Valence 3rds welcomed Old Williamsonians knowing they were in for a tough match, but buoyed by the prospect of having two subs compared to the usual bare eleven. As expected, Old Wills started the game hard, piling forward and putting the Valence defence under pressure. Valence repeatedly struggled to find an outlet inviting wave after wave of attack. A combination of feet and perceived harsh decisions, led to Old Wills having a string of short corners, one of which was drag flicked from the top of the D to convert into a goal. All three first half goals came from short corners, which on any other day would have been cut out by the Valence back line.

In this period Valence rarely ventured out of their own half and when they did, failed to support each other as they have in previous weeks, leading to hopeful balls that were largely cut out by the Old Wills’ midfield.

Valence went in to half time 3-0 down and the team talk focused on supporting each other more, giving options and working the ball around Old Wills rather than through the packed midfield.

Whilst the team talk was positive, it failed to reverse the fortunes of Sutton Valence, culminating in Old Wills adding 2 further goals to their tally, sinking any hopes that Valence might find any glimmer of hope in the second half.

More worrying was skipper and perennial left back Nick Hall having the two best Valence chances of the match late on following a shock self-promotion to attacking duties, but even he couldn't turn the desperate crosses in.

Luckily, as far as the rest of the League is concerned, 5-0 looks like Valence didn’t turn up. Some would say they didn’t…

Team: Stewart Young, Nick Hall, James Abrahams, John Edmed, Stuart Edmed, Andy Bye, Adrian Gander, Alastair Robinson, Charlie Tucker, Rob Cockayne, Duncan Field, Duncan Wills, Tom Bartlett.
Umpires: Iain Simmons; Darren Thompson

Match report by James Abrahams.

The 3rd Xl will be away next Saturday at 13.00 against Folkestone Optimist 6th Xl.