Match Reports 26 January 2008

Fixture

Ashford, 26 January 08

Result

3 - 1 DRAW ( A Turnill 2, R Bray )

Venue

Away

Report

Sutton Valence Men’s 1st XI took the first home points off table-toppers Ashford after a brutish 3-3, a result keeping Valence 8th in the Kent-Sussex Regional Division, and Ashford looking nervously over their shoulders once again.

Valence came out of the blocks at a canter in this game as they stormed into an early 2-0 lead. First, a Chris Back lofted ball eluded the Ashford defence for Tom Morgan to pick up, run unchallenged into the area before committing the keeper and sliding in Andy Turnill; who finished cooly from a tight angle. The second for Valence was a second for Turnill as he dragged a penalty-corner high into the net. At 2-0, the home crowd were hushed, and their team were floundering as frustrations grew and passes went astray. Valence were disrupting all Ashford could muster and the goal threat was minimal.

With 25 minutes gone though, Ashford were handed a life line as from their own penalty-corner, a fast switch atop of the area and a low-down finish into the corner of the goal brought them back to 2-1 down. Both sides were now cancelling each other out in midfields and defences, and goal scoring opportunities were few and far between. 2-1 it remained to the break.

Into the second-half, and Ashford came out the more eager, immediately drawing level from another low-down strike finding the corner. But Valence heads did not drop and the game returned to the frenetic, midfield dominated storyline as per the first-half.

With 15 minutes remaining, and still dead-locked at 2-2, Ashford made what they thought to be the decisive breakthrough, when playing on from an advantage after a lofted ball in the area, the ball was squared for a high-in-the-net finish. Their thoughts of that being the decisive moment strengthened as the game ticked into the final two minutes; however, Valence were to have the final say.

Winning a free-hit atop of the Ashford area, Valence’s Chris Back sent in a low ball which was deflected seemingly away from the danger area; however, that was not accounting for Valence’s left-back Steve Back arriving late on the scene. With one touch, Back controlled the bouncing ball, turned inside the defender and opened space for the shooting opportunity; a shot which was fired low towards the far post and a crowd of players: one of whom was Valence’s Rob Bray who deflected home in an ungainly but spectacular fashion to bring the scores level once again. And level it remained through the final minutes.

Overall, an exhilarating game, a fair result and an enjoyable game for all spectators and players involved.

Valence entertain Marden this coming week, with Marden I’m sure keen to overturn their defeat to Valence in the first-half of the season “on their own turf.”
Fixture

Sevenoaks, 26 January 08

Result

6 - 1 WIN ( B Bouwens 3, J Clarke 2, E Lewell )

Venue

Home

Report

Valence were confident and psyched to get a win out of this match, after the excellent performance from last week against Holcombe.

Bleader and Alex McCrea had decided to **** off to France to go skiing or something, but Valence started off well with a darting run down the right wing by Stille, then a good cross was converted by Bert. It was a bit far out for Bert, so everyone was a bit surprised to go up 1-0. Sevenoaks put some pressure on our D and managed to get a very scrambled equaliser, which Gobbo was adamant that is should had been disallowed.

Chris Stille worked extremely hard all game, and had many penetrating runs down the right wing; one after 25 minutes ended up in a scramble at about 12 feet to finally end in a goal supposedly scored by Ed Lewell. Valence went into half time 2-1 up, and looking the better side so Gobbo had another shouting match with himself for the team talk.

Valence came out a lot more confident and energetic and the difference in effort across the team was evident, much more possession and pressure and when we won a short corner, it was calmly executed by Clarkey gaining his first of the match. 3-1 up and Sutton didn’t let up on the pressure forcing Sevenoaks to panic on many of their own 16’s. Valence kept the pressure up and some great defending by Ife, Hoff and Josh kept the team on the attack with some quick and effective passing. Hoff was having a great game and some crucial tackles kept Valence in the game.

A change to the formation meant that Hoff, Callum and Stille had some great movements down the right usually ending in another cross from Chris. A break meant that Mr. Stille could show off his running skills again and gaining himself another of his 6 assists of the day, this one was Bert’s second, a shot from about 6 cm out. 4-1 up.

As always Gobbo gave all the mouth with no trousers and the umpires, especially Dickie were starting to get slightly annoyed with him , but surprisingly he managed to walk away from this match without a card at all. To give credit, Ife-y played extremely well (except for some silly mistakes leaving Hoff and Josh with about 5 players to deal with), but with composure and skills we kept them out.

I hate having to talk about Chris so much, but Chris made another run down the right pulling the ball back to Clarkey on the P-spot to sweetly strike home to make the score line 5-1. Ben Grabham, Ed Lewell and Will Fuller had a very good game keeping the structure in the middle and some runs from Will down the left usually ended up in a short corner or free hit. About 10 mins from the end, James had a close strike but put it a whisker wide, Valence kept the pressure up and the whole team had good passing and movement.

Close to the end, Hoff was having a nice dribble down the right, and a call came saying “man on” so for some reason, Hoff decided to bend over, we don’t know what he was looking for there, and then proceeded to fall over with no elegance at all. He fell like a sack of ****.

The last goal of the match came from Mr. Bert Bouwens and what a goal it was, the cross came in and Bert only needed one reverse touch with his wonder stick, Prudence, and placed the ball through the approaching goalies legs, and then came a slightly over dramatic celebration, with a lot of running around the edge of the pitch, making the final score line 6-1 to a deserved Valence performance.

Overall, Valence played extremely well and to get a good result like that puts confidence into the team for out tussle against Maidstone next week, WELL DONE TEAM!!!

Team

R. Sharp, W. Hoffman, R. Ife, J. Davies, C. Atkins, B. Grabham, E. Lewell, W. Fuller, J. Clarke, C. Stille, B. Bouwens

MoM

Chris Stille
Fixture

Holcombe, 26 January 08

Result

4 - 0 WIN ( L Mitchell 2, C Henderson, A Lynn )

Venue

Away

Report

This week he 4th team played a friendly game against a Holcombe 6th Scratch XI

With a late 4.30pm start the game started at a pedestrian pace with both sides struggling to gain any momentum, mostly poor passing made for a very open game with both sides failing to trouble the keepers. About 15 minutes into the match both sides started to wake up and Rob sharp had to make some good saves to prevent Holcombe opening the scoring. Valences first goal was scored by the energetic Lewis Mitchell with a crisp strike from the top of the D. Andy Lynn added a second before half time to put Valence 2 goals ahead.

After a stern half time talk Valence produced some much better hockey in the second half and could well have scored a dozen more goals! In fact they only managed to score 2 more, the first was after an intoxicating run from Chad Henderson took him past 5 Holcombe players and the keeper to score the goal of the match and Lewis Mitchell scored his second with another excellent strike from the top of the D to seal a 4-0 victory for Sutton Valence.

Well done to Nick Hall who did well as umpire in his first ever game! Cheers Nick

Team

Rob Sharp, Kyle Henderson, Jack Davies, Marcus Van Der Gaag, Chad Henderson, Ben Gallaphant, Darren Thompson, Danny Grace, Simon Davies, Lewis Mitchell, Andy Lynn

MoM

Lewis Mitchell
Fixture

Folkestone, 26 January 08

Result

4 - 0 WIN ( R Humphrey 2, D Grace, P Bramall )

Venue

Away

Report

Folkestone started the match strongly and their youthful team put the visiting defence under pressure for the first 15 minutes. Folkestone won several penalty corners but failed to put real pressure on Dan Armstrong in goal. Valence eased into the opposition half and eventually Rupert Humphrey thumped the ball home. Both sides created chances but the score stayed at 1-0 at half time.

After the break, Valence began to move the ball around the park with more pace and precision and eventually a second goal came from a penalty corner. Folkestone pushed forward and Valence exploited the spaces. Further scores from Danny Grace and Phil Bramall sealed the game.

It was pleasing that the team were able to establish a rhythm and eventually dominate a match that was very even at half time. Several new players bonded well into the 5th team style of play. Strong performances came from James Abrahams and Phil Bramall but the Star Player vote went to Jack Davies. Thanks again to the reluctant keepers; Dan and Bob. So far a very successful resumption to the 2007/8 league campaign. By my reconing, we are now 4th or possibly even 3rd in the league.

Team

Dan Armstrong, Iain Simmons, Mike Nettle, Andy McVarish, Nick Hall, James Abrahams, Bob Sagrott, Danny Grace, Nick Gray, Rupert Humphrey, Phil Barton, Phil Bramall, Jack Davies. Umpire: Richard Ashness

MoM

Jack Davies
Fixture

Folkestone, 26 January 08

Result

2 - 4 LOSS ( A Kish 2 )

Venue

Away

Report

Having played a great game the previous week, Sutton Valence struggled a little at Folkestone on saturday. The pitch was very sandy which slowed the pace down and Valence let Folkestone play at a lower work rate than Valence were used to. The Folkestone forwards ran haywire around the pitch and confused Valence's defence, leading to an early goal for the home side. After several shots on goal at the Folkestone end, Anna Kish slammed home an equaliser for Valence.

Evenly matched and level at half time, Valence picked the pace up in the opening minutes of the second half and started playing better hockey. This was short lived however, and the pace soon slowed back to a comfortable trot which Folkestone took advantage of. Folkestone were instent on playing the ball down the right hand side of the pitch and the left winger didn't get a look in for the majority of the game, but it was the lone winger that scored Folkestone's second goal. Anna Kish retaliated by scoring an equaliser from Valence's left flank. Folkestone were up for winning and their determination was rewarded with two penalty corners in quick succession. Both were converted into goals, sealing Valence's fate.

The teams were evenly matched and there was some excellent play from Valence and some great saves by young goal keeper Chloe Auger. The visitors were just not making the most of their chances in front of goal. Next week Georgie Pares is back in attack, so Valence are hopeful of putting a few away against the Gillingham Anchorians.

Team

Chloe Auger, Carol Hazelton, Caroline Lawton, Natalie Higginson, Zoe Wright, Emma Donkersley (c), Nicola Leggat, Anna Kish, Emily Bush, Sarah Lacey, Sophie Simmonds, Lauren Dewart

MoM

Sarah Lacey
Fixture

Meopham, 26 January 08

Result

5 – 4 WIN ( M Turner 2, G Shireby, E Bush, J Bishop )

Venue

Home

Report

This week’s game against Meopham proved to be one of the toughest and closest fought matches of the season. League leaders Meopham opened up the scoring as their right wing was given the run of the pitch. Russets retaliated with an equaliser from Gemma Shireby who smashed the ball into the back board from a top D strike. Meopham’s determination paid off as once again they were given too much breathing space in the midfield which saw them take the lead 2-1 at half time.

The second half really began to see some excellent hockey from the Russets. Strong and feisty clearances from Agnes Pawlik and Claire Matthews helped to keep the Meopham onslaught at bay. Amelia Shaw was solid at right defence, virtually man-marking her player out of the game. Fantastic link play in the midfield from Sophie Garner and Liz Talbot assisted in setting up many of our goal scoring opportunities and while we won several penalty corners in our favour, our defence line succeeded in giving away none throughout the entire match. The next goal was an absolute stunner as a Gemma Shireby cross to Emily Bush culminated in the ball being slammed into the net, again from the top of the circle. At this point the Russets were feeling very positive as they knew they were back in the game. It did not take long for Meopham to form a counter-attack to regain their lead. However, by this time, the Russets were storming the pitch mounting attack upon attack.

On about their forth penalty corner, Margaret Turner positioned perfectly by the left post slapped the ball in from a deflected Shireby strike. The Russets continued to attack the goal, while the Meopham defence pounced upon any player in possession. Margaret Turner, once again, came storming in from the left to receive the ball and push it into the far corner of the net to give us a 4-3 lead. At this point Russets maintained their lead until the end of the game. Our final goal came from Jane Bishop who was waiting at the right post to receive a well-timed cross from Margaret Turner.

Unfortunately, in the last 5 minutes of the game, our defenders had touched the ball with their feet a couple of times while in the defending D. Our defenders, clearly waiting for the whistle to blow and a penalty corner to be awarded to Meopham, were disappointed as Meopham were allowed to continue to play on and score. But it was not enough for them to secure the victory.

Well done to everyone on a fantastic team performance!

Team

Carol Turner, Claire Matthews, Amelia Shaw, Agnes Pawlik, Nicola Andrews, Emily Bush, Liz Talbot, Sophie Garner, Jane Bishop, Gemma Shireby, Margaret Turner

MoM

Gemma Shireby
Fixture

Tonbridge Black Knights, 26 January 08

Result

9 - 0 LOSS

Venue

Away

Report

In the first half of the season Sutton Valence lost at home 0 : 2 to Black Knights, but when, in this game, Black Knights opened the scoring only five minutes into the game, it was clear that this was going to be a rather harder game than the last. To add weight to this belief Tonbridge piled on the pressure with most of their players in the Valence half, making it very difficult for the visitors to get the ball away. Although Valence tried hard, won the odd short corner and saw a crack from Richard Evans miss by only a foot or so, Tonbridge cemented their position by being three up by half-time.

Although the second half appeared to have more endeavour from Valence, resulting in some better sorties into Tonbridge’s half there were no serious shots on their goal, though there should have been, and further short corners went without conversion – something to be worked on here. Meanwhile at the other end, Tonbridge got into their stride and with good picking up and passing of the ball gave their forwards regular opportunity in the Valence dee, which they duly took advantage of, adding a further six goals in the second half. This was a stronger than usual team from Tonbridge, with some age advantage, but Valence need to learn from these games in order to improve their future performance.

Next week Sutton Valence Vets play Tunbridge Wells at 11.30 on the Prep School astro.

Team

Dave Britton; David Barton; John Knight; Gray Smith-Laing; Phil Higgins; Andy Beavis; Steve Mole; Stuart Bates; Nick Willson; Paul Linaker; Henry Humphrey; Charles Worsfold; Richard Evans; Hugh Robertson.
Fixture

Purley Walcountians, 27 January 08

Result

4 - 0 WIN ( S Courtley, J Stanford, N Holmes, M Ife )

Venue

Away

Report

Sutton travelled away for a tough match to visit Purley Walcountians currently in 'bronze' position in the league. With the keeper and subs still driving around Surrey, Sutton thought they would have to start with the 10 outfield players but PW's sportingly agreed to wait. Thankfully the match started only 15 minutes delayed and right from the start Sutton grabbed control with excellent pass and move hockey from the whole team. PW's knew they were in for a tough game and Sutton camped in PW's half, retaining possession and forcing PW into giving the ball away with rash shots up field. James Stanford, back in the team following a foot injury, came close as he took the ball around the keeper only to see his shot bounce back off the post.

Sutton remained focused and Sam Courtley popped in the first following some tense goal mouth action. Sutton again applied pressure with Max Ife linking well up the left hand side of the pitch. Nick Holmes and Chigi Patel winning the mid-field battles. Again James Stanfords speed and touch was causing too much trouble for PW's defence and he grabbed a goal with a nice flick passed the keeper to make it 0-2 to SV. The game then changed with PW's forcing Sutton in to a defensive period. But Sutton held firm mainly due to a 'never say die' attitude from Keeper Will Aldridge (man of the match) and his defence.

A third goal for Sutton came from Nick Holmes hitting a nice shot from a short corner and it was 0-3 at half time. For some reason Sutton's nerves were high and they had lost there shape from the first excellent 15 minutes - so the half time talk asked the team to keep width and pass outwards rather than through the middle of the pitch, also, Sutton needed to improve marking and hold off from over committing at tackles.

At the start of the second half, Sutton looked calmer but a Penalty Flick award to PW could have swung the game - up came Keeper Will to the rescue as he made another great save and PW knew nothing was going to get passed him today! Sutton started to retain control and a have most of the game. Though PW attacked well, Sutton's organisation was better with Nick Holmes and Sam Courtley out thinking PWs attacks.

A fourth excellent goal came from a superb 16 hit from Courtley, a kind nick off James Stanfords stick saw Max Ife pick the ball up on the left and drive towards the goal and Keeper. Max's deft push round the Keeper and into the goal was the nail in the coffin for PWs and the score remained 0-4 to the final whistle.

MoM

Will Aldridge