Positives in defeat for plucky Dockers

Cray Wanderers 5 Newhaven 1, FA Cup First Qualifying Round

For the first time in 61 years, the Dockers took their place in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup this afternoon.

Their reward for having disposed of Little Common and Spelthorne in the two Preliminary Rounds was a trip to Bromley for a match against Isthmian Premier League Side, Cray Wanderers.

While this was far from the easiest tie we could have hoped for, it did at least offer Newhaven the opportunity to play at a National League stadium as Cray are currently long-term tenants of Bromley FC; albeit, not for much longer as a move to their own ground moves ever nearer.

Last season, the Wanderers reached the league play-offs, only missing out on a chance to move 90 minutes away from the National League South in a penalty shoot-out. 

This season, though, has been a different story, with Cray having failed to gain a point from their opening four games; scoring just once and conceding ten times.

A glimmer of hope then for the Dockers, then?

Sadly not, as it turned out.

However, while the final scoreline may look like the hosts had things all their own way, this wasn’t always the case. 

In fact, Newhaven recovered from a nightmare start to at least make their opponents sweat for large portions of the game.

Ultimately, though, having conceded twice in the early stages, the Dockers were always chasing the game and that ultimately cost them.

The hosts took the lead in the sixth minute, in slightly controversial circumstances. A soft free-kick was awarded on the left side of the area and, from it, David Ijaha rose highest to head Cray in front.

Wanderers are a big, physical team and were always going to cause trouble from crosses and set-pieces.

Within nine minutes they had doubled their lead. Good play down the right led to a cross onto the six-yard box which was headed home by Tom Derry.

A long afternoon in Greater London seemed to be on the cards.

However, the Dockers responded well to the early set-backs and on, 25 minutes, Alfie Rogers was within inches of reducing the deficit from a free-kick.

A few minutes later, Cray could easily have been reduced to ten men when Ijaha was somewhat fortunate not to receive a second yellow card.

As had been the case in the league match at Midhurst earlier in the season, it was one of those where you feel if he hadn’t already been on a caution, it was a challenge that would almost certainly have been a yellow card. A lucky – or unlucky from our perspective – escape for the midfielder.

Cray had another couple of chances as the game neared half-time, but both attempts failed to work Buss. Luca Page also had a couple of half-chances for Newhaven, but the Dockers were finding clear opportunities hard to come by.

The hosts went into the interval two ahead; the goals coming from their only shots on target.

While the Dockers were seeing plenty of the ball, the hosts were looking fairly comfortable at the back.

Newhaven needed to be more attacking in the second-half and, in fairness, they were.

Within minutes of the restart, Rogers went close to pulling one back from another free-kick, that was struck just too close to the Cray goalie.

In fact, the opening six minutes of the second-half had been played almost exclusively in Newhaven’s attacking half, before a lightning quick break from Cray looked to have put the game out of reach. Yahya Bamba raced past the Newhaven rearguard before finishing calmly to make it 3-0.

This sparked Newhaven into life and, for the next 20 minutes, the Dockers took the game to the Wanderers. On the hour mark, Ezra Roeg – on as a half-time sub for Billy Barker – got through one-on-one only to be denied by the Cray keeper.

Four minutes later, the Dockers got the goal they deserved. Another Rogers free-kick was spilled by the Cray keeper, and Rob Malila reacted fastest to rifle the ball home from close-range.

Suddenly the game was back-on. Cray were suddenly looking panicky and you just started to get the feeling that had the Dockers made the most of one of the promising positions they got into during this period, then the game may have had a very different outcome.

At time ticked by, though, and Newhaven started to send more and more men forward there was always the chance they’d get caught on the break. And that’s exactly what happened.

With just over ten minutes remaining, George Porter was brought down by Robbie Keith just outside the area. As the last man, Keith received a straight red card. What was already a daunting challenge suddenly became increasingly more so.

From the resulting free-kick, that extremely daunting challenge became nigh-on mission impossible, as Nyren Clunis delightfully curled the ball over Newhaven’s wall and into the top corner to put the Wanderers 4-1 up.

It was already harsh scoreline on the Dockers, who had battled hard, yet things became even worse two minutes later when Wanderers got a fifth. Bamba once again used his pace and power to hold off challenges before finishing classily past Buss.

With ten minutes still to play, there were concerns that a really chastising defat could be on the cards, with the ten-man Dockers starting to look a little ragged.

To their credit, though, the boys kept going and actually finished the game the stronger of the two teams. Malila went close to grabbing his second of the afternoon, clipping the top of the bar with a curling effort from the edge of the area as the game entered injury time.

Ultimately, there was to be no more scoring. Goals for Cray at important times in the game always left Newhaven with too much to do and, while the Dockers certainly had their moments, a cupset never really looked likely.

A good day out, though, at a decent stadium. We wish Cray Wanderers the best of luck in the next round.

So our FA Cup participation may be over for another year, but there’s still the FA Vase to keep dreams of a trip to Wembley alive!

Thoughts now turn to Tuesday night’s home game against Lingfield in the league. Having picked up their first win of the season today, the Lingers will be arriving at Fort Road full of confidence so we’ll have to be at our best to pick up another valuable three points.

We’re back on the road next Saturday, as we take a trip to Loxwood in more league action. 

Six points from these two matches would more than make up for today’s disappointing – yet not unexpected – cup exit.

As ever, your support will be much appreciated.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Ryan Warwick. Another classy performance from the midfielder. He was at the heart of most of Newhaven’s best moves and is fast becoming a real driving force in the centre of the park.

Unfortunately, there’s no video tonight. We were going to do one on the coach home, but I forgot. Apologies.