Ashford prevail with a breakaway.

With Sutton Valence and Ashford coming into this fixture on equal points, the result of the game would put
either team in a higher league position.
The game started with Ashford taking the early dominant possession and putting Sutton Valence under pressure. Valence couldn’t quite find the next gear in their passing and as such were pinned in their own half for the first 15 minutes. The pressure eventually took its toll with Ashford catching the Valence defences with a 2 on 1 breakaway which they converted to go 1-0 up. The goal seemed to get Valence in gear with a spell of short sharp passes and playing with a better air of confidence. In the final 25 minutes of the first half it was Sutton Valence’s turn to pin Ashford back and they had multiple chances on goal, but couldn’t quite find enough quality to score an equaliser.
Valence started the second half in the same manner as they finished the first, taking the lion’s share of possession, but never quite breaching the Ashford goal line. Against the run of play Ashford found themselves 1 on 1 with the Valence goal keeper, but just before they shot a Sutton Valence stick tackle resulted in a P flick. Already being 1 down Valence needed the P flick to be saved, and saved it was!
As the game entered the final stages Sutton Valence pushed more men forward looking for the equaliser. The additional pressure resulted in multiple short corners. With only 10 minutes remaining, one of the short corners was pushed out to Andy Barr whose initial shot bounced towards the right hand post eluding defenders, attackers and more importantly the goalkeeper. Initially the goal was given, but a few second later the umpire changed his decision stating the shot was from outside of the D.
The mid table clash had lived up to both teams League positions, as each dominated different passages of play. Sutton Valence came away feeling a draw would have been the right result, but it wasn’t to be, the game finally ending with both teams having given their all but Ashford coming out on top. Both sides look forward to the return fixture in the New Year.
Man of the match goes to Sutton Valence youngster Dylan Queen, whose speed and skill at times was too much for Ashford as he cut through their defence. His work rate chasing down passes that other players would think were lost causes kept the Ashford defence on their toes, while keeping many of the rogue passes in play.

MoM: Dylan Queen