Early strikes set-up comfortable victory

Saltdean United 0 Newhaven 3, SCFL Premier Division match #9

It’s fair to say the weather has well and truly turned. Autumn has arrived. Proper football weather is here. And probably here to stay!

Whereas just 10 days ago, I stood on the side of the pitch in Loxwood, practically melting whilst just spectating, last night the winter clothes were out in full-force on a blustery and, occasionally, wet night in Saltdean.

With the conditions likely to make flowing football difficult, maintaining concentration was essential as Newhaven looked to extend their league winning run to three matches.

Especially with local rivals Saltdean, managed by former Newhaven stalwart (dare we say legend?) Kieran Ridley, certain to be up for the task of trying to break the Dockers' momentum.

A fast start was essential. And a fast start is most certainly what we got.

Surprisingly, Saltdean seemingly decided to kick against the strong wind in the first-half, handing Newhaven a clear advantage. It was one they didn’t fail to exploit.

The Dockers could have been ahead after 30 seconds. Good work from the once again impressive Max Vardy down the left presented Callum Edwards with a great opportunity at the far post, but he could only volley wide from close-range.

Ultimately, the miss didn’t matter. 

Less than a minute later the Dockers did open the scoring. Alfie Rogers using the wind to good effect, unleashing an absolute thunderbolt from just outside the area which flew past the Saltdean keeper, giving him to chance.

With less than ten minutes on the clock, the Dockers were two-up. A curling ball into the area by Edwards evaded everyone, including the Saltdean custodian, and nestled in the corner of the net.

Newhaven were looking rampant at this point, aided, it has to be said, by the host’s propensity to needlessly keep giving the ball away in dangerous areas. Only some dogged last-ditch defending kept the Tigers in the game as the Dockers piled on the pressure.

Having made it to 25 minutes managing to restrict Newhaven’s lead to just two, Saltdean finally started to find a foot-hold in the game. Although they failed to muster any major opportunities, they successfully started to stem Newhaven’s attacking threat and at least served notice that the game was still a contest.

On the 35^th minutes, Lee Robinson had a chance to probably put the game to bed after bursting through one-on-one. However, after deciding to take the ball round the keeper instead of shooting, he was eventually crowded out and the chance went begging.

With half-time approaching, the Tigers then missed a golden opportunity to put a completely different complexion on the game. Good work down the right culminated with the ball falling to an unmarked Saltdean player standing by the penalty spot, but he could only blaze high over the cross-bar under little pressure.

Had he scored, we may have got a very different second-half to the one that played out.

The one that did play out was the exact one Newhaven would have hoped for at half-time. Pure comfort.

Not once in the second-half did Saltdean ever really look like they would find a way back into the game. The Dockers entire backline, with new signing Josh Tuck making his debut at centre-back, looked solid throughout, easily dealing with the, mainly overhit, direct balls that continued to be ploughed forwards.

As in the first-half, it was the Dockers who looked far more likely to score.

Lee Robinson missed another presentable opportunity when through on goal, once again trying to round the keeper when maybe an earlier shot would have been a better option (although he has scored precisely 451 more goals than I have at this level, so I may not be the best person to listen to here!). From the rebound, Rogers had his follow-up shot well-blocked by a determined Saltdean defence.

More chances came and went the Dockers way. Still the score stayed at 2-0.

Comfortable though the Dockers were, it’s nigh-on impossible to ever shake fully that nagging feeling that a goal out of nowhere for your opponents could lead to a rather nervier ending than necessary. Especially for Newhaven fans who have had to endure this type of ending to a match on more occasions than I care to count.

Thankfully, however, this wasn’t to be one of those evenings. With five minutes remaining, the Dockers finally put the game to bed. A long Edwards corner found Rob Malila lurking around the edge of the area, and he took a neat touch before rifling the ball through the crowded penalty area into the roof of the net. Game done and dusted!

A couple of minutes later, Saltdean were reduced to ten-men for the remainder of the match courtesy of a sin-bin as Newhaven eased through to the final whistle.

So, three wins in a row and it’s up to fifth for the Dockers, just two points behind early season pacesetters Crowborough Athletic – although we have played more games than some of the teams around us. Still, after a slow but steady start, momentum does seem to be building.

We take a break from league action now, with two cup games coming up.

The first takes place on Saturday, when we visit Rusthall in Kent in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Vase – a competition that I personally would love to see us have a little run in. Fingers crossed.

We then begin our defence of the Peter Bentley Cup next Tuesday night when in-form Eastbourne Town visit Fort Road (19:45 kick-off).

Two really hard matches, but ones where we can hopefully keep our momentum going.

Our next league action takes place on 30^th September when we travel to Uckfield Town.

As ever, your support at any – or all – of these matches will be much appreciated.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Callum Edwards. A fairly difficult decision to be fair, as there were a number of solid performances across the park, without any one really outstanding individual performance. However, Edwards’ direct running caused Saltdean problems throughout the 90 minutes and whenever he got on the ball you sensed a chance was on its way.