Signing off with style

Sutton Valence men’s

1sts hit Blackheath & Elthamians Heathens for six as they ended their South East Division 3 Invicta season in emphatic style on Saturday.

Valence got off to a slow start and were thankful to a good save by keeper Mark Whitmill, which kept the game goalless.

But after the restart, the visitors swiftly scored through Fred McVarish. Further efforts soon followed from Brett Angel and Lewis Mitchell, while their fourth was another polished finish by McVarish.

They had a period when a player was off for an infringement and then

Tom Barlett had to leave the field briefly after a hard fall, which brought Valence’s number down to nine.

But Sutton stood strong and Mitchell smashed home number five, with player-of-the-match McVarish then able to complete the rout with a beautiful finish to round off his hat-trick.

Their campaign is now over after the withdrawal of the University of Kent 1sts from the division.

Four-goal Chris Sheldon guided third-placed Sutton

Valence 2nds to a 7-3 Division 7 home win over second-bottom Gravesham & Wellcome Unicorns.

Early pressure told when Tom Willson found

Sheldon in the D and Valence went two goals to the good through Sheldon after good work by Jack Sheldon.

In the second half, Valence dominated, Duncan Field combining with namesake Duncan Wills for the latter to convert, while Rob Cockayne finally got on the scoresheet.

Gravesham fought back but Valence did re-increase their lead when Olly Sheldon played a wonderful ball in for his father, Chris, with Jack Sheldon then crossing for Cockayne’s second and Sheldon got his fourth at the end of a breathless match. A disappointing day saw Division 9 leaders Sutton Valence 3rds lose 5-1 at home to Marden Russets 8ths.

The visitors put Valence under pressure from the start and they went 1-0 ahead after only 10 minutes and things didn’t get much better from there.

Despite having many opportunities, Sutton’s only reward was a late consolation from Roger Fermor. They are at Burnt Ash 7ths in their last game of the season this Saturday.