Local derby brings victory for SVHC 3rd XI

Some say its City vs United, some say its Everton vs Liverpool, but they are all wrong. THE clash of any sporting season is always Marden vs Sutton Valence, especially if it includes Sutton Valence 3rd XI players, many of which are well-known to, friends with, and ex-teammates of many of the Marden players.

Sutton Valence won the toss and started the game in a very much dominate fashion, adhering to the Captain’s pre-match dribble comprising of ‘keep possession, pass it around, and don’t talk back to the umpires”. Marden struggled to get hold of the ball from the off, with Sutton Valence looking dangerous in possession, very much hunkered down in the Marden half, throwing wave after wave of attack at the Marden defence.

Despite the match being rather one sided at this point, it took 20 minutes for Sutton Valence to open the scoring. A short corner injection from Bob Bartlett, allowed him to dart in following a saved strike from Rob Cockayne to clear the pads and slip the ball into the goal.

Marden continued to struggle to clear the ball from their half due to Sutton Valence’s eagerness to disrupt their defensive restarts, putting real pressure on the hit taker, and on occasions, resulting in the ball not even making it past the 22m line. The midfield of Rod Harcourt, Tom Willson, Bob Bartlett and Ed Hawes-Gatt performed superbly well in unison, untouchable by the defence.

The attacks that Marden did manage to make were quickly stumped out by defenders Mike Nettle, Bob Sagrott, Mark Whitmill and Alex Stanford. Stuart Edmed would be on the list, however he decided he was bored in defence and promoted himself to central midfield.

Sutton Valence had a number of short corners, some well saved by the Marden keeper (including a save elevated over the top of the cross bar), and some nice routines narrow missed by the attackers.

Their second goal soon developed from a great flick from the top of the D by Bob Bartlett, which was ever so deflected in by Rob Cockayne.

Goal number three shortly followed following a saved shot by the Marden keeper bouncing straight back to Rob Cockayne, who was able to control it in the air to slot it in off the post.

The half time team talk consisted of “keep going chaps, ten minutes of high intensity and we’ll be fine”. This, in a never before, nor again, turn of events say Julian Mills pelt forward from the Marden push-back, to intercept the initial pass and run solo the length of the pitch to secure a free hit on the edge of the D!

The second half was a slightly meeker affair. Although Sutton Valence continued to dominate and Marden unable to escape their 22, no goal ensued. Sutton Valence were unlucky not to get a few more goals, including one shot from Rob Cockayne saved from top-bins by a Marden defender.

The game ended 0-3 to Sutton Valence. Kudos must go to keeper Big Bad Dave (Turner) for enduing 70 minutes of not touching the ball, but thanks for turning up none-the-less.

A hard game for Marden, but they all played well and dug deep, well done chaps!
Team sheet:
David Turner (G)
Bob Sagrott
Mark Whitmill
Stuart Edmed
Mike Nettle
Ed Hawes-Gatt
Tom Willson
Rod Harcourt
Alex Stanford
Julian Mills
Rob Cockayne
Bob Bartlett

Goals:
Bob Bartlett (1)
Rob Cockayne (2)