NATIONAL 1

HENLEY Hawks held on with 13 men to pip relegation rivals Worthing Raiders 21-16 at Dry Leas.

Victory leaves Henley one point above the drop zone, with matches against Fylde, Loughborough Students and Tynedale to come.

Hawks, who had lock Josh McNally and full back Liam O’Neill yellow-carded during some desperate late defence, held their five-point lead from the 48th minute.

Worthing struck first when O’Neill was caught in possession, allowing wing Ben Loosemore to race in from 40 metres.

Hawks replied with two penalties from fly half James Comben.

However, a penalty from full back Matt McLean, plus a try from scrum half Jordan Burns, gave Worthing a 13-6 advantage.

Strong mauling set up a penalty, which Comben slotted.

It got better for Hawks when flanker Matt Payne was driven over, with Comben converting.

On-loan London Welsh scrum half Ollie Frost put in a grubber kick for man-of-the-match Comben to score try No 2 just after half-time.

Worthing hit back with a McLean penalty, but had flanker Rob Smith sin-binned.

His return, combined with McNally and O’Neill’s departure, tipped the odds in Worthing’s favour, but Hawks edged home.