Whitehawk FC 0 Sevenoaks Town FC 1
A solitary goal from Sevenoaks Town’s Yahaya Bamba condemned Whitehawk to defeat at the TerraPura Ground on the 11th annual Non-League Day.
In what was a slow start to the game, with the ball spending prolonged periods in the sky, Whitehawk were marginally the better side in the first half.
The home side took all of seven minutes to carve out an opening through Tareq Shahib, whose strike was blocked in a crowded Sevenoaks box.
The Oaks had a penalty shout turned down on 24 minutes when Freddie Parker was sliced down by Whitehawk keeper Nathan Stroomberg-Clarke.
With 613 fans in attendance on Non-League Day, the home side did manage to fashion an opportunity at the stroke of half-time through Javaun Splatt.
Splatt nutmegged two Sevenoaks defenders in succession, working the ball into the box to find Ollie Munt, who flashed it across the face of goal. But with no one to stab it home, the chance went begging.
Despite the home fans turning up the volume all afternoon, the wrong-end-of-the-table clash threatened to be a dull affair in sunny Whitehawk until the 55th minute when Yahaya Bamba was brought down by Adam El-Abd.
Bamba stepped up to take the penalty and Whitehawk sensed a brief moment of elation when Stroomberg-Clarke managed to dive the right way. That elation evaporated when Bamba smashed in the rebound to give Sevenoaks the lead.
There was a late injury concern for Sevenoaks when their keeper Tyler McCarthy went down with an injury. McCarthy duly made his way back into the game after receiving treatment, just in time to see the game through for the visitors despite a late effort from Splatt.
El-Abd had an opportunity to make amends in the dying embers of the game but failed to convert a cross late on.
Whitehawk have just three more home games left for the season and are due face Faversham Town next at home on Tuesday (29 March), while Sevenoaks Town will also face Faversham next on Saturday 2 April.
