Oxford Hawks Ladies' successful league season was rewarded with a place in South League Division 2, after they secured the runners-up spot in an arduous weekend at the Inter-League play-offs in Guildford.

Hawks faced four games in two days and got off to a great start on Saturday by beating Aldershot & Farnham 3-2 with goals from Kathryn Spencer, Fiona Walton and Emma Batten.

However, it was a very different story when they faced a young Eastbourne side, who were playing their first game of the weekend, later in the day.

Despite two short corner strikes from Henri Coles, Hawks could not withstand a barrage of penalty corners as they went down 3-2.

The second day saw Hawks stepping up the pace and finding their form.

Their first game was against the eventual winners Staines and saw some of Hawks' finest play in the tournament.

A reverse-stick flick from Henri Coles and a Jo Hopkins penalty stroke put them 2-0 ahead.

However, Staines came back strongly to level, and it took a top-class strike from Wendy Gundry to beat the keeper and put Hawks ahead.

In the dying seconds Mandy Borrett made sure of victory with a tap-in.

The final game of the weekend saw Hawks play Richmond, with both teams still able to take the second promotion place.

In awful weather conditions, both teams drew on their energy reserves, and it was Hawks who went ahead, again through a Coles penalty corner.

Richmond came back to level the scores through another set-piece goal.

Hawks created a number of chances, but could not find the goal.

A late penalty stroke sealed Richmond's victory.

However, after a few nervous moments of official checks, it was a delighted Hawks who claimed the second promotion slot.

Although equal on points and goal difference with both Richmond and Eastbourne, they went through by virtue of having scored more goals.

Oxford Hawks squad: C Monk, J Murphy, C Baggs, K Wilkinson, S Clark, L Catling, R Meredith, A Sargent (captain), K Spencer, C Flynn, H Coles, C Halligan, o Hopkins, W Gundry, F Walton, E Batten, M Borrett.

It was not only a great week for Oxford Hawks, but also for their young forward Emma Batten, who has been selected for the Wales Under 16 squad.

Batten has been with the club since she was seven-years-old.