HENLEY Hawks survived a late comeback by Darlington Mowden Park to earn their first win of the season in National League 1 on Saturday.

Hawks bounced back from their opening day defeat at Rosslyn Park, with a 30-28 victory.

The visitors’ pack dominated for the majority of the match as Hawks opened up a 20-0 lead at half-time.

On 12 minutes, Robbie Stapley drove over for an unconverted try, before James Comben’s penalty put them into an 8-0 lead.

Jack Bradford then crossed and Comben added the extras, before Stapley touched down his second for 20-0.

After the break, the hosts came into the game and Bruno Bravo squeezed over, Garry Law adding the extras.

However, Hawks re-established their 20-point lead when Tom Emery forced his way over and Comben was successful with the boot.

Darlington piled on the pressure and Callum Mackenzie scored a fine solo try to make it 27-12.

However, the hosts were then penalised for holding onto the ball in the tackle and Comben slotted what turned out to be a crucial penalty for 30-12.

Two late tries from Simon Uzokwe saw Darlington close to within two points, but with the final whistle blown immediately after Law converted the second, Hawks held on.

Chinnor suffered a narrow 24-22 defeat at home to Bury St Edmunds in National League 2 South.

They took the lead after just two minutes, when Ben Manning crossed for an unconverted try.

However, the visitors moved into a 10-5 lead when Sam Goatley and Beau Gibson went over Chinnor bounced back, with Joe Vandermolen crossing and Mark Davies adding the extras for 12-10.

They then went further ahead when Sam Angell strolled to the posts for an unconverted try.

Bury’s Matt Hema was sin-binned for taking out Robbie Martey in the air, but the visitors went on to score 14 unanswered points in his absence.

Tim Mann and Goatley scored either side of the break, Chris Lord converting both, for 24-17.

Nevaro Codlin crossed for Chinnor late on to make it 24-22, but Davies missed the difficult conversion.