Henley Hawks, who went to the finals of the Middlesex County Sevens finals with high hopes, stumbled at the semi-final stage.

They lost out to local rivals Bracknell 17-12 in the dying seconds of the game, after leading 12-0 for much of the first half.

Hawks won all their pool matches and scored the highest number of points,102, in these games with 16 tries to their credit.

They played some superb sevens rugby in their first match against Ruislip which they won 43-7.

The first half of their second game, against Rosslyn Park, saw them turning around 12-7 down and going further behind 19-7.

They stormed back to lead 28-19 before allowing Park a final converted try on the final whistle.

In the final pool game, Henley faced old rivals Barking, who had only conceded one try in their previous two games.

Hawks established 31 points, scoring five tries including a superb effort when Phil Osman gathered his own grubber kick to flick a pass to the supporting Guy Gavan who scored.

Once again they relaxed to let the Essex men get some respectability with a couple of late scores. This inability to drive home their advantage was to cost them dear in the semi-final.

After scoring tries through the lively Tom Holloway and Gavan, they allowed Bracknell back into the game before half-time which saw their lead restricted to 12 -7.

Bracknell fought back and, just as the final whistle was about to be blown, they worked the ball wide to the left where Mike Kenworthy was able to break an ineffective tackle to win the game.

**Semi-finals: Blackheath 35, Barking 12. Henley Hawks 12 Bracknell 17

Final: Blackheath 34 Bracknell 26.