Hoping to bounce back from their disappointing defeat last Saturday afternoon, Valence took on a strong Holcombe Hurricanes side, which had a good mix of youth and experience. Unlike their noisy Holcombe brethren, the Hurricanes left the amplified music at home and the only interruption to the early morning tranquility of this corner of the Kent countryside was a brief half-hearted Holcombe huddle and the sharp whistle of the umpires as the match began.
Within minutes of the start, Valence were playing with much more energy than the week before, moving the ball confidently across the pitch and showing a lot more hunger to get forward. Deploying the formation that has served them well this season, with four at the back and a three-man centre midfield, Valence had a lot of the possession and attacked frequently down the righthand side but created few clear-cut chances.
Holcombe proved to be a good match for Valence with an organised and experienced defence distributing the ball well from the back and finding younger players in midfield whose energy and flare presented a danger to the home team. Holcombe had their chances too, including a number of short corners but with Adrian Gander showing his usual composure at the back and Stewart Young making a number of diving clearances from goal, Holcombe were unable to find the backboard.
This was a keenly fought contest played in good spirit, but things must have looked differently from the Holcombe back line where one of their defenders grew increasingly agitated by what he saw as over-physical challenges from Valence. Shooting verbals in all directions he was at the point of bursting a blood vessel when one of his teammates went down late in the first half surrounded by three Valence players. Once the teammate got to his feet and put the blame on the slippery pitch and not the men in red, things calmed down but the defender’s card had been marked: it was clear to the Valence players - or at least to Duncan Wills - that there was something here to exploit.
The teams went into the break with the score at 0-0. During half-time, Valence reorganised themselves, moving to a back three and pushing another player up front, to create a better link between midfield and the forward line. This paid off in the early part of the second half, with Valence looking much more threatening, using both the left and right wings to better effect and placing the Holcombe defence under considerable pressure. The deadlock was finally broken by Valence with a move that began with a penetrating run from Alex Hodges down the right. The ball was played into Chris Sheldon in the D who created a bit of room for himself and dispatched a rocket of a shot into the corner of Holcombe’s goal.
At this point in the match, Valence looked on top and capable of adding a second but moments after the first goal had gone in and against the run of play, Holcombe moved the ball quickly through midfield and found themselves just inside the edge of the Valence D. The cross played towards the centre of goal was met with the deftest of touches from a Valence stick, taking the ball past Stewart Young and into the net. Holcombe were level and Adrian Gander had got his first goal of the season before Christmas…..
Back on even terms, Valence and Holcombe began to cancel each other out again. Holcombe were at their most threatening when their younger midfielders ran quickly with the ball but they were frequently dispossessed by the tireless tracking of Jack Sheldon as well as several recovery runs from Alex Hodges. Two stick tackles in quick succession on one of the Holcombe youngsters earned another of Valence’s midfielders a green card. In what must be considered the harshest of decisions, he was forced to reflect on the situation for two minutes.
The match ended 1-1. Valence will be hoping to get back to winning ways next week, against Gravesham & Wellcome Unicorns.

Goal: Chris Sheldon

Team: Stewart Young; Nick Hall; James Abrahams; Adrian Gander; Charlie Tucker; Alex Hodges; Tom Willson; Ben Tragett; Duncan Wills; Duncan Field; Alastair Robinson; Chris Sheldon; Jack Sheldon.
Umpires: Rob Harrison; Bob Bartlett.

Match Report by Duncan Field.

Next week the 2nd Xl are away against Gravesham & Wellcome Unicorns at 14.45.