Hawks lose ground in battle for survival

HENLEY Hawks’ disappointing start to 2026 continued with a 21-3 defeat at second-placed Oundle on Saturday.

In what has been a wretched run of fixtures for director of rugby Luke Allen’s side — having to play the top six sides in National Division 2 East since the beginning of December — the Hawks have now slipped further behind third from bottom Sevenoaks in the table.

The Hawks are now 10 points from safety from Esher in 11th place and six points off 12th place which would see them compete in an end of season relegation play-off. The Hawks have eight matches of the season remaining with their next three fixtures against the sides around them in the table.

The Hawks now face a significant challenge to retain their national league status, but with matches coming up against the sides around them, support at Dry Leas will be vital if they are to reverse this slump.

Whilst Henley fought bravely in Northamptonshire, Oundle always had that little bit more in the tank and deserved their win.

Henley were again guilty of not taking their chances when they were presented with them, something which they will certainly be looking at in training.

Despite the weather being set fair, the pitch was boggy in parts which made the contest fragmented and littered with errors. This seemed to play into the home side’s hands, and with their big, heavy runners, the home side were able to dictate the tempo.

Oundle made their presence felt after just a couple of minutes on the clock when a penalty advantage gave them the opportunity to kick to the corner. From the resulting line-out, prop Taylor Gourlay powered his way over from close range to open the scoring. Ben Young converted, and just like the the clash with Old Albanians the previous week, Oundle had their noses in front with the Hawks having barely touched the ball.

To their credit, Henley were not there to make up the numbers and looked to play an expansive game despite the state of the pitch. They had several chances to open their account early on, but the home side;s defence was equal to the challenge with George Wood being held up over the line.

Henley continued to probe away and were rewarded with a well-struck Max Titchener penalty after 10 minutes on the clock.

That was it in terms of scoring in the first 40 minutes, with the rest of the half becoming a stop-start contest and both sides canceling each other out.

With the work defence coach Chris Cracknell has done in training again being evident, the Hawks defensive line held firm against the direct and physical nature of the hosts attacking threat.

Both Hawks centre Callum Jones and Oundle’s number eight Anthony Maka were yellow carded close to the break as they started a melee between the two sets of players. It will be interesting to see if any retrospective action will take place on Maka, as there appeared to be a neck roll on Jones in the first instance which prompted the disagreement.

The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with both sides unable to find that cutting edge that would prove the difference. Henley again had opportunities deep within the hosts’ 22, but were unable to the find the space to exploit, and were left frustrated not to have taken advantage of them.

The relentless nature of the home side’s physicality eventually ground the Hawks down, and they fell further behind close to the hour mark when another powerful driving maul was well finished by Grant Snelling. Young added the extras and their was daylight on the scoreboard at 14-3.

Replacement hooker Snelling grabbed his second close to the full time whistle with a carbon copy effort that pulled the home side clear at 21-3.

No-one could fault the effort and application of the Hawks, but they will need to work on turning their territory and possession into points before Oxford Quins come to town on Valentine’s Day, in what has become a huge game in the context of the season as a whole.

Henley Hawks: 15 George Wood, 14 Oscar Busby, 13 Callum Jones, 12 Jimmy Leach, 11 Lailand Gordon, 10 Max Titchener, 9 Leo Webb, 1 Moses Fakatou, 2 Spencer Hayhow, 3 Edem Adablah, 4 Ben Elsey, 5 Fin Basil, 6 Morgan Poiner, 7 Scott White, 8 Will Benning. Replacements: 16 Luke Shpylka, 17 Max Brown, 18 Rory Cramp, 19 Toby Howe, 20 Beau Delaney.