Sutton Valence M3 traveled to Gravesend.
Conditions were nigh-on perfect for hockey, and following a 4-1 win in the home fixture SV’s hopes were high. Having said that, the 3s looked like 2-6-2 might be the most obvious formation from the players available, and have a well documented preference for a sub or two, so were facing into the game with more than a little trepidation given the depth of the GW bench.

Morale was therefore lifted considerably when it transpired shortly before pushback that utility midfielder-slash-forward Alastair Robinson had managed to slip away from his chaperoning - some might say parenting - duties at the Kent schools cross-country championships a little earlier than expected. With the prospect of an occasional rest now real, heads were held noticeably higher as the game began.

Opening exchanges were somewhat tentative as is customary, but with skipper Nick H absent and Adrian Gander elevated to the 2s for this match Sutton Valence could at least be a bit more confident of keeping a clean sheet in the first 10 minutes, and so it proved. Indeed, it soon became clear that this band of brothers had everything they needed to bring home 3 points from this encounter. Time to convert. As Sutton Valence steadily piled on the pressure in the first few minutes, the left, right and centre of the Gravesham defence was repeatedly tested and it seemed to be only a matter of time until the first Sutton Valence goal would come. Duncan Field, James Aldrich and Stu Edmed were linking up beautifully and firing in gold to Messers Wills and Sandberg. New(ish) recruit Seb O’Leary was also keen to join the fun, finding acres of space, but seemingly had offended roughly half the team shortly before pushback, and for reasons that still remain unclear was not finding much of the ball to start with despite some fine movement.

Around the 15 minute mark the repeated waves of pressure received their deserved reward with a sharp move down the right and a subsequent GW stick tackle drawing a short corner. Dazzler injects. Duncan W controls confidently and strikes a firm, slightly elevated shot towards the centre of the goal which dipped nicely to slip between the keepers legs and strike the bottom of the backboard. 0-1 and Sutton Valence up and running.

More Valence pressure duly followed, with Gravesham mounting occasional rapid counter attacks, but unfortunately for them frequently overhitting the final pass and letting Sutton Valence off the hook a little softly. At 20 minutes Valence combined beautifully through the midfield to take control of the game. Seb seemed to have been forgiven by most of the team at this point, as he’d been seeing noticably more of the ball, and received a firm pass from Edmed in the middle 30 yards from goal, shimmied round a GW defender with ease before injecting into the D at pace towards Duncan W, who took a quick touch before smartly clipping into the bottom left of the goal.

Shortly afterwards, a confident foray down the left saw Aldrich feed Alastair Robinson, subbing in upfront for the 1.5 legged Wills, who drove towards the baseline before smashing in an outstanding strike from a scarcely believable angle to the left of goal. Some were heard to wonder aloud whether the keeper had played something of an active role in the goal but they probably didn’t have as good a view of proceedings as your esteemed author, and GMS records only Mr Robinson’s superlative effort. 0-3 and Sutton Valence now cruising.

Or so they thought. With 3 goals in the bag, Sutton Valence took their foot slightly off the gas, beginning to miss a few passes, failing to come to the ball decisively, and not quite closing the oppo down as sharply as they had been until this point. GW managed to string a few promisingcounterattacks together as a result, and finally got their deserved reward shortly before half time, with a quick counterattack resulting in a somewhat scrambled but deserved goal, and ending the half 1-3.

Other than the slight dip in tempo towards the end of the first half, not too much to criticise at half time. Not wanting to rest on our laurels however, Ross channeled his inner William Wallace, roaring at the doubty Sutton Valence warhost “Look around you at the nearest oppo player - you’re better than them! YOU’RE ALL BETTER THAN THEM!!!”

Duly roused, Sutton Valence plunged back into the fray for the second half. Whilst by no means perfect throughout the second half it remained clear that Sutton Valence had the edge on the day. With wave after wave of pressure being applied down the Sutton Valence right, something was bound to crack, and 10 minutes into the second half it duly did, with Duncan Field driving diagonally into the D from the right and slapping smartly past the keeper. 5 minutes later Duncan Wills applied the coup de grâce when he picked up a firmly driven long ball on the edge of the D, turned the last defender before neatly rounding the keeper and slotting home confidently. Sadly for Duncan, he left a little bit too much of his recovering ankle on the pitch in the process and played no further part in the match, but his willingness to put body on the line for the team was highly commendable.

All told, this goal largely took the sting out of the game, and Sutton Valence were rarely threatened thereafter. If we are harsh on ourselves, we could and perhaps should have won a bit more comfortably, but all in all a very good day at the office and 3rd win on the bounce, seeing the mighty 3s climb up into 5th place in the Division 7 Invicta table.

Report By: Alastair Robinson

Goals: Alastair Robinson, Duncan Fields, Duncan Wills x3

Team:
Ross Mackay
Duncan Wills
James Abrahams
Charlie Tucker
Stuart Edmed
Seb O'Leary
Darren Thompson
James Aldrich
Duncan Field
Alex Sandburg
Bob Sagrott

Next Match: Sittingbourne (H) 09:45