#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Newhaven 3 Bexhill United 0, SCFL Premier Division match #9 Following Saturday’s disappointing FA Vase exit at the hands of Eastbourne Town , it was back to league action for the Dockers last night as they welcomed Bexhill United to Fort Road – Newhaven’s third home game in the space of just six days. Bexhill were one of my pre-season tips to be battling for league honours come the end of the season, and while the Pirates have endured a mixed start to the campaign, the quality they have in their team still suggests that they will be up there come May. In short, I expected a tough game for the Dockers last night.  And, don’t be fooled by the above scoreline, a tough game is just what the Dockers got. United started the game well on the front foot, forcing Newhaven back and dominating the hosts in a way I hadn’t yet seen this season. Yes, in the first half at Steyning on the opening weekend of the season , Newhaven had been second-best. But that was mainly down to Newhaven’s ow...

It’s no great secret that women’s football is currently thriving in the UK. The Lionesses European Championship victory over the summer has brought the sport into the mainstream spotlight in a way that’s never been seen before in this country. The early weeks of the new Women’s Super League season has witnessed increased crowds – over 47,000 attended the North London derby this past weekend – while Sky Sports and the BBC are currently giving far more airtime to women’s football than ever before. But it’s not just at the highest echelons of the game where women’s football is becoming increasingly popular. At grassroots level the game is enjoying a resurgence, too. From girls’ football to non-league, to development squads, more and more women are playing (and watching) football with each passing week.   One only needs to look at the FA Cup to see just how much the game has grown in a relatively short period. When the competition was launched back in 1970, just 71 teams ente...

Newhaven 2 Eastbourne Town 3, FA Vase 2 nd  Round Qualifying Littlehampton Town’s heroics in reaching last year’s FA Vase final and earning a day-out at Wembley have undoubtedly made more and more Sussex clubs aware – and believe – that a trip to the fabled Twin Towers really is possible. While it’s fair to say that the competition is not at the top of Newhaven’s priority list this season, it’s equally fair to say that a decent run in the competition wouldn’t go amiss. If only they could make it past these damn qualifying rounds! In Eastbourne Town, Newhaven were facing a side that up until last season had, for a few years, been one of the most consistent in the SCFL Premier Division. While last season probably wasn’t what Town had been hoping for (or expecting) and their start to this campaign has been a tad underwhelming, the Dockers nevertheless knew that a home tie against them was far from a guarantee of progression to the First Round Proper Yet on a great run of form ...

Newhaven 7 AFC Varndeanians 0, SCFL Premier Division match #8 Having originally been scheduled for Monday evening away at the Withdean Stadium, a change of date and venue meant that the Dockers had a rare Wednesday evening outing at Fort Road last night. With admission prices halved for a one-night-only special, a bumper crowd of 300 or so was in attendance to see if the Dockers could extend their winning run to seven games. One can only imagine (and hope) that after watching what transpired, the majority of the crowd will have left more than happy, intent on visiting Fort Road again in the very near future! I said after Saturday’s battling win away at Eastbourne United that the players came off the pitch looking like they were brimming with confidence. Last night’s performance was proof that these words were correct.  The Dockers are on fire! Unless you were one of the 300 or so there last night, it’s hard to put into words quite how good Newhaven were.  This was o...

On Sunday, Newhaven Ladies’ captain and club stalwart, Lauren Smith, made history by becoming the first female Docker to reach 100 appearances for the team. So, with this in mind, who better to give us the rundown on her teammates? Who is the coach’s pet? Although she is now a coach, I am pretty sure she would be her own pet, so it has to be Lucy [Collinson]! Which teammate is most likely to pull out of a team night out at the last minute (or go home first)? This could be half the team! Would you like me to list them? Who would be in your ultimate Newhaven 5-a-side team (using current squad and coaches)? I would only need [manager] Andy [Cook] as it’s a guaranteed win, but I would also have Summer [Dutton], [Katie] Franks, Lucy and Steph [Harrison]. Who do you not want on the opposing team at training, and why? Allana [Lessels] as she literally never stops running. Someone offers you £100 if one of your teammates can hit the crossbar first time. Who are you choosing? ...

Eastbourne United 1 Newhaven 2, SCFL Premier Division match #7 It’s fair to say that The Oval, home to Eastbourne United, has not traditionally been Newhaven’s favourite ground to visit. For one reason or another, the Dockers never seem to play that well there (at least not in the games that I’ve seen them play there). Positive results are often hard to come by. But with Eastbourne United expected to be one of the teams challenging towards the top of the table this season, Newhaven were only too aware of the importance of getting some kind of a result there today. On paper, this looked like it would be one of the Dockers’ toughest fixtures this season. It turned out that way on the pitch, too. Before I get into the match report, a quick word of congratulations on how well United have got their pitch looking. It’s arguably in the best condition I’ve seen it. Whatever the outcome of the match, there could certainly be no griping about the state of the pitch come 90-minutes. The...

Newhaven 2 Little Common 1, SCFL Premier Division match #6 Having notched an impressive 16 goals in their previous three matches (including five against last night’s opponents Little Common just seven days ago), the Dockers went into their sixth league match of the season oozing confidence. Unfortunately (at least from my perspective) an ill-timed holiday, coupled with my Tuesday evening coaching commitments, meant that I was absent for 11 of those goals. Unfortunately from the team’s perspective, Lukas Franzen-Jones – a man responsible for six of the aforementioned 16 goals following back-to-back hat-tricks – was absent for last night’s game. It’s not that hard to imagine which of our absences was felt more keenly by the team! That said, for the opening quarter of the match, the Dockers seemed to cope more than well enough without this season’s leading scorer. Having shipped five goals against the Dockers in the first half of last week’s Peter Bentley Cup match, I’m pretty s...

Newhaven Ladies 4 Cray Wanderers Ladies 0, London & South East Women’s Football League Division 1 South, Match #3 Following a tough start to the season, with away trips to two of the division’s best teams in Hastings and Ashford yielding zero points and a rather unhealthy-looking goal difference, the female Dockers were hoping for a change of fortune with their first competitive game on the new Fort Road surface. Their opponents, Cray Valley, were also winless. Although a point against Steyning, and a close defeat against the aforementioned Ashford, pointed to a potentially tricky afternoon for the Dockers. As someone who has only seen the Ladies team play once before – and that a hastily arranged pre-season fixture against Hassocks – I arrived at Fort Road not knowing quite what to expect. What I witnessed was a hugely impressive 90-minutes from a fired-up home team, desperate to get their first league points of the season. From the off, Newhaven were on the front-foot, no...