A HAT-TRICK from Lorne Barnard helped Oxted move up to third in the table with an emphatic 8-4 win against Richmond on Saturday.
The O's put in an impressive display in front of goal and threatened to run away with the game with a 5-2 lead at half-time, although the visitors fought back with two goals early on in the second half to threaten an unlikely comeback.
However, two late strikes from Barnard and a Eugene Pelteret goal sealed the win for Oxted, which sees them climb two places to third ahead of a crucial clash with Teddington on Saturday.
Captain Ross Warnes said it was a pleasing win for his side, but added that they would need to show more discipline as a group and defend better if they are to maintain a top three position.
He said: "Offensively, we were very strong and we played some nice stuff.
"But in the second half we were quite loose and there was more pressure and stress than we would have liked as a result.
"We did show a good spirit and composure to get the late goals and just about do it, but as a group we need to maintain our discipline and defend much better collectively."
Oxted raced out of the blocks though, racking up a 3-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes of the match with goals from Barnard, an own goal and a great low strike by Mike Trim from a penalty corner.
But Richmond fought back well, with Sam Burroughs and Liam Ansell both beating Phil Carr down low to bring the visitors back to within one goal after an incredible first 21 minutes.
The scoreboard continued to work overtime as the game followed the trend of a traditional goal-fest, with Oxted's Tom Blyth finishing off a great team move to make it 4-2 before player-coach Andy Cornick slid into divert a penalty corner past Richmond's Pete Metcalf on the stroke of half-time, sending the O's in 5-2 ahead at the break.
The break was possibly the worst thing for the O's though, as whatever was said at half-time in the Richmond camp worked wonders, with the visitors coming out rejuvenated and much more dangerous on the attack.
Indeed, they again brought themselves back to within one goal, with two quickfire strikes from Joe Lyes and Josh Smith rattling the hosts and threatening an outcome that seemed impossible at the break.
However, a great finish by Barnard from an incredibly tight angle on the hour mark saw the hosts breathe a huge collective sigh of relief, before the same man finished from close range to put daylight between the two sides.
Pelteret then sealed the victory four minutes from time with a scruffy close range finish that bobbled over the line, giving Oxted a big three points and a timely boost ahead of their match with Teddington.
And Warnes said the result would go a long way to helping Oxted secure at least a mid-table finish.
"You look at the league and it is so tight at the moment," he said.
"The three points help to keep us in the mix for the top three and definitely at least a mid-table finish, although you can see there are a couple of resurgent teams like Indian Gymkhana and City of Peterborough at the bottom picking up points.
"I can't see anyone running away with third, but we have to be on our game to keep up with our challenge.
"And next week will test us for different reasons – offensively Teddington are strong and we will need to put in a more disciplined performance to get the result."
