Ladies’ 4s narrowly lose to Oxford

On a sunny summer Saturday, Hawks L4s got the band back together for our first pre-season match before we begin league games in the South Central Women’s Div 3 North. We faced off against a strong Oxford 4s who had some familiar faces from last year’s 3rd XI, but Hawks 4s put together a superb team for this stage in the season and were strengthened by team Bransby and Catherine T managing from the sideline.

Oxford started with the ball and Hawks were quickly able to turn over play with an interception from Alice. Hawks had some promising incursions into the D, but were caught on the turnover and conceded a nicely worked goal by Oxford in the first few minutes. Hawks quickly responded and soon were able to equalise with a superbly battled goal from Nele: 1-1.

Hawks worked the ball nicely around the pitch, which was unexpectedly bouncy from the dry weather - we narrowly missed receiving some beautiful crosses due to unlucky bounces! We again got caught out on a turned-over ball and conceded an unlucky goal to Oxford: 2-1. There was superb defensive play from the backs, who also worked hard to support the team in attack (Becky B appeared in Oxford’s D at one point!).

Both teams tired a little in the humidity but continued moving the ball end to end. Hawks scored again with a great ball slipped through from Flora to Kim, who scored with a reverse stick slide on the left post. Both teams continued to work hard and had several opportunities to score denied by the keepers (and the post, with a great short corner strike by Sherene) and a fantastic save on the line by Becky. Emily won a penalty flick for Hawks, but we were unable to convert.
Oxford took the lead a final time, taking us to a result of 3-2 which held for the rest of the game. Newcomers to the 4s Effie, Claire P, and Sherene all contributed massively to the positive and determined vibe of this season’s L4s - looking forward to a strong season!