#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Steyning Town 2 Newhaven 4, SCFL Premier Division match #17 For a while now, Newhaven’s final game of November and their first of December have had the air of a being a couple of season-defining matches about them. Having started the season steadily without ever being overly spectacular, the Dockers have got themselves into a decent position from which to have a real tilt at promotion in the second-half of the season. However, back-to-back games against my pre-season title favourites (aside from us, of course) Steyning and current table toppers Crowborough were always going to be a real test of these promotion ambitions. After all, it was a failure to beat any of the teams around us that ultimately saw us fall short last season. Steyning were one of those teams who we failed to beat, or even get a point out of, last time out. The early stages of this match were cagey to say the least, with both teams showing due respect to each other. Unusually, Newhaven were happy to cede poss...

Newhaven 3 Horsham YMCA 0, SCFL Premier Division match #16 After last week’s disappointing FA Vase exit, the Dockers were back on home soil (well, 3G) yesterday for their seventh consecutive home match. Despite last week’s defeat, Newhaven’s league form remains good, having lost just once this season, and that all the way back on 5 th September. However, with two huge league matches coming up in the next two weeks there was absolutely no room for error yesterday. Having started the season with a 1-1 draw against yesterday’s visitors, Horsham YMCA (albeit we only had ten men for a large portion of that match), Newhaven knew that three-points were far from a foregone conclusion against a solid mid-table outfit. Newhaven started the match well, looking lively in the opening few minutes without ever really managing to fashion any clear-cut chances. Yet, just as it looked like a comfortable afternoon’s viewing may be on the cards, YM served notice that they wouldn’t be beaten wit...

Newhaven 1 Deal Town 4, FA Vase Round 2 The road to Wembley is over for another season. I’ve made no secret of my personal desire to see Newhaven have a run in the FA Vase one day.  Alas, that day is still yet to arrive.  And, in fairness, it never really looked like arriving yesterday, as SCEFL side Deal Town comprehensively outplayed the off-key Dockers. There were shades of last week’s match against Haywards Heath in the early exchanges of yesterday’s encounter, as Newhaven were slow out of the blocks, allowing their opponents to get on top right from the get-go. Unfortunately, unlike last week, where Newhaven wrestled back control the longer the game went on, they never really threatened to do so against Deal. The visitors had already gone close on a couple of occasions when they eventually took the lead in the 21 st minute through a Ben Chapman header. The Kent side had made no secret of the fact they weren’t scared of getting the ball into the box at every o...

  Newhaven 3 Haywards Heath 2, SCFL Premier Division match #15 After a relatively kind start to the league season fixture-wise, the Dockers are currently in a run of fixtures that you can’t help but feel will really shape the season, with matches against fellow promotion contenders coming thick and fast. Yesterday’s visit of Haywards Heath was arguably the toughest-looking match on paper that Newhaven have had to date. Having been surprisingly relegated from the Isthmian league last season, Heath were many people’s tips for this year’s title. And while their early-season form has been mixed, a recent change in manager, along with a couple of big-name signings, have ignited belief that, despite their current seventh-place position, Haywards Heath remain the team to beat. Judging by the early exchanges of yesterday’s game they certainly looked like it. The visitors took lead after less than a minute. Charlie Pitcher did well down the left and his low-cross was turned in at th...

Newhaven 6 Pagham 0, Peter Bentley Cup Round 3 What a difference a few days can make. On Saturday, the Dockers played out a dour draw in a dismal league encounter against Hassocks . Entertainment was in short supply and Newhaven appeared strangely out-of-sorts. Fast-forward little more than 72-hours and the difference in performance levels was simply staggering. I’m sure the management team would have asked for a reaction. Boy did they get one! In Pagham, the Dockers were facing a team ensconced in mid-table. A team we would probably expect to beat; albeit one we needed a very late, hugely controversial penalty to get a point against just a few weeks earlier. Yet there seems to be something about the Peter Bentley Cup - which we're the current holders of - that always brings the best out of Newhaven. That was very much the case last night. From the moment Lee Robinson played in Rob Malila to open the scoring in the fourth minute there was only going to be one winner. S...