Unlucky Valence foiled by outstanding Holcs keeper

Valence arrived in Medway with a strong squad, proud to be top of the bill on the showcase pitch. The crowd were waiting in anticipation of the Villagers coming to town.
The squad were looking over their shoulders as they made their way across the border into territories unknown, having heard the legendary stories of muggings at dawn. Luckily, they all made it in one piece, although Mr Willson had his usual late arrival, the excuse being something about his children.
The warm up came and went without incident, the usual banter in the dugout followed by the token passing drills had the team in the right mindset to continue their usual strong start to the match.
5 minutes in and the mugging had begun.
Valence had started brightly, with the better of the passing and control. Unfortunately one breakaway had got Holcs into the Valence D and an attempted clearance had popped up to a Holcs forward, and with Whitmill taken out of the game, Holcs went 1-0 up.
The Cavalry were soon to arrive, in the form of captain Hall and Robinson, and Valence continued to dominate.
The defence had the forward line comfortably in their pockets, with Whitmill clearing out anything that crept through. In front, the midfield were dominating their opposite men with complete control through the ageless Tragett/Thompson/Willson/Barr and the young gun, Hodges. Despite throwing everything at Holcs, down each flank and through the middle, the forwards of Sheldon/Robinson/Hawes-Gatt, couldn’t get the ball past the outstanding Holcs keeper, and the team went in 1-0 down, knowing they were in complete control with all the tools to unlock the Holcs goal. If you’d just arrived to watch the match, you would have been forgiven for thinking Valence were comfortably ahead.
A few changes in personnel and positions and the match resumed in the same vein, with Valence controlling the play, but still struggling to get past the goalie, who we later found out was only in his second game in goal.
Another sucker punch came from a short corner. A mix up in communication left Gander stranded on the goal line, with the ball deflected away from him. 2-0. This led the Holcs centre forward to comment about how unlucky Valence were.
Heads didn’t drop, and Valence continued to control the middle and apply pressure on the back line, resulting in a number of Penalty Corners. Finally, one of these led to a breakthrough. A good injection found Sheldon at the top of the D and a good hard shot was deflected in by a defender. 2-1 and Valence continued to push for the equaliser.
Match finished 2-1 to Holcs, which was jointly agreed as a very fortunate result for them, but it was a very hard fought contest played in a very good spirit.
Some of the umpiring decisions were questioned, but it was umpired in a fair and consistent way, so thanks go out to the two guys in orange.
Back off to the clubhouse for good beer and excellent teas. A mention (DOTD award) must go out to Mr Abrahams who was the only one from the 13-man squad to sneak away without partaking in the festivities. And man of the match today goes to Mr Gander, who got clobbered with a 12-man round at the bar.

Team: Mark Whitmill (G); Nick Hall (c); Alex Hodges; Alastair Robinson; James Abrahams; Adrian Gander; Tom Willson; Darren Thompson; Ben Tragett; Chris Sheldon; Andy Barr; Ed Hawes-Gatt; Charlie Tucker.
Umpires supplied by Holcombe.

Match report by Nick Hall.

Next week the 2nd Xl are at home at 09:45 against Tunbridge Wells 5th Xl.