Ladies’1s draw at Penarth

Along with many rugby fans heading to watch Wales v Georgia, Oxford Hawks Women's 1st XI faced a long road trip to Cardiff on Saturday.  A very early start was required although fortunately Gloucester Services was en route and provided some compensation for many of the squad.

Hawks travelled without Claire Caruth and Gemma Croker who were out through injury - we wish them both a speedy recovery!  The team were also missing Lucy Dakin through work commitments.

After a confident start, Hawks took a deserved lead 16 minutes into the game when Takara Haines converted a penalty corner with a well-placed drag flick into the bottom left corner.  Hawks came close to extending their lead on a number of occasions but couldn't quite convert further chances.   Penarth managed to level the scores just before half time through their own well struck penalty corner and the teams went into the break with the scores level.

With Laura Scragg, slotting seamlessly into the back line on her National League debut, Hawks continued to threaten the home team's goal in the second half.  The final quarter was a tense affair with chances at both ends.  Hawks defended a number of penalty corners successfully and Emma Page in the Hawks goal fully deserved player of the match for a number of excellent saves.  Hawks looked like they might be about to score the winner in the last five minutes with an excellent string of passes, but the whistle went for an infringement meaning they had to settle for a point from this tricky away fixture.

Hawks look forward to entertaining Cheltenham next week at BRN in their final league game before the mid-season break.