Match Reports 24 November 2007
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- Fixture
- Tunbridge Wells, 24 November 2007
- Result
- 2 - 1 WIN ( A Turnill, R Bray )
- Venue
- Report
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Sutton Valence put in a solid performance at the weekend to see off a Tunbridge Wells side on a good run of recent form. Wells started the better, playing keep-ball. But SV defended solidly as a team, not giving Wells chances, and gradually started taking over the game. For the first twenty minutes, both goalkeepers were mere spectators as the game was played predominantly between the two 22 yard lines, with the exception of a couple of short corners where both of the drag-flicker’s crosshairs were out of kilter. For the final 15 minutes of the half, Valence started creating some chances, but for all the smart build up play, the final ball or shot was always lacking, so the half ended with blanks for both teams.
With half time instructions to keep playing the same way, Sutton started the second half the stronger, but could not find a way past the Wells sweeper, and Wells took the lead against the run of play when their centre midfielder was allowed to run past some weak challenges before pulling the ball back for an easy finish. Fired by this, and some questionable decisions, Valence came back with a vengeance. Winning a short corner when Willson’s stick was taken out as he ran into the D, Turnill unleashed an unstoppable drag flick into the net. Shortly afterwards, Valence scored again, this time from a move worked out at training – Robby Bray expertly deflecting in from a Chris Back pass.
Having been in the situation of a narrow lead going into the final 15 minutes many times, and often failing to defend it, the spectators could be forgiven for having a few worries. However, Valence played out the game with no real worries, with the exception of a couple of short corners comfortably dealt with by the classy Lee Croucher. Indeed, Valence ended the stronger side.
All in all, a very good performance from the whole team, deserving to win by more than the single goal. They were in control for most of the game, and refused to panic when falling behind. With two away games remaining before Xmas, both against fellow mid-table sides, Valence will be looking to continue their recent good form to set themselves up well for the new year.
- Team
- Croucher, S. Back, Willson, Worsfold, Bray, C. Back, Morgan, Angel, Johnson, Turnill, Lampp, Fraser
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- Fixture
- Kings Alleyn, 24 November 2007
- Result
- 3 – 2 LOSS ( J Clarke, L Mitchell )
- Venue
- Away
- Report
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With high aims from last weeks win Sutton Valance took the long journey to King’s College, south London. On arrival the pitch was still slightly frozen, the game before being cancelled put doubt weather the game were to go ahead.
With a quick warm up the Valance team, the pitch was ready for the game to commence!
Captain Andrew Lee won the toss and let the King’s college side push off. Sutton Valance started the first half with an urgence, passing the ball quickly and around the King’s College’s players. After 15minutes many attempts by Valance at goal the king’s players were seeing more of the ball and gaining short corners. In the dying seconds of the first half Valance conceded another short corner which was passed to the top of the D. The defence ran out; Edmed missing the ball giving the opposition a free chance to shoot and score. Scoring this first goal made King’s College more confident in play.
In the second half there was better hockey from King’s College, forcing more pressure on the Valance team. A counter attack paid off for King’s college scoring a goal; ¾ of the way through the game. All or nothing valance worked harder, now with tired legs feeling very heavy. The Valance keeper Al Burt making fantastic save after save making the King’s team feel frustrated. King’s college went on to score their 3rd goal but Valance’s head did not drop. Using Poulter’s pace on the left; Clarke shot home into the bottom left corner. This brought the reds back into the game. With spirits high Valance were camped out in King’s half putting pressure back on, but time was against the Valance squad. Poulter continual running into the King’s D started to wear the opposition down. From this Valance challenged their keeper and hammered home the second goal. Putting more pressure on the King’s side, Valance felt they could score another goal; but this was not to be.
All together the team played well, and enjoyed the game; although disappointed to of lost. Valance hoping of better thing’s next week and will try and win teas’ this week
- Team
- A Burt, W Hoffman, S Parker, R Ife, J Edmed, A Lee, M Ife, L Mitchell, N Poulter, B Traggett, F McVarish, J Clarke, P Beach.
- MoM
- Al Burt
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- Fixture
- BBHC, 24 November 2007
- Result
- 3 - 2 WIN ( D Thompson 2, R Humphrey )
- Venue
- Home
- Report
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This week Valence were hosts to bottom of the league B.B.H.C looking to finish off this years league campaign with a win.
Maybe expecting an easy game Valence were in for a wake up call with and after wasting 3 good opportunities to score BBHC quickly gained the upper hand taking advantage of some lacklustre play from the home side. Even the on form Aldridge couldn’t stop the LBZ thunderbolt which put the visitors ahead after 10 minutes leaving Valence shell shocked. Poor concentration and poor passing left Valence looking very ordinary against the young visiting side who were growing more confident by the minute with the help of their skilful and experienced midfield trio. It took an excellent shot From Rupert Humphrey to put Valence level against the run of play and looking forward to a not so relaxed half time talk.
After the break Valence were looking get all 3 points and upped their game to put BBHC under pressure. It took 10 minutes for Valence to go ahead after Darren Thompson finished off a well worked shot corner with an unstoppable shot. However BBHC certainly were far from finished and when a loose pass went straight to their big centre forward who finished well to put the scores level again and with only 10 minutes left in game an exciting finish was in store. The game could have ended with either side being the victor with chances going begging at both ends but after Ben Grabham’s shot was poorly cleared by the BBHC keeper Captain Darren Thompson followed in and sent the ball screaming into the goal giving a relieved Valence a hard earned 3-2 victory.
Captains thought of the day
Firstly a big thank you to Lee Croucher for stepping in as umpire at very short notice as BBHC turned up without one.
Lessons can be learned from this game in the fact that no game should be considered an easy game even against the bottom side in the league, we should play in the same manner as we would a top of the league clash. Respect has to go to BBHC who turned up ready to play a hard game which despite a little needle was one of the more enjoyable games this season though Valences performance should have been better.
Thanks everyone who played and after a couple of friendlys hopefully everyone will be raring to go for the second half of the league campaign.
- Team
- Will Aldridge, Kyle Henderson, Dougie Muir, Ben Grabham, Chad Henderson, Marcus Van Der Gaag, Darren Thompson, Ben Gallaphant, Simon Davies, Gareth Davies, Tarry Laing, Andy Linn, Rupert Humphrey
- MoM
- Darren Thompson
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- Fixture
- Wellcome, 24 November 2007
- Result
- 6 - 0 WIN ( D Grace 3, P Bramall 2, R Ashness )
- Venue
- Away
- Report
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A 10 man Sutton Valence team pulled off a tremendous away win, playing very attractive and effective passing hockey.
From the opening whistle the team attacked the Wellcome defence from all angles. Everyone was finding space, taking the ball and moving for the return. Numerous chances were created and after 20 minutes Phil Bramall attacked a hard cross and cracked the ball with a first time shot into the corner of the goal. The midfield and defence were able to smother the attacks high up the field and Wellcome only got the ball into the D two or three times in the first half. Valence were creating many chances and penalty corner opportunities. One effort was disallowed but eventually Richard Ashness scored a second just before half time.
In the second half, Wellcome pressed forward trying to get back into the game. Their attacks got closer to the D but few real chances were offered by the defence. Valence took advantage of the space in the opposition half and continued to work the ball skillfully into dangerous positions in front of the goal. Four more goals were scored at regular intervals, all simple tap ins.
This was a superb all round display that the whole team felt proud to have been part of. May be we should play with 10 players more often! Young Oli Aldridge commanded his defence with great authority. As a result, Wellcome only had two penalty corners and Oli did not have to touch the ball once in open play. There were many excellent performances but the star player this week was James Abrahams who worked tirelessly and effectively on the left of midfield to keep the play moving.
- Team
- Oli Aldridge, Iain Simmons, Mike Nettle, Nick Hall, James Abrahams, Bob Sagrott, Danny Grace, Richard Ashness, Jack Davies, Phil Bramall. Umpire: Paul Linnaker
- MoM
- James Abrahams
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- Fixture
- Blackheath, 24 November 2007
- Result
- 2 – 1 WIN ( J Bishop, E Sullivan )
- Venue
- Home
- Report
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Although a tough game from start to finish, the Russets dominated and had the majority of possession. Superior passing in midfield lead to the Russets winning an array of penalty corners. Unfortunately we were unable to capitalise on this opportunity and the ball rapidly found its way down the other end of the pitch. Carol Turner made some great saves in goal and Claire Matthews’s strong clearances ensured Blackheath were kept at bay.
As the Russets pushed on, Morgan Neale made a superb run up the centre of pitch and fed the ball to a surprised Jane Bishop on the right wing, who managed to slip the ball in past the keeper at what appeared to be an impossible angle. This encouraged the team to maintain their excellent performance and gave us the 1-0 lead going into the second half.
After a heartening half time talk from our Captain Claire Matthews, the Russets came back on to the pitch determined to double their score. However, some sloppy marking in midfield lead to Blackheath equalising as their right wing was given the run of the field. Not to be deterred, the Russets really came together as a team and dramatically improved their passing and tackling. Lottie Woolly and Sophie Garner, in particular, gave the Blackheath defence the run around and came close to scoring on several occasions. Again, we won a series of short corners which saw a Liz Talbot strike deflect on to Margaret Turner’s stick on the left. Margaret, in turn, pushed the ball to Emily Sullivan who was positioned perfectly on the penalty spot to slam the ball home to give us the 2-1 lead. All the Russets needed to do were hold out for the last 10 minutes of the game, which they did with energy and vigour.
- Team
- Carol Turner, Claire Matthews, Amelia Shaw, Emma Dickenson, Nicola Andrews, Emily Sullivan, Morgan Neale, Louisa Crispin, Liz Talbot, Jane Bishop, Lottie Woolly, Sophie Garner, Margaret Turner. Umpire: Clive Baxter
- MoM
- Emily Sullivan
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- Fixture
- Tunbridge Wells, 24 November 2007
- Result
- 4 - 2 LOSS ( D Bracewell, M Mallet )
- Venue
- Away
- Report
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In spite of continued injury problems, we took a relatively strong side. The game was evenly balanced, end to end and all that. At 3-2 down, Sutton Valence still worked hard and created chances but failed narowly to pull the scores level. A final goal form T. Wells secured the result for them, but an enjoyable game.
The back four played well, and Nick Willson played a solid first half in spite of his knee injury. Notable performances came from Gray Smith-Laing (as usual), Henry Humphrey, Dave Bracewell and Hugh Robertson.
- Team
- Dave Britten, Gray Smith-Laing, Andy Beavis, Phil Higgins, Dave Barton, Stuart Bates, Hugh Robertson, Henry Humphrey, Nick Wilson, Dave Bracewell, Charlie Worsfold, Mike Mallett. Umpire : Richrd Evans
- MoM
- Hugh Robertson
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- Fixture
- Herne Bay, 25 November 2007
- Result
- 7 - 0 WIN ( J Stanford 3, M Ife 2, C Harrison 2 )
- Venue
- Away
- Report
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Sutton travelled to Hearn Bay for their third Kent League match of the season. Keen to make sure that their unbeaten season continued, the Sutton team warmed up well and obviously had a moral boosting pre-match captains talk from Max Ife as right from the first whistle, Sutton closed down Hearn Bay, won the ball, took it straight into the D and James Stanford struck it into the goal. 0-1 after one minute.
Hearn Bay were a little shocked but restarted the game calling for more concentration. Unfortunately, Sutton again closed them down, won a short corner and then Max Ife smashed the ball on to the back board. 0 - 2 after three minutes. The more senior players in the Hearn Bay team were not impressed and realised that they were going to have a hard time unless they started to keep the ball. An interesting game started to evolve as Hearn Bay managed a few break-outs. Sutton's defence held very well, Will Aldridge making some great saves and the whole of Sutton's mid-field streaming back to help the defence when needed.
Phil Beech played a commanding performance at the centre of defence ably assisted by Dougie Muir on the right and Ben Gallafant on the left. Some strong tackling by Hearn Bay failed to put off Sutton's mid-field and forwards and Sutton soon had the game under control and looking dangerous when ever they got into Hearn Bay's half. Chris Harrison playing at left half had a fantastic match, skipping over rash tackles and causing the defence real problems with his stick work. Both Chris and Max Ife hit the cross bar and post to be denied goals but their efforts were soon rewarded as Forwards Phil Barton, Jack Davies and James Stanford stole the ball off the Hearn Bay defenders on multiple occasions. Chris Harrison grabbed the third goal and Max Ife took his second to make it 0-4 at half time.
The half-time talk called for a similar team performance and an early goal was the reward from James Stanford following some great pass and move play with Chigi Patel linking with Louis Summers at right half. Hearn Bay to their credit continued to battle but found it difficult to compete against Suttons pass and support, man marking and superior ball control. Hearn Bay's keeper made consistent saves, especially from Max Ife's shots and James Stanford's flicks. Hearn Bay looks dangerous on the break but Phil Beech's tackling and speed dealt with all of their attacks. When one Hearn Bay player did get through, Will Aldridge shot out from goal and crisply parried the ball away from danger, reminding the distressed forward that he still had to play well to even get a shot away.
Sutton saw two more goals, a second from Chris Harrison and finally a peach of a goal from James Stanford saw the ball move from Chigi Patel to Chris Harrison, who passed up the left wing to Phil Barton who swept it forward to James so he had a 1 on 1 with the keeper. As the Keeper when down to block the shot James lifted the ball gently over him to drop it into the net. 0-7 at the final whistle.
This was not a one-way game. Hearn Bay had capable players but were out played by your team work and ability. It was a great performance by all involved. Both Umpires commented on your team work and speed of passing. Well done.