Oxford Hawks Men’s 5’s vs Sonning 3s – 28.09.24

Following a tense and hard fought season opener against Witney, the season was off to a tough start.

A mid afternoon home fixture, with a feast of players was a welcome rebuttal. Indeed, the squad had risen from a bare eleven to a captains selection headaches of over thirty players at one point, including four keepers! - a nice problem to have!

Major road closures around the grounds meant that arrival was a little disrupted, and resulted in limited warmup time before the game.

With a fresh and spritely sixteen, Hawks settled rapidly into the game - new shirts, new players, new vigour, new legs - but very much the same enthusiasm and drive!

However, it was Sonning who were quicker out of the blocks, taking the lead in the opening exchanges. Hawks were quick to rally, returning to 1-1 with a well controlled strike within a matter of minutes.

This balanced, return to equality pattern continued to half time, following a well executed strike from Jack Sobey to set it at 2-2. (If anyone is after fantasy league points, Jack must be a good bet - with a penalty flick save one week, followed by an open play goal the following!)

The second half saw a turn of events, with first the Sonning keeper becoming increasingly frustrated and vocal; followed by the remainder of the team. Whilst the frustration grew, Hawks kept their calm. When Hawks were able to score and gain the lead for the first time, the play began to settle, and distance began to appear. With Sonning in disarray, there was no means for them to get back into the game - and it almost felt like christmas with the number of cards that started to appear!

Deserved man of the match went to George; whilst DoD duties were well deserved by the only Hawks player to succomb to the card festival- Benji, for an 'impressive' shoulder barge agajnst a player half his stature!

Thanks to the umpires Will and Adrian.

Next week sees a further home game, agajnst the old foe of Abingdon in the early doors fixture. This promises to be a feisty encounter, and early league results would suggest that they will be fighting for promotion rights come the end of the season.