Hawks hang on to deny the hosts

Old Albanian……….. 21 Henley Hawks…….22

■ By RICHARD HOMER

HENLEY came out the right side of a tense one-point affair.

The Hawks were first on the score board, following a turnover, they moved the ball through the backs and Leo Webb looped around to score. Max Titchener who controlled the game well for Henley, converted.

OA hit straight back with a fantastic try from Alex Noot, which started in their own 22. Sam Jones converted. Titchener then added a penalty to make it 7-10 at half-time.

Henley started the second half strongly and scored two quick tries. The first through a break from Lailand Gordon, who showed fantastic pace and broke through to score.

The second followed a period of pressure from Henley forwards which led to a try for Rory Mason. Titchener added the extras.

OA were far from done and mounted a spirited comeback sparked by Thomas Bailey and Noot.

A quickly taken tap penalty led to Thomas Bailey scoring and-Jones converting from the touchline.

The OA forwards now had their tails up and held possession for Andrew Nurse to score. Jones again converted to make it 21-22 with eight minutes to play.

But the solid Henley defence held out.