A cool but not unpleasant morning welcomed the teams at the Prep School pitch. Sutton Valence had a spring in their step. Was it the extra 15 minutes in bed or the fact that they had a squad (of 14). Either way, Valence collectively were ready to play, albeit you might not have guessed that from the warm up, which was more conference, rather than premier league.
The match started with an even exchange in the midfield. The teams prodding and probing, but not really giving the other too much to worry about. Valence’s first foray into the Sevenoaks’ D however saw a strong pass from the base line, squared across the mouth of the goal to the returning Fred McVarish, who swept the ball, which struck the left-hand post and rolled agonizingly across the mouth of the goal. Both sides struggled to dominate the first half, with limited quality on show from either. Some being less frequent at training, Christmas, Covid interruptions and skiing holidays all taking their toll on the fluidity of the match.
Sevenoaks forced a passage of play and created an opportunity late in the first half, carving a free shot at Young, who came out quickly and charged the shot down. For the rest of the first half Valence arguably had the upper hand, but Kirkham and Stille upfront struggled to create clear cut opportunities. At half time, the score was still 0-0. El Capitano Ferguson-Young let his troops know that he expected more as he unleashed the hairdryer.
Dusting themselves down as they stepped out for the second half, it was possibly more a case of fear, rather than inspiration ringing in the ears of the SV outfield players. Whatever it was, it worked. It was still no Picasso, but it was slightly better. The ball made it out to the wings on a more frequent occurrence which would have kept Mickey Back happy, had he come to watch. Valence continued to out-run Sevenoaks and created opportunities in the opposition’s half, winning a short corner. Stille supplied Sheldon, who uncharacteristically and unselfishly slipped the ball to Davies who opened the scoring. 1 Nil Valence. While spirits were high the quality was still lacking. With three subs there were a number of changes and all took their turn on the bench. This did not add to the fluidity of the match. However, SV’s individual skills were sufficient to get the job done. Mc Varish and Stamp combined well to supply a dog of a ball across the D for Sheldon to duff against the backboard. 2 Nil Valence. The match played out with Sevenoaks having a string of short corners which they failed to convert, with Ferguson Young making some strong saves and Blanchard an excellent goal line clearance.

Scorers: Jack Davies; Chris Sheldon

Team: Stewart Young, Steve Parker, Rob Bray, Fred McVarish, Andy Barr, Ben Tragett, Alex Stamp, Jack Davies, Kevin Kirkham, Richard Turnill, Russell Blanchard, Chris Sheldon, Jack Sheldon, Chris Stille
Umpires: Iain Simmons and Lewis Mitchell

Match Report by Richard Turnill

The 2nd Xl will be away next Saturday against Knole Park Xl at 16.30.