Sevenoaks 2 v 3 Canterbury

On a bitterly cold Saturday evening, Sevenoaks and Canterbury warmed up the Holly Bush Lane crowd by producing a thrilling encounter.

Sevenoaks started the game well, having a sustained period of possession from the opening whistle, but Canterbury’s defence was solid, preventing any meaningful attempts on goal. As the first quarter developed, Canterbury also had some good spells of possession, and they earned a penalty corner a minute before the end of the period. A rocket of a drag-flick was brilliantly tipped onto the post by Richard Potton in the Oaks goal. From the resulting penalty corner, a mix up in the Oaks defence enabled Canterbury a chance in the D, and after a heavy deflection the ball ricocheted into the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Oaks came out for the second quarter intent on getting themselves back on level terms and pressed high up the pitch. This left them exposed at the back, and a long aerial pass from the left back position evaded both Chris Barker and James Beck, giving the Canterbury forward the ball in the Sevenoaks D. Potton closed down the attacker well and his hopeful ball across goal looked didn’t look to be a threat, but an unfortunate edge off the retreating Nathan Palmer’s stick touched the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 to Canterbury. Oaks responded strongly and won two penalty corners as half time approached - as pinpoint balls into the D from Kieran Walton and Craig Morton were touched onto a defender’s foot by Tim Warrington. From the first set piece, Andrew Ross’s effort was saved by the keeper, and the rebound by Ed Matts was turned round the post. The second effort went sailing over the crossbar and Oaks went into the halftime break 2-0 down.

After an encouraging team talk from coach Ian Haley the Oaks team came flying out the traps in the third quarter, playing some excellent hockey. Another penalty corner came and went for Oaks, but it was a sea of purple deep in the Canterbury half. Eventually that pressure paid off when a ball into the D was delicately touched past the advancing keeper by Ross into the bottom corner to half the deficit to 2-1. Almost immediately after, a defence splitting pass from Walton found Ross unmarked at the top of the D and his bullet of a reverse stick shot fizzed past the keeper to draw the teams level at 2-2. Oaks had their tails up and went in search of more goals, but Canterbury remained a threat on the counter attack, and with a good penalty corner routine Oaks knew that the game could come down to set piece execution.

The fourth quarter proved that to be exactly the case, as Canterbury won a penalty corner early in the period. A low, hard flick cannoned into the backboard restoring Canterbury’s lead at 3-2. Sevenoaks pushed forwards in search of another equaliser, and despite struggling to create clear cut open play opportunities, they were winning penalty corners almost at will. Paul McCleod saw his drag-flick well saved by the keeper but it rebounded up into an Oaks body, so a corner was re-awarded. Again the initial effort was well saved and this time Ben Allberry skewed the rebound wide on his reverse. It didn’t take long for Oaks to be awarded another set piece and this time Allberry saw his effort repelled from goal by a strong kick by the keeper. Oaks were running out of time but they were still camped deep in the Canterbury half, more penalty corners came and went with Ross having two more efforts well saved, and Oaks were not sharp enough on the rebound, with Warrington edging his effort miles away from goal. With almost the last play of the game, Oaks were given one last opportunity from another penalty corner, this time the injection was slightly off-line and the ball was stopped inside the D before Oaks could get a shot away, killing the attacking move. It wasn’t to be for Sevenoaks, and really they only had themselves to blame, squandering multiple opportunities from penalty corners. To add insult to injury the winning goal for Canterbury came from a set piece, showing Oaks how it should be done.

The defeat sees Oaks drop to 4th, four points behind Canterbury in second place, whilst runaway leaders Reading are ten points ahead. Bath Buccs leapfrogged Oaks into third to complete the top 4 places. Next week Oaks are away to Brighton on Sunday, and will be looking to get back to winning ways, whilst their hosts will be on a high after a battling 3-1 win over south coast rivals Havant.