HENLEY Hawks defied strong winds to return from the Channel Islands with a 17-10 win over Guernsey in National League 2 South.

The win ensured Luke Allen’s side remain within a point of second-placed Canterbury, who occupy the play-off spot.

Despite handling the conditions well, Hawks only had a Roddy Giles penalty to show for their efforts at the break.

Although playing into the wind in the second half, Henley were on top and Alex Bradley crashed over, Giles converting to make it 10-0.

They soon led by 17 unanswered points when Scott White drove over and Giles added the extras.

Hawks errors allowed the hosts to get a foothold in the game and they scored two unconverted tries.

But Henley had already done enough to secure victory.

Chinnor conceded a late try, when falling to a 22-14 loss at second-placed Blackheath.

Back-to-back defeats in National League 1 have resulted in the Thame-based side slipping to sixth in the table and nine points behind leaders Old Elthamians.

A Joe Tarrant penalty put Blackheath in front early on, but Chinnor quickly responded with the first try of the game.

Craig Holland raced through a gap to score in the corner for his 11th try of the season, Greg Goodfellow converting.

But two further Tarrant penalties saw the hosts lead 9-7 at half-time.

The full back extended Blackheath’s advantage to eight points with two more penalties.

Chinnor kept themselves in the game, when Will Bordill was driven over and Holland added the extras.

But individual errors were proving costly for the visitors, who had Matt Beesley sin-binned, resulting in uncontested scrums.

This created space for Blackheath who secured victory in the last play when Jake Lloyd went over.

Tarrant then added the extras to deny Chinnor a losing bonus point.