Sevenoaks Men's 1st team travelled away to Oxford Hawks on Saturday and managed to come away with all three points following a last minute winner to take the game 3-2.

The home side amassed a reasonable crowd for the 5pm push back who were treated to a fast paced first quarter. Sevenoaks took control from the first whistle and enjoyed long spells of possession, moving the ball with fluidity through the lines and probing the Hawks defensive unit.

Quick passing between captain Chris Barker and player coach Ian Haley opened up some space for Ali Taylor and Paul Macleod to put some pressure on the Oxford defence. After a silky move down the right, Alex Salmon found himself in a pocket of space and unleashed a shot into the top left corner past the keeper's helmet. The goal came at a good time as the first quarter drew to a close with the scoreline 1-0 to the visitors.

The quick and incisive passes continued into the second quarter as Sevenoaks continued where they left off however, following several turnovers in the middle of the pitch, Oxford started to turn the tide. Oaks goalkeeper Richard Potton made two superb saves to keep the scoreline at 1-0 but Hawks were relentless and a last minute short corner for Oxford was deflected past Potton to put the score at 1-1 going into half time.

At the beginning of the second half, the game became more open, with a green card reducing the visitors to ten men. Oxford continued to pile the pressure on and created a series of opportunities to pull ahead in the game however the Oaks defensive unit held strong. Having weathered the storm, Oaks then seized the opportunity to strike. A stunning aerial from Craig Morton was brought down by Max Denniff who eliminated two Hawks players to win a penalty corner for Oaks. Andrew Ross stepped up to dispatch the corner and put Sevenoaks 2-1 ahead.

Though Sevenoaks were ahead, Hawks once more began to control the game and quickly drew level from a give and go which started from another poor turnover from Oaks in the middle of the pitch. At 2-2 the game became a little frantic and turnovers were rife. Further cards took Sevenoaks down to nine players and only some last ditch defending from Craig Morton and quick saves from Potton managed to keep the scores level.

The dogged and consistent hard work from Sevenoaks paid off when Oaks were awarded a last minute short corner. Andrew Ross stepped up again to convert the corner low into the bottom right and seal all three points for the visitors.

Sevenoaks can take pride in taking the three points back to Kent after refusing to give in. Oaks look forward to another tough away fixture next weekend as they face league leaders Reading on Saturday at 6.30pm.