HENLEY Hawks were made to pay for a poor first half at Coventry as they went down 29-15 to suffer a sixth straight league defeat.

The hosts took the lead on seven minutes in the National League 1 encounter when George Oliver went over for a converted try.

Hawks’ Matt Payne was sin-binned for obstruction and it was 12-0 after 21 minutes, with Bob Knox crossing and Matthew Jones adding the extras.

A James Comben penalty got Hawks on the scoreboard, but they lost Tom West to the sin-bin after he illegally halted a drive and Coventry were awarded a penalty try.

Jones converted for a 19-3 lead.

They added another score when Knox ran in from half-way and Jones slotted the extras.

Hawks started the second half well and took advantage of Coventry losing both Allen Thomas and Chad Thorne to the sin-bin.

A driving maul allowed Jake Albon to touch down, with Comben converting to make it 26-10.

And they reduced the lead even further on 64 minutes through Rob Bell’s unconverted score.

But Coventry hit back with a Jones penalty and Henley’s challenge ended when Tom Emery was yellow-carded for alleged stamping.

In National League 2 South, Chinnor fell to a 27-19 defeat at Old Elthamians.

The visitors took the lead on 11 minutes when Oscar Heath went over for an unconverted try, before Lee Nelmes replied for the hosts.

Tom White added the extras to make it 7-5.

But Chinnor took a 12-7 lead into the interval as Jake Olley sprinted to the try line and Heath converted.

The hosts started the second half well and Craig Dowsett crossed on 44 minutes to bring the sides level.

Old Elthamians raced into a 27-12 lead as Jay Rudland-Thomas and James Cullen were forced over, with White adding one conversion and a penalty.

Chinnor responded, adding a third try with five minutes to go as Alex Dancer dotted down and Heath added the extras.