Dismal afternoon for disappointing Dockers

Newhaven 1 Steyning 4, SCFL Premier Division Match #18

Following a rare Saturday off, Newhaven were back at Fort Road yesterday afternoon, in league action against fellow promotion hopefuls Steyning.

With a large proportion of the SCFL schedule falling foul of the frozen conditions, this presented the Dockers with an ideal opportunity to close the gap on Crawley Down Gatwick at the top of the table.

Not that it would be an easy task. Newhaven already knew that Steyning were not to be taken lightly, having lost the reverse fixture in rather warmer conditions at the Shooting Field on the opening day of the season.

After a fine start to the campaign, the Barrowmen’s season looked to have come off the rails around a month ago, following a run of five league games without a win. This run was halted in quite brilliant fashion just a week ago, however, when they thrashed previous league leaders Broadbridge Heath 4-1. A result that had been warmly welcomed by Fort Road regulars.

Not a great time for Steyning to come back into form, mind you!

In fairness, the signs that this may not be a great afternoon for the Dockers were there from before kick-off.

As the teams made their way onto the pitch, an already less than 100 per cent fit Jake Buss was pole-axed by a stray ball, struck by one of his own teammates, which smashed him right in the face. Although the keeper was thankfully okay to play, it ultimately served as the perfect omen for the 90-minutes that were about to follow.

The visitors could have been ahead inside the first minute. A curling shot from the right beat Buss but bounced off the far post and away to safety. It should have served as a wake-up alarm to the Dockers. It didn’t.

The hosts did manage to force the Steyning goalkeeper into a decent save a few minutes later, when Henry Watson was denied, but that was to be as good as it got for Newhaven for quite a while.

With slightly less than 15 minutes on the clock, the visitors took the lead. A quick break down the left culminated with the ball being played across the box to where Joe Radley-Martin had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net. The joyous celebrations on the field were matched by some of those off it (and I’m not talking about from Steyning fans; although I'm sure they were also happy). Needless to say, we all remember our first beers, too!

Steyning continued to press and harry the Dockers, not giving Newhaven a chance to get their usual crisp passing game going. They had done the same in the reverse fixture as well. 

Another goal always looked to be on the cards and, after a couple of near misses, the visitors duly got the second they deserved. On 24 minutes, another Steyning shot came off the post, but this time there was to be no reprieve for the home side as Radley-Martin fired in the rebound from distance for his second of the afternoon.

Needless to say, this goal sparked more off-field celebrations from the teenagers who were now on their second beers of the afternoon and starting to get just a tad annoying. 

Not that Newhaven’s performance was admittedly helping with my rapidly souring mood.

Nor was the ref’s decision to book John Lucero for time-wasting a few minutes later. I mean, I know I’ve called for players to be booked for time-wasting on this very blog before. Numerous times, in fact. But, seriously, who in their right mind intentionally time wastes when their team is two goals down? Let’s call it a case of being careful what you wish for.  

As the half progressed, Newhaven were trying to get things going, but nothing was coming off for them. Steyning were simply out-working their opponents to keep an increasingly desperate looking Dockers side at bay.

A third goal arrived ten minutes before half-time. This one had more than an element of luck about it, albeit sprinkled with a mixture of dozy defending. 

Despite having all 10 outfield players back for a Steyning corner, not one Docker noticed a Steyning player standing completely free in a dangerous position. It didn’t take a genius to work out where the ball was going and, sure enough, it went there. The unmarked player's subsequent curling effort was well saved by Buss, only for the ball to rebound off the luckless Lucero to give Steyning what looked to be an already unassailable lead. Cue more side-line shenanigans. Yawn.

The contrast to Newhaven’s first-half performance to their previous outing at Whitehawk in the Senior Cup could not have been starker.

In truth, it’s not the first time this season that Newhaven have been a little off the pace in the opening 45 minutes. For some reason, though, today’s performance seemed particularly lethargic. Although take nothing away from Steyning, they were full value for their three-goal lead.

There’s little doubt that a reorganised Newhaven improved after the break (two half-time subs were made, it could have been eight or nine). It would have been nigh-on impossible for them not to have, in fairness!

Chances started to fall at fairly regular intervals for the Dockers, but determined defending from Steyning and some snatched finishing, kept the visitors well on-top.

On the hour-mark, the game was well and truly put to bed when Dominic Johnson-Fisher, easily the best player on the park, outstripped Henry Watson (words I never thought I’d have to type) before dancing past Jake Buss and tapping the ball into the empty net. Sometimes you just have to applaud a player. This was one of those times.

In Newhaven’s defence, heads didn’t drop and the hosts continued to still go looking for goals. More chances came. More chances went.

They did pull one back eventually, when Charlie Bennett hooked home a half-cleared corner from close range with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Yet there was never any real feeling that the goal would prove anything more than a consolation. Yes, Newhaven still came forward and carried a threat, but Steyning could have just as easily have added to their goal-tally on the counter.

When the ref’s whistle finally blew to put everyone associated with Newhaven out of their misery, the only conclusion to make was that this had been one of those afternoons. The Dockers had been well beaten. No complaints.

Yet setbacks happen. It’s not the end of the world. There are still twenty league games to go and the SCFL Premier Division looks more open than it has in years. 

One can’t help but to think that this race is going to go all the way to the wire and that there’s at least six teams, possibly more, that could rightly claim to be in with a chance of securing a top-two finish.

The Dockers do need to bounce back quickly, though. And they’ll have the chance to do that with two trips to Horsham in the next seven days.

On Tuesday night, the boys travel to Horsham (two divisions higher) in the Sussex Senior Cup for what is sure to be a very difficult match. They then visit Horsham YMCA in the league next Saturday in a rearranged fixture.

Unfortunately, prior commitments mean I’m unable to attend either of these games so no blog reports. Boo! Best of luck to the lads

That brings me on to our next home game on Boxing Day (which I will very much be at! – I might even bring wifey with me as a Christmas treat; It’s just the sort of man I am!). The visitors that day will, of course, be Peacehaven who, it pains me to say, are one of the league’s form teams and one of those who are in with a serious chance of a promotion place.

Kick-off is at 11am and a big crowd is expected; so get along if you can and cheer on the Dockers in what is sure to be a fierce and feisty encounter.

Merry Christmas all.

Come On You Dockers!

My MOM (aka, the controversial part): I’m sorry, I just can’t pick one. Yes, some players were slightly better than others but no one did enough to really stand out. It was very much a team defeat, with all the boys having a slightly off day.