Dockers end pre-season on a high

Rusthall 2 Newhaven 3, Pre-season match #5

With just seven days to go before the season gets going for real, Newhaven headed north (well, to Kent) looking to finish their pre-season campaign unbeaten.

With the past Tuesday night’s friendly away at Whitehawk having been postponed due to the extreme weather conditions (searing heat or hurricane-force gales? Take your pick!), this represented the Dockers last chance to fine-tune any changes ahead of next week’s big kick-off away to Steyning.

In Rusthall, who play in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division, Newhaven faced opponents who themselves had enjoyed a good pre-season, reeling off a string of impressive results along the way.

Within ten minutes of kick-off, two things were abundantly clear.

1) Rusthall would provide the Dockers with the toughest challenge that I’d seen them face to date (I wasn’t at the Lancing game); and

2) With the new season now just around round the corner, things are getting more serious. Gone was the early lethargy that has been present in some of the other friendly games. This was two teams playing at a much higher tempo than what has been seen previously. 22 players keen to either cement their places for the opening league matches or force their way into their manager’s plans.

It was a factor that would make for a highly enjoyable and entertaining afternoon. Both on and off the pitch. The Rusthall fans were a friendly, easy-going bunch, happy to join in with the good-natured banter on the sideline without any sense of agro ever being present. It’s what watching non-league football should be about.  

The hosts came out of the traps quicker and were it not for a series of smart saves from Jake Buss in the Dockers goal, combined with some wayward finishing, they could (and probably should) have found themselves a couple of goals ahead in the opening 20 minutes.

Newhaven soon settled, though; their slick passing, probing game starting to find gaps in their opponent’s defence.

As mentioned in last week’s report at Seaford, there are going to be times this season when Newhaven’s expansive style of play will leave them a little open at the back and possession will sometimes be surrendered in dangerous areas. However, when it works and they beat the press – which they did on numerous occasions throughout the 90-minutes here – they play the epitome of the ‘sexy football’ that Ruud Gullit once waxed so lyrically about. (Yet another topical reference from the COYD blog! Ask your parents, kids).

With Newhaven growing into the game, Lee Robinson was denied by a good save from the Rusthall ‘keeper. From the resulting corner, Henry Watson saw his bullet header rattle the crossbar, with the home defence just about managing to scramble the rebound to safety.

The Dockers’ faithful didn’t have to wait much longer for the first goal of the afternoon, though. Just past the half-hour mark, Tom Underwood showed good composure inside the area, took his time, picked his spot and beat the keeper.

The Dockers had the ball in the net again before half-time through Lee Robinson. Unfortunately, the forward was a good ten-yards offside. Although the assistant on that side may have been a little wayward with some of his decisions throughout the afternoon (more on that later), he was never going to get this decision wrong!

Newhaven may have held the half-time lead by a single goal, but it always seemed more goals were likely. For both teams. And so it proved.

It was Rusthall who struck next. Although the manner of the goal will not have pleased the Newhaven management team one bit! A long punt forward from the home goalkeeper allowed Rusthall’s striker to race clear of the Docker’s defence. Buss pulled-off yet another good stop to deny the attacker’s first attempt, but the rebound fell kindly to the striker and, after seemingly having taken too long to get his shot away, he kept his cool to level proceedings.

Parity didn’t last long. Within minutes the Dockers were back in front. Not for the first time this pre-season (and I’m certain not for the last time over the coming nine months) last season’s lethal front three combined to score. Lukas Franzen-Jones’ clever flick found Robinson unmarked in the penalty area. The striker then looked to be fouled before he could get his shot away, but before the ref had time to make a decision either way the ball had rolled to Alfie Rogers who promptly restored Newhaven’s lead with a clinical finish.

Still Rusthall refused to lie down. After going close on a couple of occasions they once again equalised. There was a potential foul on Watson in the lead-up to the goal, but the ref waved play-on, the Dockers went to sleep, and the hosts took full advantage.

The second Rusthall equaliser sparked a flurry of changes for both sides, with Newhaven bringing on five under 23s players (two of whom still qualify for the under 18s) to play out the remaining 25 minutes.

Then, a few minutes after the hosts had equalised, there came a genuinely worrying moment.

Having bafflingly missed what appeared to be two fairly clear offside calls (we’re talking by yards rather than inches) the aforementioned assistant referee dropped his flag before bending over at the waist. Thankfully, fears that he may be in the midst of a medical emergency were quickly dissipated, and after a quick break and a hearty slug of water, he was soon back on his feet and okay to continue. Much to everyone’s great relief!

With the match back underway, the suddenly youthful-looking Dockers more than held their own against a Rusthall side who themselves were by this point much changed from kick-off.

However, it was to be one of the old-boys (sorry Lee) who had the final say. Good hold-up work from Franzen Jones was followed by an incisive pass which found Robinson free inside the area. As he’s done many, many times before, Newhaven’s all-time top scorer made no mistake in picking his spot to ultimately hand Newhaven a hard-fought win.

The manner of the victory, against strong-looking opponents, is sure to provide the Dockers with the perfect confidence boost ahead of the new season.

Yes, it’s often said that you can’t read too much into pre-season friendlies (and you probably shouldn’t), but it’s surely far better to be rolling into the new campaign on a run of five consecutive victories than it is five defeats.

Attention now turns to Steyning in a week’s time. Fingers crossed the boys can maintain their impressive showings from the past three weeks. Let the countdown begin…

MOM (aka, the controversial part): It’s a toss-up between Jake Buss and Henry Watson. Bussy for his numerous important saves (especially in the first-half), Henry for his all-round composure and defensive stability.