Hosts held as leads slip
Sutton Valence 1sts led Brighton & Hove 2nds twice on Saturday but were held to a 2-2 draw in Kent/Sussex Regional 1.
Good work by Fred McVarish, Marcus Bawden and Kevin Kirkham earned the hosts a penalty corner, which Ricky O’Neill despatched for the opener.
Brighton equalised but Valence went into half-time 2-1 up thanks to another O’Neill penalty corner.
But the visitors made Valence pay for some sloppy play by levelling things up again from a well-worked corner. Sutton Valence: Henry Robinson, Josh Davies, Dan Brooks, Ricky O’Neill, Max Ife, Fred McVarish, Marcus Bawden, Kevin Kirkham, Alex Stamp, James Padwick, Chris Johnson, Jack Davies.
Goals in each half earned Valence 2nds a 2-1 win away to Sevenoaks 5ths in Kent Open Premier A.
Chris Back opened the scoring for the visitors after some neat build-up play.
Sevenoaks bundled home an equaliser before half-time but Valence kept plugging away in pursuit of the winner. It came when Tom Willson stepped up to convert a short corner. Sutton Valence: Stewart Young, Rob Ife, Brett Angel, Richard Turnill, Steve Parker, Louis Robinson, Tom Willson, Alex Hodges, Johnny Walker, Pete Rogers, Chris Back, Russell Blanchard, Chris Stille.
Sutton Valence 3rds were outclassed by Canterbury Griffins in Kent Open Premier C. They fell behind after 10 minutes but responded well and levelled when Dave Lewis converted a pass from Chris Sheldon.
However, the Pilgrims scored two goals before half-time and another three in the second half as Valence made personnel changes but looked unsettled. Sutton Valence: Finlay Wishart, Chris Sheldon, Dave Lewis, Mark Whitmill, Ben Tragett, Gareth Davies, Tom Bartlett, Bob Bartlett, Freddie Hulbert, Chris Bailey, Andy Devlin, Tom Harris, Dylan Queen, Andy Barr, Stuart Edmed.
With no league fixture last weekend, the 4ths travelled to play Holcombe 6ths in a friendly.
Ben Grabham set up Rob Cockayne for the opener but Valence lost their way after the break and it was no surprise when Holcs scored to make it 1-1. Sutton Valence: Finlay Wishart, Nick Hall, Reuben Fielding, Geoff Bell, James Abrahams, Alex Stanford, Adrian Gander, Chris Jackson, Duncan Field, Rob Cockayne, Ben Grabham, Andrew Wishart.
Sutton Valence Vets were beaten 3- 0 by Surbiton Sparticans in the Southern Counties Conference.
Surbiton were 1- 0 up at half-time and with Valence missing key players, they moved into a clear lead after half-time. Sutton Valence: Dave Britton, Bob Sagrott, Andy McVarish, Mike Nettle, Julian Mills, Stuart Bates, Rory Poulton, Lyndon Davies, Rupert Humphrey, Charles Worsfold, Dave Ewen.
Sutton Valence under-12 girls made a fine start to 2018 when they played a triangular tournament at Colfe’s School.
They beat Gore Court 3- 0 with a hat-trick from Isabella Gronow, who also scored as Valence saw off Blackheath Swifts 1- 0.
Caitlin Calverley scored three in a 6- 0 win against Blackheath Scarlets, with Gronow and Elizabeth Penfold also on target.
Valence went on to beat Ashford Locos 3- 0 and Blackheath Lightning 9- 0 before drawing 1-1 with Ashford Colts in their final match.
Their squad of eight players showed good pace and passing accuracy during their unbeaten run.
In another triangular tournament at Canterbury, the under-12 boys were playing together for the first time. They conceded 20 goals in their first three games, losing to both Marden sides and Canterbury Panthers, before drawing 2-2 with Canterbury Lions.
Rohan Paintal scored both goals in that game, although Valence then lost 5- 0 to Ashford.
However, they showed progress throughout the tournament and new goalkeeper Joe Grabham pulled off a string of saves.