Match Reports 20 February 2010

Fixture

Holcombe 2A's, 20 February 2010

Result

3 - 2 WIN ( J Murdoch, D Judge, A Turnill )

Venue

Away

Report

3 points away from home is always a great result. We were certainly not at our best although in patches we played some really good stuff. Our first 10 minutes reflected the fact that we had not played for 2 weeks and we conceded an early goal after losing possession in midfield. This set up the pattern for the game as Holcombe came into the game largely due to mistakes made by us.

However when we played our quick transfer hockey we created chances at will. We equalised through a broken down corner routine where Jedi mopped up a deflection to go to double figures in goals for the season. This was followed by Old man Coach sustaining a run for over 30 yards and finishing in a slot kindly left by the defence, he received cardiac arrest treatment shortly after.

Another quick break led to good interplay between Coach, Skipper and Andy.T. No surprises in the end result, another deflected goal for Andy, talk about a trademark finish.

We went into the half 3-1 up and should have kicked on from here. However we were poorer in the 2nd half and Hocombe earnt a a deserved PF which they dispatched well. We created enough chances to kill off the same but Coach's stick radar was off and the oppo defended well. However our defence has stood firm all season and we safely saw out the game.

MoM

Mike Gillette - an excellent game at right half
Fixture

Gore Court, 20 February 2010

Result

1 - 1 DRAW ( A Devlin )

Venue

Home

Report

Sutton valence 2nds turned out on Saturday to face a Gore Court 3's side who were languishing in the bottom three of Kent's league division 2 and to date had only manged to win 3 games all season. With these statistics Sutton Vance on paper would have taken all three points with ease but this was not the case as they found out.

The game started well with a number of good passes from Valence, moving the ball around the pitch with Gore Court chasing shadows. Gore Court worked hard to break down the attacking moves from Valence and were starting to grow in confidence. With this new found vigor Gore Court won themselves a short corner. Although the initial shot was easily brushed aside by the inform keeper Lee Croucher, the second phase of play was not cleared in time and Gore Court push home their lead from a goal mouth scramble and celebrated their goal as if they had won the world cup. From the restart it became apparent that Gore Court had taken their game tactics from the Italians and were now happy to sit back and defend their one goal lead, which they did remarkably well, aided by the poor passing skills of Valences midfield and defenders. With Valence stuck in second gear and with a bus parked in front of the Gore Court goal Valence went into half time trailing by a single goal.

The second half started much the same as the end of the first, with Gore Court camped in their goal mouth defecting the advances of Valences forwards but with an aging team Gore Court were unable to to prevent the inevitable goal which came through the unlikely source of Andy Devlin. With Valence having plenty of time to move the ball around the pitch, Chris Johnson broke at the pace of Steve Mole down the right hand side to deliver the break through cross for an unmarked Devlin to slot home his seventh goal of the season. This goal eased the pressure and Valence started to play hockey in the style which has brought them the success of league leaders. The dominance of play that Valence were achieving gave them a number of short corners and if it was not for the brave skills of the Gore Court Skipper and goalie would have taken all three points. The game finished with Gore Court throwing all they had at Valence and winning themselves their second short corner of the game and it was the winning of this short corner that brought the final whistle. Valence were at a state of readiness for this final short corner following Gore Court's first one which saw them take up a French stockade in their own half but Valence's defense held firm and the game finished with a one all draw.

On refection Gore Court played to their strengths and did not let Valence play their style of flowing dutch hockey. Valence will travel to the sunny shores of CliftonAville which will be as warm as ever in a top of the table clash.

Team

Lee Croucher, Lewis Mitchel, Steve Parker, Matt Oakley, Andy Lee, Peter Posnette, Tom willson, Tom Morgan, James stanford, Andy Devlin, Ben Tragett, Chris Johnson

MoM

Steve Parker
Fixture

Maidstone, 20 February 2010

Result

2 - 1 WIN ( B Bouwens, J Davies )

Venue

Away

Report

Valence ground out a win against a resilient Maidstone side. In an encounter that has proven fiery on several occasions in the past both sides kept the rivalry under control and played a hard fought game of hockey. Maidstone started strong and controlled the first 10 minuets of the game with valence struggling to get out of their own half. After keeping Maidstone at bay Valence opened the scoring with a classic Bert Bowens goal, yep you guessed it, 2ft away from the line as usual.

Valence then started to take more control of the game and late on in the half were able to increase the lead when Jack Davies scored at the back post to make it 2-0. Maidstone scored early in the second half before Valence asserted more pressure in attack. Despite getting into the D several time Valence failed to convert any of their chances. Maidstone regrouped in the last 10 minutes and threatened to even the match but were kept at bay by the Valence defence ensuring a tough win for Valence at the final whistle.