Sutton Valence avoided Storm Ciara the previous week and they were hoping to just avoid Storm Dennis with their early 09:45 home pushback.
They had the better early possession and started to create chances immediately, winning numerous short corners and were able to pin Gore Court in their half for the first 15 minutes. Eventually their pressure bought the reward of a goal, courtesy of Alex Duckett, who showed great composure in front of goal, instead of shooting he committed the goal keeper to the floor and simply moved the ball around him to score his first goal for the 2nd XI. The goal was followed up by another from Chris Stille and Valence were cruising. The dominant play continued through the half but although multiple short corners were won, Valence were unable to convert any of them. They went into halftime 2-0, but it should have been more.
The second half continued like the first, including more missed short corner opportunities, and it felt like Sutton Valence were further ahead on the scoresheet, but the 2-0 lead was cut to 2-1 when Gore Court caught the home side out when they failed to clear the ball from their defence D properly. After all the possession could Valence let the victory slip away from them?
The half continued with both teams having opportunities, and luckily for Valence, Gore Court’s short corner routines was as ineffective as their own. Finally, with 10 minutes left in the half, Valence scored 2 quick goals, one by Tom Willson from a P flick that was awarded for a foot on the line, and one from Alex Hodges who made it 2 goals in 2 games.
The goals took the wind out of Gore Court’s sails for the final 5 minutes and Valence decided to play possession hockey for the final few minutes. With the game in the balance for a lot of the second half they were glad to hear the final whistle, with attention now pointing towards next weekend and short corner practice at midweek training.

MoM: Alex Duckett
Goals: Alex Duckett, Chris Stille, Tom Willson, Alex Hodges

Team: Stewart Young, Mark Whitmill, Alex Hodges, Steve Parker, Ben Tragett, Andy Barr, Chris Sheldon, Tom Willson, Chris Stille, Johnny Walker, James Willmott & Alex Duckett
Umpire: Iain Simmons

Match Report by Mark Whitmill

Next week the 2nd Xl are away against Burnt Ash 5th Xl, currently in 12th position