For the second home game on the bounce, the Ops youngsters found themselves playing in the teeth of a storm, up against a very strong Sevenoaks team who were riding high in the league. Ops found themselves under the pump from the get go, but the stout defensive work of Daniel Andrews, Simon Jones, Steve Letley and Joseph Allon kept the score at 0-0. This Oaks team are very handy though, and eventually pressure told and they took the lead, followed shortly after by another very well finished goal that even Oisin Doyle's heroics between the sticks were unable to repel. Gradually though the youngsters established a foothold in the game, and despite losing the veteran Dave Whitehead to a nasty blow to the shin, began to get some nice hockey flowing. Letley sr and Letley jr began to impose themselves in the middle of the park, releasing the wide players in Arthur Ireland, Evan Carter, Oscar Daley and Jake and Joel Davidson to carry the attack to the Oaks. Andrews sr, in a somewhat unfamiliar role at centre forward due to injury did move the defence around well, but without any real end product to speak of. 2-0 at halftime, but the Ops could just sense that they were building momentum. They tore out of the blocks at the start of the second half, harrying and pressuring defenders, but unfortunately conceded twice more to leave them staring down the barrel of a serious defeat. But, as your correspondent has previously remarked upon, this team has some real character and simply refused to lie down and accept defeat. With 20 minutes to go, the youngsters threw themselves into fray, with powerful runs from Ireland, Letley jr, the Davidson's, Carter and Daley all leading to serious pressure on the Oaks defence. A short corner was earned, and a slick move between Letley jr and Andrews sr saw the Oaks keeper save well, but this was a real sign of things to come, and the very next short corner saw a repeat move but this time leading to Andrews sr finding the backboard. The Ops then really stepped on the gas, with wave after wave of attacks, combined with more seriously good defending from the back 4, and a couple of absolute worldie saves from Doyle. The next short corner saw Andrews sr's strike stopped on the line by an Oaks foot, and the subsequent penalty flick was dispatched by the grizzled veteran to make it 4-2 with 15 to go. Ops maintained the pressure and came so close to further goals, but it wasn't until earning a short corner right at the death that they were able so seize the opportunity. Another slick move saw Andrews sr complete his hat-trick with a diving effort. Although the result went against them, the sheer tenacity and skill of the youngsters saw them receive richly deserved praise from both the Ops adults and the opposition. An excellent display to cap off a fine opening half of the season which sees the Ops solidly in 4th place in the league.