The sun was beaming down upon Teddington School as Sevenoaks Men’s 1st XI arrived for their Sunday afternoon fixture, and for seventy minutes a number of the men in purple matched the weather forecast.
The game started competitively and at a fierce pace. Both sides had their fair share of sorties into the half of the opposition and Teddington were first to capitalise through a fairly unremarkable drag flick which found its way into the goal. Undeterred, Sevenoaks pressed on until Andrew Ross found himself on the baseline, three yards from the goal. Ross decided that a lob over the keeper was the best course of action, which was ably met by Ben Selby who slapped the ball from above his head into the goal. 1-1.
Sevenoaks maintained their momentum and pulled together some impressive build up play, culminating in James Thomas and Max Denniff combining fluently through to the top of the D. Denniff found Ross who was again parked on the baseline, Ross gleefully squared the ball to Alex Salmon on the back post who slotted it efficiently into the goal. Half time. 2-1 Oaks.
Teddington started the second half with renewed vigour, adopting an enhanced combative approach, a tactic not unfamiliar to the visitors from Kent. This paid off for the the home side who looked pretty in pink as they slotted home an impressively negotiated short corner. The scores drew level at 2-2.
The age old adage relating to the importance of the next goal could not have been more applicable than now, Sevenoaks took heed and launched numerous spirited attacks. The build up of pressure resulted in a short corner, giving Kieran Walton the opportunity to let fly a venomous flick which muscled into the bottom right hand corner. 3-2 Sevenoaks.
Teddington reacted admirably and continued to battle but another well put together play led to the ball being rifled towards their goal. Selby was first to react and proficiently deflected the ball goal-ward. 4-2 Sevenoaks and there it ended.
