Dockers return to winning ways

 Newhaven 3 Lingfield 1, SCFL Premier Division match #23

After last week’s defeat against league leaders Crawley Down Gatwick, Newhaven returned to action this afternoon knowing that, if promotion is to be achieved this season, there is little room for any further error.

Their promotion aim was undoubtedly made somewhat harder earlier in the week, with the departure of talisman and top-scorer Alfie Rogers, who signed for higher-division Whitehawk (his former club). 

While his absence will no doubt be keenly felt at Fort Road, the return of Lukas Franzen-Jones from Haywards Heath has perhaps managed soften the blow somewhat.

Find consistency, and promotion still remains a real possibility for the Dockers come the end of the season.

Not that this afternoon’s opponents Lingfield would be a pushover. Despite their fairly lowly league position, the Lingers have proved tough to beat. They’d run fellow title challengers Broadbridge Heath and Crawley Down Gatwick close in recent weeks, and secured a morale-boosting win against Peacehaven last weekend.

Indeed, in the reverse meeting between the two teams earlier in the season, the Lingers showed great commitment to run the Dockers close after Newhaven had strolled into a three-goal lead.

Despite last weekend’s slip, Newhaven actually played quite well against Crawley Down, and they started today’s match confidently.

Franzen-Jones thought he’d made a dream return to Fort Road in the early stages, only to see his early effort from a Lee Robinson cross ruled out for off-side.

The Dockers were then denied by the flag for the second time when Charlie Bennett, playing with great effect in a more advanced position to what Fort Road regulars are accustomed to seeing him in, was adjudged to have made his run slightly too early.

The Docker’s got the reward their dominant start deserved on the half-hour mark. 

Bennett’s brilliant free-kick found Conor Sidwell unmarked, and the centre back made no mistake to head the hosts into the lead. By my reckoning, that marked the 14^th goal scored by a centre back this season – a return that I’m sure some forward lines in the division would be proud of!

Having hardly been tested in the opening stages, Newhaven then contrived to almost immediately gift the visitors a route back into the game. A poor touch from the goalscorer put the defence under pressure, and after two failed attempts by other players to get the ball clear, the Dockers were lucky to see a Lingfield shot from the edge of the area bounce back off the bar.

From a free-kick a few minutes later, Jake Buss had to be alert to push away a goal-bound effort before smothering the rebound moments before a Lingfield attacker could make clear contact with the ball.

Newhaven, though, made it through to the interval a goal in-front and, on balance, good value for the lead.

Within two minutes of the restart, Newhaven had doubled their advantage. A Franzen-Jones through-ball sent Lee Robinson away and the Docker’s all-time leading goal-scorer stayed composed to cut inside a challenge and finish comfortably from close range.

At this point it looked as though there was only going to be one winner. Having tried to sit-back, remain compact and make life difficult for Newhaven in the first-half, Lingfield now had to come out and attack. And, for a while, it looked as though the Dockers would pick them off at will.

Ian Robinson’s pace was causing Lingfield all kinds of problems down the left. Twice he skipped away from the defence only to come up short on the finish.

The visitors were then granted a way back into the game with the award of what looked to be a soft penalty with an hour played (at least from my vantage point). 

The Lingfield number 9 made no mistake from the spot, hammering the ball high into the roof of the net before, perhaps unwisely, goading some of the Newhaven faithful who had been unimpressed with the same player’s theatrics a few minutes earlier. One can only assume he’d forgotten his side were still behind?

Still, the goal did seem to spur the Lingers on and, for the next few minutes, they did cause the Dockers some nervy moments, albeit without ever really creating any clear opportunities.

Having ridden the (mini) storm, Newhaven settled again and once more began to take control of proceedings. With Lingfield throwing more and more men forward, the Dockers looked a constant threat on the counter.

With just over ten-minutes remaining, it was the hosts who notched the decisive third. Lee Robinson’s pass sent Franzen-Jones scampering away. After delaying the opportunity to shoot, it appeared that the chance was gone, but Franzen-Jones had the presence of mind to play the ball across the goal, where Robinson managed to slide it in on the stretch for his second of the afternoon.

Still, Lingfield did not throw in the towel – as they hadn’t at their place back in October. Again, they managed to cause the Docker’s defence some nervy moments, although again without ever really looking overly threatening. 

Their best chance for a way back into the game came from a well-stuck free-kick, that was beaten away by Buss.

Ultimately, though, Newhaven held on relatively comfortably for an important three-points. 

Having played more games than the teams directly in-front and behind them in the table, all Newhaven can do now is keep winning and hope that when the other contenders do finally get to play their games in hand, their opponents can do us a huge favour.

Weather-permitting, it’s three away trips on the spin for the Dockers over the next fortnight, with trips to AFC Varndeanians next weekend (21^st January), Little Common (24^th January) and Bexhill United (31^st January). Each match – as with all the remaining matches, in fact – is likely to be vital, so your support at any of these games will be much appreciated.

The Docker’s are back at Fort Road on 4^th February when AFC Uckfield are the visitors. It’ll be another big match and it would be great to get another big crowd at the Trafalgar Ground roaring the boys on!

Come On You Dockers!

My MOM (aka, the controversial part): Charlie Bennett. Although he faded a bit in the second-half, Bennett, playing in a more attacking role, was a constant threat in the first-half, and helped set the tone for the game. Both Robinson brothers (Lee for his goals, Ian for his second-half display), Ryan Blunt (for his endeavour) and Henry Watson (for being as consistent as ever) could also just as easily have snatched the award. It’s not called the controversial part of the blog for no reason!

After the match, Reuben caught up with Bailie Rogers to ask him about the game, and to discover if he’s now the best Rogers at Newhaven!