes following good work by Charlie Bowskill and Luke Hooper down the left flank, but Jack Biggs’ shot low to the keeper’s left was well saved.  Five minutes later Fareham were awarded their only penalty corner of the game, and Hawks breathed a sigh of relief when their upright hit came back off the post.

The scores remained level at 0-0 going into the first quarter break but the home side took the lead two minutes into the second quarter when Hawks turned the ball over cheaply attempting a circle entry of their own and could only watch as Fareham launched a swift counterattack resulting in a simple finish past Barny Barber in the Hawks goal.  Hawks probably won the battle of the stats for the remainder of the first half but couldn’t make the breakthrough and Fareham led 1-0 at half time.

The second half was a different story and for the most part Hawks held the initiative, scoring three goals in an eight-minute period straddling the three-quarter break.  Five minutes before the break, Andy Appleton fed Rob Dunnill who played a well-weighted pass through to Simon Hill who finished with aplomb on the reverse stick from the top of the circle.  Four minutes later Hill went one better when he crashed the ball into the top corner of the net, again off his reverse stick from the top of the circle.

So 2-1 to Hawks at the break and two minutes after the resumption Hawks gave themselves some breathing space when a Jack Biggs aerial pass out of defence found man-of-the-match Zak Hartley wide on the left flank.  Hartley out manoeuvred his marker and found the space for a precise cross to the far post where a sliding Austin Greenlee deflected home.  Hawks were composed in their game management in the closing stages, keeper Barber not touching the ball once throughout the second half.

So a good performance and three points which, along with Bristol’s defeat at Exeter, means Hawks sit joint top of the league with Bristol ahead of Bristol’s visit to BRN next Sunday - get along and support the M1’s in what should be an exciting encounter!