Henley Hawks sent a slightly strengthened 2nd XV to face Reading's 1st XV squad on Saturday and came away with a 19-15 victory.

Hawks gave a full game to Dan Smaje at scrum half but he and the second row pair of Jerry Sampson and James Winterbottom were the only other two regulars from last year's Premier 2 side to start the game.

During the opening quarter, Reading had most of the possession and established an eight-point lead thanks to a penalty by Russell and a try by lock Skypec.

The Hawks' lineout was nothing short of a shambles, with controlled ball being won on probably less than five occasions. They were also under pressure in the set scrums.

However, they got on the scoreboard when James Steer scored a debut try, running in strongly from 20 metres, which was converted by Jon Stebbings.

A chase and kick ahead saw Danny Pokai score under the posts for Reading to make the half-time score 15-7. Making several changes at the break, Henley began to dominate territorially and in terms of possession, scoring two more tries.

Tim Osman forced his way over after a tapped penalty and flanker Scott Powers also got on the scoresheet. Stebbings's conversion finished the scoring.

A Bicester XV, containing several second and third team players plus South African newcomers Joe O'Kelly and Maurice Van-Wyk, went down 36-13 to a well-drilled Andover side.

No 8 O'Kelly and centre Van-Wyk both had impressive debuts, while former skipper Darren Cassidy also played his part following his return to the club from Henley.

Bicester, 19-0 in arrears at half-time, came back strongly in the second half, thanks to a solid performance from the front five in both the set-pieces and the loose play.

Adam Wade excelled at fly-half with his kicking out of hand. His spectacular drop-goal was the highlight of the afternoon.

Wade opened Bicester's account early in the second half with a penalty and later unleashed that 25 metre drop goal.

Their other points came from a penalty try converted by Wade.