A frustrating 3–2 defeat for Henley Women’s 1s against Oxford Hawks 2s, despite Henley dominating large periods of the game.

Henley started strongly, with captain Charlotte Granger-Holcombe picking up the ball in the centre of the D and slotting it past the keeper to take an early 1–0 lead. Lucy Wiseman, a constant threat on the left, produced several strong carries through the Hawks defence, whilst Caitlin Barrass worked hard through the middle and created a number of close chances.

A fortunate penalty flick brought Hawks level before Henley responded from a short corner, with Wiseman calmly slotting the ball home to restore the lead.

Hawks came out strongly at the start of the second half and converted another short corner to make it 2–2. Henley quickly regained control, with several phases of connected play between defence and midfield driving the team forwards. Billie Moore, Charlotte Hetherington, Granger-Holcombe and Kiera Halloran linked up well through the middle to put Henley back on the front foot, however, despite Henley’s continued pressure, Hawks went against the run of play to convert a short corner, taking the score to 3–2. Henley pushed until the final whistle but couldn’t find the equaliser.

A tough result, but plenty of positives from a performance full of attacking intent and some excellent phases of play.