It was not only Aston Villa who left Brighton with three points on Sunday as Sevenoaks returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory against Brighton and Hove. In what has been a difficult couple of weeks in terms of results, a much-needed confidence boost and dominant performance was produced against Brighton.

The first quarter did not quite go the way of Oaks and despite having controlled large phases of the game, Brighton punished Oaks following a turnover in midfield as their forward slotted the ball past debutant goalkeeper Thomas Brocklehurst. Oaks remained in control for the remainder of the quarter however a nervy couple of minutes due to a green card kept Oaks on their toes.

The second quarter saw more dominance from Sevenoaks but despite the numerous circle entries Oaks could not find the back of the net. Despite picking up another green card, which saw captain Chris Barker sidelined for two minutes for a seemingly innocuous challenge, Sevenoaks remained in control and continued to pile on the pressure for the remainder of the half.

The second half started brightly with Sevenoaks looking to be more clinical inside the circle. This resulted in a short corner being won after Oaks outletted the ball calmly and with purpose exploiting space behind Brighton's defence. The penalty corner was converted by Paul Macleod, bringing the scores level at 1-1, and with this Oaks really began to turn the screw. The increased pressure led to a turnover in the Brighton midfield and some good composure again from Oaks around the attacking 25. Oaks exploited the space out wide before a ball was fed into the circle from Craig Morten for a well taken deflected goal by Alex Salmon.

With Oaks in the lead going into the final quarter, Brighton had to step out and try to change something. This created space for Oaks to counter into but despite Oaks winning several penalty corners they were unable to extend their lead. Oaks saw out the rest of the game to earn a well deserved three points after starting the game on the back foot having conceded early.

Oaks entertain top of the table Southgate next Saturday at Hollybush at 5PM.