Sevenoaks arrived on Saturday on the back of another successful result against Teddington the previous week, hoping to gain another three points against tough opponents Old Cranleighans.

Sevenoaks started the game strongly with the fair share of possession and a number of positive looking attacks across the pitch, yet they were unable to convert despite the efforts of Cody van Wyk, who played a slick ball across the goal which was narrowly missed by Aaronvir Cheema meaning the quarter finished goalless.

The second quarter began in a similar manner, however Old Cranleighans were unable to hold Sevenoaks back when Cody van Wyk was there at the far post to put the ball in for his first goal for the club. Sevenoaks continued to dominate and this was seen with some delightful plays down the right involving the skilful Max Denniff. This ever growing pressure ultimately meant Sevenoaks were able to add to their lead through Ben Allberry who reacted first to a rebound off the keeper and spun the ball past him as if he were playing indoor hockey. The first half finished 2-0 to Sevenoaks.

After what was a disappointing first half for Old Cranleighans, they came out hard at the start of the second half, creating a much more even game. As well as this a large number of their faithful crowd had now turned up to push them on. They were eventually rewarded when they flicked a ball into the bottom right corner after being awarded a penalty flick following a controversial short corner. As the quarter ended 2-1 Sevenoaks knew that they would have a difficult job at hand to keep Old Cranleighans at bay in the final section of the game.

Both teams came out fighting at the beginning of the final quarter of hockey, but Sevenoaks took advantage of the Old Cranleighans runners from a short corner when the ball was cunningly slipped left to the free Ben Allberry who smashed the ball in to restore Sevenoaks’ two goal advantage. Tempers began to flare for both teams with a number of cards being given to each side including a yellow for Aaronvir Cheema. Both sides were down to 10 however a quick counter - and a distracted old Cranleighans keeper - meant Max Denniff was able to easily hit the ball into the goal to make the score 4-1. A very mistimed tackle from Craig Morton in the Sevenoaks quarter meant he received a yellow card, causing the oaks to fall to 9 men as they went into the final few minutes, and saw Old Cranleighans given a short corner to which they flicked low and scored. 4-2. The combination of Sevenoaks being down men, and the growing determination of the other team and noise coming from their fans lead to a nervy ending for the team, but it was Sevenoaks who would end up celebrating at the final whistle as they held on for the three points.

Sevenoaks will hope to take this form into their final game of the season which is at home to promotion chasers Bath Buccaneers which finished in a stalemate the last time they met.