Captain’s special day given priority

Sutton Valence

Love was in the air as the 1st XI derby between Maidstone and Sutton Valence was postponed. With Valence captain Chris Johnson getting married, Maidstone agreed to postpone Saturday’s Kent/Sussex Regional 1 fixture so his teammates could attend. The game will now be played in April. Sutton Valence 2nds conceded a late equaliser in a 4- 4 draw against Sevenoaks 4ths in Kent Open Premier A. Valence struggled to deal with the pace of a young Oaks side and trailed early on but Andy Turnill’s drag-flick rocket – the first goal of his hat-trick – and Alex Stamp’s firm finish turned the match around. Sevenoaks levelled after the break but man-of-the-match Turnill scored twice from short corners as Valence led 4-2. Back came Sevenoaks, a shot from a short corner turned over the line by a defender, then sloppy marking gifted them a free shot for the leveller. It’s back-to-back wins for Valence 3rds in Kent Open Premier C after a 9- 0 victory at Cliftonville. They scored twice inside two minutes, Henry Robinson with the opener followed by Pete Rogers’ first goal for the club. Valence continued to dominate, Chris Sheldon scoring twice before half-time and finishing with four goals. There was a second for Rogers and two for man-of-the-match Dave Lewis in only his third appearance. Valence 4ths started with nine men and no goalkeeper but worked hard to beat Old Williamsonians 7-3 in Kent Open Division 4. They were 2-1 down by the time their keeper arrived but that still left them a man down. It didn’t matter, though, with Valence 4-3 up at half-time and pulling clear after the break. There were doubles for man-of-the-match James Abraham, Rob Cockayne and James Stanford, with Andrew Wishart also on target. Valence vets beat Tonbridge Black Knights 6- 4 in the Southern Counties Hockey Conference. Man-of-the-match David Glenister scored two lovely goals, a sparkling run through the defence for his first and a shot into the roof of the net to clinch victory. Nigel Bardsley, Bob Bartlett, Rupert Humphrey and Pay Kyaing also scored.