After a titanic struggle which included extra time, the Anvils finally came good at the eighth time of asking when just edging out a determined Oakwood side that battled thro out this absorbing and fluctuating contest.

The Anvils set the proverbial stall out early with a Josh Alcock corner being hacked away, followed by Michael Belli's run that earned a corner, on 5 mins another Alcock corner found Charlie Dodd whose header was then cleared off the line, at this stage the homesters were well on top with another Belli cross being taken by keeper Steve Southern, and then a Alcock freekick that was half cleared only as far as Belli whom in turn could only fire over.

The Oaks after this early battering then started to make inroads themselves, with first Scott Fabers shot being taken by Anvil keeper Seb Bos, and then a 35yd freekick by Ben Arthur being charged down and then cleared, the veteran and ex Anvillian Darren Tidy then slipped his marker but could only drive across the face of goal, come 35 and the opening goal when Liam Coughlan on a charge down the right flank cut inside to set up Toby Gilbert with the simplest of chances to prod home. 0-1 Oaks.

A rather stunned Anvil outfit then returned to the fray with another Alcock free kick taken by Southern, then Steve Major and Mo Shuga'a combining together set up a cross that Dodd again put over, followed by Matt Gates on a charge down the right finishing with a cross that keeper Southern took easily, to finish off the half the Oaks came nearest to extending their lead with a corner by Coughlan that came back out only as far as Gilbert (T) whose fierce shot had Bos diving to his right to scoop the ball away. HT 0-1 Oaks.

Straight from the off the Anvils set the ball rolling ( sorry about the pun ) attacking the slope with corner specialist Alcock sending in another that had keeper Southern in trouble, dropping the cross before it was hacked away, on 55 Sam Cane set up Major who went thro the centre of defence but could only find Southern again.

Tho on the back foot the Oaks were always ready for the counter, with first sub Kyle Feasey bringing Bos into action, and on 54 the Anvil back line was breached and with the ball pinging around a shot by Arthur had to be hastily hacked clear, come 66 and disaster for the Anvils as a break from defence by Oaks Clive Piller left the homesters open and in turn set up Mark Gilbert to prod home the visitors second. 0-2 Oaks

Stunned by this sudden reversal it was all change on the Anvil bench with James Upton and Grant Rigler replacing Major and Tom Saunders, within minutes 73 to be precise hard grafting Shuga'a took over the show, joining the attack and hammering home the Anvils opener. 1-2 Oaks.

Suddenly a buzz of optimism stirred the home support as the Anvils sensing it was game on, as the visitors started to fall back in numbers to keep the now eager Anvils out, with Belli breaking thro for a corner, then Upton twisting and turning and firing wide, on 80 Rigler broke thro only to see keeper Southern save with his legs, the last toss of the dice with Andrew Goodwin on for the injured Gates, with 90 plus mins on the clock surely we've missed the boat, but not quite as a last ditch attack causes mayhem in the Oaks box, with shots raining in and shots being charged down, then follows a corner that in the melee that followed a penalty is awarded, a deathly hush around the ground as perhaps the calmest player on the pitch Shuga'a, then belts home the lifesaver. 2-2 and extra time.

Extra time, what can one say just that with those two goals scored the Anvils were in the ascendancy as they forced the Oaks to defend with ten men behind the ball, energy levels now nonexistent as the Anvils now high on adrenalin took the game to a higher level, but the Oaks tho dispirited and now complaining refused to cave in, and with the clock ticking down the advent of penalties now beckoned and both managers now thinking in terms of penalty takers, but no not yet as from yet another last gasp Anvil attack the outstanding Alcock somehow finds that chink of daylight in the Oak defence to notch that vital winner. FT 3-2 Anvils.

Oakwood ended with 3 men sent off near the end attributed to some really feisty and somewhat dangerous play on their part and they also had several bookings for their actions author losing count in the end.

Team: Seb Bos, Matt Gates (Andrew Goodwin), Mo Shuga'a, Ryan Fletcher, Scott Johnston, Charlie Dodd, Michael Belli, Sam Cane, Steve Major (Grant Rigler), Tom Saunders (James Upton), Josh Alcock.

Sussex Carpet Centre MOM :- Mo Shuga'a