Valence pay the penalty
Man-of-the-match Tim Wilcher missed a late penalty stroke as Sutton Valence drew with Holcombe 3rds on Saturday. There were two minutes left when veteran Wilcher stepped up but he sent his effort wide and it finished 3-3 as Valence dropped to second in Kent Area Division 2.
Valence scored an own goal from a short corner but Kevin Kirkham’s equaliser in open play made it 1-1.
Holcs regained the lead with a drag flick from another short corner but Kirkham came to the rescue with an equally welltaken goal, then a skilful finish from Alex Stamp put Valence in front for the first time. Holcombe scored their third with five minutes left and held on for a point after the late penalty miss.
As well as losing top spot to Old Wills, there was another blow for Valence with Chris Johnson injured by an excitable teenager and spending the night at A&E.
Sutton Valence 2nds are finding out that going up a league can be tough following promotion to Kent Open Premier B.
They played some of their best hockey in last week’s defeat and battled hard at Sevenoaks but lost 4-0.
An experienced Oaks team moved the ball well, leading 1-0 at half-time from a short corner. Mark Whitmill took over in goal from John Edmed at halftime – both deserve credit for their versatility and willingness to help out – but Oaks added a second.
The visitors continued to work hard but, frustratingly, Sevenoaks scored two more. Man-of-the-match was Seb O’Leary.
Sutton Valence 3rds chalked up a third straight win in Kent Division 3 but will have to play a lot better to continue their winning streak.
They won 3-0, despite not being at their best, with Rob Cockayne opening the scoring after robbing a defender and coolly sneaking the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs.
Valence doubled their lead when a pass deflected off a defender’s foot to find Cockayne free in the D and he scored from an almost impossible angle. Valence continued to push as the game became stretched and Chris Jackson completed the scoring from an equally tight – if not tighter – angle. Duncan Field was named man-of-the-match. The vets lost 2-0 at Sunbury & Walton Red Lions in the Southern Counties Conference. New recruit William Westacott and Andrew Wishart, who volunteered to go in goal, boosted numbers to 10 while Sunbury loaned them their 11th player.
An even first half saw play swing from end to end but with no reward for Valence who trailed 1-0 at the break following a short corner.
Valence had territorial advantage in the second half but Sunbury’s forwards always looked more dangerous and they added a second goal.
Defender Hamish Dow was man-of-the-match, keeping the hosts at bay alongside Mike Nettle, while Julian Mills ran his socks off.
Nigel Bardsley and John Dinnis provided pressure from midfield.