Despite the chilly wind, temperatures on the pitch rose at times with a full-blooded, committed performance from the boys in green and white which will have pleased manager, Jamie Poole.

The game began brightly, with the decent crowd being treated to some high-quality football. The Young Rustics were stringing together some neat passing moves which caused problems for the Sevenoaks defence but it was from an effort from long-range the opening goal came.

Ion picked up the bouncing ball in midfield, set himself, dribbled past two defenders before unleashing a dipping shot which was well-saved by the keeper. Tully was on hand in just the right spot to tuck home the rebound to give Rusthall a fully-deserved 1-0 lead.

Rusthall continued to dominate proceedings but Sevenoaks remained a threat at times. Oscar H showed touches of class, skipping past desperate tackles with ease- following one such run, Ion picked up the ball and struck from distance again but this time, his shot went narrowly over the bar.

Sevenoaks attempted to get back into the game but saw long shots well-fielded by Oscar L and corners cleared comfortably. Lennox advanced the ball forward well all game- one such buccaneering run drew a foul which would set the tone for the rest of the game. A terrible tackle on the right-hand side was not punished other than a freekick being awarded and from that point, heckles were raised and tackles were robust to say the least. A freekick for Sevenoaks in a decent position was well-struck but bounced back off the angle of post and bar- a dangerous through-ball cut open Rusthall’s defence but Harry H was there to see off the danger before, again, being fouled.

Ion was running the game from midfield and did well to lay the ball to Oscar H whose shot flew wide, drawing the first half to a close.
Rusthall were well on top in the opening exchanges of the second half. A cross searching for the head of Zac was cleared before another cross from the dangerous Ion found Caleb but he couldn’t get the ball out from under his feet and was unable to get a meaningful shot away. Sevenoaks would have been level were it not for an acrobatic save from Oscar L who watched a driving effort carefully before timing his dive perfectly to tip the ball away.

Rusthall’s persistence and willingness to run at defenders with the ball at feet was rewarded with a penalty being given when Harry D went down under a risky shove from the Sevenoaks defender. Lennox stepped up but saw his good effort saved low to the left.

Sevenoaks tails were up and it took great defending from the Rustics to keep hold of the lead. The poor tackling from the away side continued but so did the quality play from the home side who showed incredible maturity to rise above the attempts to intimidate them.

Oscar L dealt with everything that came his way, Lennox saw an effort which was destined for the bottom corner flicked away at the very last second, and Harry H almost scored direct from a corner. Any time Sevenoaks did get the ball in a dangerous area, they were quickly crowded out by the hard-working defenders who clearly wanted this win- Jakub in midfield embodied this spirit when he was hurt by yet another poor challenge but carried on bravely to the end. Lennox, frustrated by the inconsistency from the referee, perhaps displayed his passion a little too strongly and found himself sin-binned with around ten minutes to go but the Rustics held on. Both sets of players had to be spoken to by the management teams who reminded them of the importance of maintaining their cool which they did- chances came and went at both ends but when the final whistle blew, it was the Rusthall boys who were able to celebrate an important win.

Who knows what lies in store for these boys in the future but they are already representing their club in fine style and can be proud of their morning’s work.

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