Classy Chichester dismantle Dockers

Newhaven 0 Chichester City 5, SCFA Senior Cup Round 2

Newhaven crashed out of the Sussex Senior Cup last night as they were well beaten by a very good, higher-division Chichester City side.

In fairness, this competition is unlikely to feature as a major priority for either team this season, with both sides fielding changes from their last league match.

The Dockers made four changes from the team that beat Eastbourne United on Saturday, with Lee Robinson, Harry Reed, Josh Tuck and Toby Reeder all absent from a starting 11 that saw 18-year-old Rio Connelly make his first senior start for the club.

Chichester City are currently flying high in the Isthmian South East Division, having tasted defeat just once in their opening seven games to sit third in the table, with a game in hand on both teams above them.

It always looked like it was going to be a tough night’s work for the Dockers. And that’s exactly what it proved to be.

Chichester’s class – and extra pace, especially in attacking areas – was clear from the outset and had it been for more composed finishing they could have found themselves two-up inside the opening 15-minutes.

Jake Buss was then forced into his first of many fine saves of the game, pushing a header wide.

On 25 minutes, Newhaven had their first chance of the match when Alfie Rogers’ fierce free-kick from a long way out forced a fine save from the Chi custodian.

However, for the most part it was Chichester who continued to probe, with Newhaven working hard to keep their opponents at bay. Something they were starting to look more comfortable in doing as the half progressed.

Unfortunately, all of that good work was undone ten minutes before half-time, when the ball was sloppily given away in a dangerous area allowing Chichester to break. A low ball across the box was tapped in by the unmarked Joe Clarke to give the visitors the lead.

Newhaven looked to respond, and shortly before half-time Connelly had a shot from outside the area that was routinely saved by the visiting keeper.

At half-time, though, Newhaven were still very much in the game. They just needed to keep things tight for as long as possible, stay in the game… and, well, you never know.

I’m sure that would have been the plan. Alas, within two minutes of the restart that plan had been blown out of the water.

Again the ball was needlessly given away in midfield, but even thereafter the Dockers had plenty of opportunity to get the ball away before Ryan Davidson lashed it past Buss from the edge of the area.

What followed was probably Newhaven’s best five-minute spell of the match as they pushed for an immediate response.

Yet that mini revival was brought to a crashing halt in the 51^st minute when Chichester snatched a third. Buss twice did well to prevent Chi from scoring, but he couldn’t keep them out all by himself and Clarke eventually notched his second of the night.

With the game effectively done, Newhaven began to ring the changes with Reed, Lee Robinson and another youngster, George Cracknell, all entering proceedings.

Buss made another couple of good saves at 3-0, but more Chichester goals seemed inevitable as they continued to pour forward.

Indeed, the fourth arrived in the 65^th minute, courtesy of a diving header from Jamie Horncastle.

Two-minutes later the night threatened to get really ugly for the Dockers as the rampant visitors netted a fifth. Ethan Pritchard turning the Newhaven defence inside and out before firing past Buss.

There was a sense at this point that the scoreline could end up resembling a cricket score, but, credit to the Dockers, their heads never went down and they kept fighting right till the end.

That said, they did have Buss to thank on at least three more occasions to stop the visitors from adding more to their tally.

Another youngster, Lincoln Shearing, also got some game time in the last 20 minutes, while there was also a return to action for Bailie Rogers who hasn’t featured since pulling his hamstring at Cray Wanderers back in early September.

Shearing looked lively in his short cameo, and forced a decent diving save from the Chichester goalkeeper, as Newhaven looked in vein for a late consolation.

So a tough night for the Dockers, but one I get the feeling they won’t be despondent about for too long.

As mentioned earlier, it’s probably fair to say that the SCFA Cup was at the bottom of the list when it comes to priorities this season (most seasons, in fact). Yes, it’s always disappointing to lose, especially emphatically, especially at home, but there’s no doubt that far more important games await over the coming weeks.

Starting on Saturday, in fact, when Essex Senior League side Sporting Bengal United visit Fort Road in the First Round of the FA Vase. It would be great to have a little run in this competition, as both Littlehampton and Peacehaven have enjoyed in recent seasons, so your support in cheering on the boys this weekend would be much appreciated. Let's get Fort Road rocking!

It’s then back to our bread and butter the following Saturday (28^th October) when fifth-placed Hassocks visit us in the league. That’s another huge game for the club and one where we will need your support.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Jake Buss. It’s not often a goalkeeper will ship five goals and be awarded my mom, but the fact is were it not for Bussy last night, then the scoreline could have been pushing double-digits as Chichester began to run riot in the second half.