Road trip to Sittingbourne

Canterbury City 1 Newhaven 1, FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

With the Premier League kicking off at the very top level of the game this weekend, further down the football pyramid, the eyes of thousands of non-league players and fans were trained solely on the FA Cup.

Although you probably wouldn’t know it from any of the major UK news outlets, the English game’s premier cup competition also got underway this weekend, with non-league clubs up and down the country starting their quest for Wembley. Or, let’s be more realistic, trying to get as far through the qualifying rounds as possible whilst making a much-needed extra few quid along the way.

This year, the bafflingly named Extra Preliminary Round (seriously, why not just call it the First Qualifying Round and increase the number of them?) handed Newhaven an away tie at Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division side Canterbury City.

A fairly lengthy road trip for the Dockers. A fairly lengthy road trip that could mean only one thing. Coach trip!

And so it was that at just after 11am yesterday morning, I found myself on a pretty much full coach-load of Newhaven players, officials and fans (flags hanging from the window and all sorts) bound for deepest, darkest Kent.

Although not for Canterbury itself, as it turned out. 

For more than a decade now, Canterbury City have led a nomadic existence. With no home to call their own, they’ve been forced to play at numerous other grounds around Kent. This season, they’ve moved from their previous adopted home of Faversham to Sittingbourne; located 17 miles away. Under such circumstances, it’s a credit to the club’s committee that they’ve managed to not only keep the club going, but also keep them in the top division of the SCFEL!

That the crowd was easily dominated by Newhaven supporters probably tells you everything that you need to know about how hard it is for Canterbury to attract a following. 

There were more wasps than Canterbury fans at the game yesterday. Actually, there were mores wasps than people at the game yesterday. They were everywhere. Millions of them!  I was not buzzing! (Sorry, couldn’t resist).

After a disappointing start to the league season last weekend, the Dockers were hoping that this would be the game that kick-started their campaign.

When Jake Buss was called into action within a minute of kick-off, it seemed that these hopes may not be fulfilled.

However, the early Canterbury pressure soon subsided and Newhaven quickly began to dominate proceedings. The impressive midfield duo of Alex Plummer and Marcin Ruda started to dictate the game and the Dockers were soon playing more like the team that we’d seen in pre-season rather than the one we’d seen at Steyning.

When Lukas Franzen-Jones fired Newhaven in front after 16 minutes (thanks to the referee’s assistant for confirming this time; very important for the coach’s golden goal sweepstake, alas not for me) it was no surprise to anyone.

By half-time, the only surprise was that Newhaven hadn’t extended their advantage, despite spending most of the first 45 minutes camped in Canterbury’s half. Even an injury to the influential Plummer couldn’t stem Newhaven’s flow (there’s an unintentional pun in there somewhere), with replacement Charlie Bennett slotting in seamlessly alongside Ruda.

Unfortunately, for the second week running, the Dockers started the second-half sloppily and were punished for it. A long-ball forward seemed to cause a moment of confusion in the Docker’s defence, and the Canterbury number 10 – who was by far and away the host’s best player; head and shoulders above any of his teammates – took full advantage, slotting the ball past Buss and in off the post for an equaliser.

For the next five or ten minutes, the Dockers seemed shocked by the goal and Canterbury came into the game a little more.

Yet it didn’t take long for the pattern of the first-half to re-emerge. The main difference being that on this occasion, Newhaven succeeded in creating a plethora of clear-cut chances. Lee Robinson and Tom Underwood were both guilty of missing opportunities that you would have expected them to score, while Alfie Rogers and Franzen-Jones couldn’t find their long-range shooting radars.

With around five minutes left, Canterbury were reduced to ten-men when their number 3 was a shown a straight red for hauling down Rogers when he was through on goal. From the free-kick – which was firmly in what Fort Road regulars like to call ‘Alfie range’ – Rogers’ shot clipped the top of the wall and bounced to safety.

With time almost up, there was to be one last big chance for the Dockers. Robinson beat the off-side trap, raced through on goal, then was clearly clipped from behind as he was about to shoot. Admirably (and maybe in hindsight foolishly) the striker stayed on his feet to try and score, but off-balance could only sky his shot over the bar.

Having gained no advantage, surely the ref would go back for the penalty, just as he had with a free-kick for Canterbury only moments earlier. No was the answer, much to everyone’s bemusement.

The annoying thing is that, I’m convinced, had Robinson gone down, a penalty would definitely have been awarded. He did the right thing by staying on his feet and trying to score, only to ultimately be punished for his honesty. 

So if you’ve ever wondered why players tend to go down under minimal contact, there’s your answer! You shouldn’t have to hit the deck in order to be awarded a foul, but unless you do, decisions don’t seem to be forthcoming – no matter how clear they appear to be.

It was to be the last meaningful action of the game, with the full-time whistle sounding soon after.

So a draw for the Dockers and, with Fort Road still out of use for another couple of weeks, a midweek replay in Lancing (don’t ask! And, to be on the safe side, it's probably best you don't mention the name of the neighbouring town to Newhaven’s west to anyone in the committee anytime soon!).

Still, any disappointment regarding the result (certainly not the performance) was quickly dispersed on the coach ride home.

With a number of new faces in the Docker’s squad and coaching staff this year, this meant there were plenty of people who had to face the traditional initiation ceremony of entertaining the coach with a song. Some were very good, some not so (I’m not naming names – what happens on the coach, stays on the coach).

Thankfully, despite coming under pressure (mainly from my kids, thanks boys!), I managed to avoid having to sing! Believe me, everyone on the coach should be thankful for this. I’m tone deaf. The world’s worst singer. What would have started out as funny, would quickly have moved to grating and would certainly have left everyone with ear and headaches this morning.

Although, that being said, I suspect there will be quite a few players and coaches (one in particular, hey Kieran!) with sore heads reading this post this morning.

The result may not have been quite what we wanted, but it was still a great day out, and one that showed that togetherness throughout Newhaven FC is currently very, very high.

Special things are starting to happen at the club. Make sure you’re part of it!

 My MOM (aka, the controversial part): Marcin Ruda. Tough choice as there were a number of good performances across the pitch – special mention here for Max Vardy who was also very good – but Marcin’s range of passing, willingness to receive the ball in tight spots, and ability to break-up play really stood out yesterday.

As regular blog readers will know, my youngest son will be acting as a post-match interviewer over the coming season. Yesterday, he spoke to co-manager Sean Breach about the game (it also seems that I need to improve my handwriting before the next game!)