Dockers overcome first hurdle in Peter Bentley Cup defence

Newhaven 3 Eastbourne Town 0, Peter Bentley Cup Round 2

Back in May, Newhaven lifted the Peter Bentley Cup for a second time, seeing off Crowbrough Athletic in a tense final.

Fast-forward four months, and their defence of the competition couldn’t have gotten off to a much tougher start. At least on paper.

Eastbourne Town have been flying in recent weeks, soaring to the summit of the SCFL Premier Division Table and knocking-out hitherto unbeaten Steyning in the RUR Cup a week ago.

Fortunately, after a mixed start to the season, Newhaven have been picking up form of late as well. They headed into last night’s encounter on a four-match winning streak and boasting back-to-back clean sheets to boot.

In a battle of two form teams a close, competitive game appeared to be on the cards. As it turned out, it was a rather routine win for the Dockers who put in arguably their best 90-minute performance to date
this season.

In fact, were it not for Town’s impressive young keeper Toby Bull, Newhaven’s margin of victory could easily have been more emphatic than it ultimately was.

As has been the case in recent matches, the Dockers came out of the traps fast, taking control of the game from the outset.

A couple of early corners caused havoc in the Town defence and impressive centre back Josh Tuck will probably be wondering how he hasn’t opened his account yet for the Dockers as he failed to capitalise on a couple of presentable opportunities.

Newhaven took the lead their fast start deserved in the sixteenth minute. An exquisite Callum Edwards touch and turn, followed by good interplay between Ian Robinson and Billy Barker culminated with Barker crossing low to the far post where Alfie Rogers was on hand to expertly steer the ball into the back of the net with a classy finish.

Four minutes later, Rogers went close to grabbing his and Newhaven’s second, only to be denied by a good save from Bull. The first of many over the course of the game.

At the other end, Town did manage to force Buss into a couple of routine saves, but it was the hosts who were looking far more threatening, with the two Ryans' – Warwick and Blunt – completely dominating the midfield.

The visitors did grow into the game, though, and the in the last 10 minutes of the half, they began to show signs of being the side that have been on such an impressive run of form in recent weeks.

When the half-time whistle sounded, Newhaven weren’t exactly hanging onto their lead, but they were certainly being pegged back more than they had been at any other stage in the half.

Fortunately, the interval seemed to completely stem Eastbourne’s building momentum. The Dockers started the second 45-minutes as they had started the first. Completely on top.

Bull once again had to come to the visitor’s rescue early in the half, first pushing away Edwards’ low free-kick before even more impressively saving a fierce Alfie Rogers volley 30-seconds later.

As the time ticked away, with Town remaining only one goal behind, you could have forgiven the Dockers for starting to get a bit nervy. They certainly would have done last season. Actually, they certainly would have done only a few weeks ago.

But there seems to be a bit more steel about this Newhaven side of late. Slender leads are being looked after with much more care and attention than they have been previously.

That being said, the second goal when it arrived in the 70^th minute, was still very much welcomed around Fort Road.

Edwards’ corner was met by the head (I think) of Robbie Keith, and the ball looped high into the night sky before dropping over the head of Bull and all his defenders and into the net.

Town hadn’t really looked like equalising in the second-half. Finding two goals in 20 minutes seemed a tall order.

Still, though, Newhaven didn’t settle for two. They continued to prod and probe as they looked to grab another goal to make the scoreline more reflective of their dominant performance.

That goal duly arrived seven minutes from full-time. Eighteen-year-old sub Ezra (aka George) Roeg burst down the right, cut inside and fired an unstoppable shot past Bull into the far corner. It was a fine way for the youngster to open his Docker’s account and grab his first goal in senior football.  

Late on, Town were denied a consolation goal by a good save from Buss, before hitting a free-kick wastefully into the wall in stoppage time, but Newhaven held on to ensure they claimed another win and, equally importantly, another clean sheet. Three-in-a-row. It’s been a while since I can recall that happening!

There is definitely a sense that confidence is really starting to build throughout the squad. This performance – and result – against a more-than-handy Eastbourne Town outfit, will only serve to enhance that growing sense of belief.

The next few weeks are all about the league. 

On Saturday, the Dockers travel to Uckfield for a league game where they will be hopeful of keeping the run going. They then have a rare Wednesday night outing next midweek, when they visit Bexhill.

They’re next back at Fort Road on 7^th October when Pagham are the visitors, before taking to the road again on 14^th October for a tricky-looking trip to Eastbourne United.

It’s undoubtedly an important couple of weeks in the league campaign with cups pushed to the side for now. Let’s hope we can keep the momentum going. Your support will be a great help to the boys in doing so!

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Ryan Blunt. It’s easy to forget how young Blunt is based on this kind of composed performance. He was everywhere, breaking up play and keeping the ball moving at all times. His burgeoning partnership with the consistently brilliant Ryan Warwick is undoubtedly one of the reasons behind Newhaven’s current run of impressive form.