Dour draw on dreary afternoon

Newhaven 1 Hassocks 1, SCFL Premier Division match #14

On a miserable late October afternoon, where the wet weather led to most other SCFL Premier Division matches being postponed, we were once again thankful for Fort Road’s 3G surface, ensuring us Dockers fans would get our Saturday afternoon fix at the football.

90-minutes later, however, it would not be unfair to say that on this occasion the surface was actually more curse than blessing.

Entertainment was certainly in short supply at Fort Road this afternoon.

On paper, this match had all ingredients for a humdinger.

With both teams separated in the table by a solitary point, and both knowing that three-points would lift them to second in the table, a fairly large crowd hoped to witness a thrilling 90-minutes of action.

The reality was very different with both teams ultimately cancelling each other out.

Newhaven actually started well, looking to take the game to their visitors from the outset. So much so that they were close to breaching the Hassocks backline in the opening 30 seconds.

Shortly before the tenth minute, Harry Reed went within a whisker of giving the Dockers the lead that their fast start deserved.

The right winger broke through the defence, went round the keeper, but couldn’t get enough purchase on his strike to force the ball over line, with a Hassocks defender clearing just in time.

With Hassocks starting to grow back into the game, the Dockers then took the lead. Reed was once again involved, being felled in the area – perhaps softly, in fairness – leading the ref to award a penalty.

From the spot, Alfie Rogers did what Alfie Rogers tends to do. Namely, blast the ball into the back of the net. Newhaven were one-up; perhaps deservedly so going by the early exchanges.

However, not for the first time this season, having scored, the Dockers immediately showed some vulnerability at the back. Barely a minute later, too much space was afforded to Hassocks in the centre of the park – and to the dangerous Pat Harding on the edge of the area. 

Receiving the ball, Harding had plenty of time to take a touch, move the ball out of his feet and pick his spot. Moments later the ball was nestled in the bottom corner – giving Newhaven’s young debutant keeper, Dan Gibson, in for the injured Jake Buss, no chance.

At this point, Hassocks began to gain the upper hand, without ever looking overly threatening. At the other end, Newhaven were sloppy in possession, too often giving the ball away needlessly when in good positions.

At half-time, it was hard to argue that a draw was a fair reflection of the match.

Early exchanges aside, Newhaven had not really been at the races. Yet it was hoped that a more cohesive second-half would hopefully see Newhaven find the momentum to gain them a valuable three points.

Yet the truth is the second-half was something of a non-event. Hassocks had the better of the first 20 minutes of the second period, albeit without every really testing the Docker’s fledgling keeper.

As an attacking force, Newhaven just could not get it going. The sloppy play of the first-half prevailing deep into the second.

In fact, it took Newhaven until the 73^rd minute to create a decent chance - actually, any sort of a chance. Lee Robinson did well to hold the ball up and feed Alfie Rogers. Rogers couldn’t have caught his strike much better, but the Hassocks keeper was equal to it, making a good save to turn the ball behind for a corner.

From the resulting set-piece, Josh Tuck went within centimetres of notching his first Newhaven goal. His measured header looked to have been judged to perfection, only to be hacked off the line at the last moment.

Any hopes that these two near misses would see the Dockers finish the match with a flourish were quickly extinguished as Hassocks once again began to look the team more likely to create a match-winning opportunity – without actually ever coming that close to actually doing so.

By the time the full-time whistle sounded, both teams seemed to have long since settled for a point, with neither side really doing enough to justifiably claim that they deserved the three points.

It’s not often you get dud matches at Fort Road, but this was definitely something of a non-event, with both teams seemingly happy to walk away from the game without having lost it.

On Tuesday night, Newhaven continue their defence of the Peter Bentley Cup with a home match against Pagham – the West Sussex side’s second visit to Fort Road this month. Both teams will be hoping that this match proves to be less controversial than the previous meeting.

Next weekend sees another huge match at Fort Road, with another of the pre-season promotion favourites, Haywards Heath, visiting us.

Both matches are hugely important, albeit for different reasons, and it would be great to see two more big crowds at Fort Road.

We’ll hopefully see you there.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): No award this week. It’s not often I do this, but I honestly can’t decide. I’ve literally been stewing on this decision since full-time and still can’t pick an outstanding candidate for the award. I’m sure I’m not the only one, either!