OAKS UPSET ATHLETIC AS HEATH FIND HOME FORM

SEVENOAKS Town stuck a spanner in the works of VCD

Athletic’s early-season promotion form as they bagged their first victory of the season.

A second-half blitz, during which the visitors bagged three goals in quick succession, saw the Oaks take all three points with a 3-1 success at the Oakwood, leaving the home side fourth in the Bostik League South East Division, trailing league leaders Cray Wanderers by six points.

In a match in which both teams struggled to cope with a wet pitch, the Vickers broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Charlie MacDonald made no mistake from the penalty spot following a foul.

But, in a six-minute period, the Oaks took complete control of the game when Osman Peroni, Alec Fiddes and Frankie Sawyer all scored to hand the visitors a comfortable 3-1 half-time lead.

Although the Vickers had the better second-half possession, the Oaks were always in control and saw out the game comfortably, with no more goals added to the contest.

Sevenoaks brought a fivematch losing run to an end in the South East Division and moved themselves up to 16th in the table, while Athletic suffered their second defeat.

Joining the Oaks in breaking an unwanted duck were

Haywards Heath, who celebrated their first home point of the season with a 1-1 draw against Ashford United.

Heath had to stave off waves of pressure in the first 45 minutes and somewhat against the run of play, Melford Simpson flicked on a George Brown throw and Callum Saunders steered the ball into the back of the net on 31 minutes to give the home side a half-time lead.

The visitors to Hanbury continued their pressure in the second half but, just like the first 45 minutes, goalkeeper Josh Heyburn was seemingly unbeatable.

But the pressure did finally tell when on 63 minutes.

Jordan Johnson found some space inside the Heath area and via a deflection or two, powered the ball into the bottom corner.

The final 20 minutes saw both sides go for the win with some end-to-end football but parity remained the points were ultimately shared, Heath finding themselves 13th in the table while Ashford jump ahead of Hythe Town and into fifth place, sitting in the play-off spots in what is still the early part of the campaign.

The spoils were also shared at the Belmont Ground as

Whitstable Town and Three Bridge played out a badtempered 1-1 draw that saw both teams end the contest with ten men.

First, the Oysterboys’ Chris Saunders received his marching orders with 23 minutes on the clock but Bridges’ man advantage wouldn’t last long, Alex Laing also being sent off on the strike of half-time.

It took just three second-half minutes for the hosts to land a significant blow, Tom Walmsley firing Whitstable into the lead.

However, just as one dismissal had earlier quickly been followed by another, Bridges restored parity just three minutes later, Joe Tennent bagging the equaliser.

Both sides’ efforts to find a winning goal proved in vain and it remained honours even, with Whitstable recording their second draw of the season and ending the day tenth.

Bridges, meanwhile, followed up their 2-0 home victory over Sevenoaks Town and maintain some upward momentum, having brought a six-match losing run to an end with that midweek success.