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 possession to their hosts and look to play on the counter.
From the off, there was a directness and energy about the
Dockers, especially in the press, which we haven’t always seen at times this
season.
The first clear chance of the match, however, fell the way of the
hosts, with Harry Shooman side-footing over the bar when well placed inside the
18-yard-box.
Newhaven then had a half-chance from a corner, but hadn’t
created too much from open play before the 17th minute, when they
took the lead.
Alfie Rogers did well to bundle his way through a couple of
challenges, before his deflected pass landed at the feet of Lee Robinson, who
slammed the ball past the Steyning keeper to open the scoring.
The goal seemed to shake Steyning for a while and there was
no immediate response.
In fact, five minutes after Newhaven had taken the lead, the
hosts were perhaps fortunate not to be reduced to ten men when Fred Williamson
was shown a yellow card despite possibly being the last man.
I have to confess, I was too far away to see whether this
was the case but from various sources – including Steyning’s own social media
feed – the Steyning player was a tad fortunate to stay on.
As expected, Steyning soon regained their composure and
as half-time approached, the Dockers were being forced further and further
back.
The half-time whistle would have come as a blessed relief
for the Newhaven players, each of whom had put a real shift in to maintain
their narrow advantage.
Yet with another 45-minutes to come, against a clearly very good
team, few people of a Dockers persuasion would have been thinking that anything
other than a second-half fraught with nerves awaited them.
Some of these nerves were lifted within two minutes of the
restart.
Lee Robinson showed a touch of his old pace to chase down a
long-ball down the left. A Steyning defender and the goalkeeper then got themselves
into a bit of a mess, and Robinson did well to hold them off and stroke the
ball into the net from a tricky-looking angle.
It was the perfect start to the second-half for the Dockers.
As they had in the first-half, Steyning looked shaken by
conceding, and Newhaven took full advantage.
On the 53rd minute it was three. Some
free-flowing football culminated with Alfie Rogers cleverly laying the ball
into the path of Ryan Warwick who did the rest with an absolutely audacious
finish with the outside of his boot. Another one for social media tomorrow!
If any Newhaven followers still possessed some nerves, then on the hour-mark they should have been well and truly settled.
Alfie Rogers’
initial shot was saved unconvincingly by the Steyning ‘keeper. Lee Robinson
could only hit the bar from the rebound, but Rogers eventually, acrobatically, put
Newhaven into a scarcely believable four-goal lead with a perfectly executed
overhead kick. Yes, that one will be on social media, too.
Newhaven were jubilant. Steyning looked stunned.
With the game all but done, the Dockers began to sit deeper
and deeper (tiredness was no doubt starting to take its toll as well, given the monumental effort they’d put in to get into this position).
A couple of Steyning substitutions added some real pace to
the hosts attack and for the first time in the match they placed the Dockers
under a spell of sustained pressure.
However, Newhaven were defending well and managing to keep their hosts at bay.
Then, out of nothing, Steyning did get a goal back with ten
minutes remaining. Dockers keeper Dan Gibson, who otherwise enjoyed a fine
afternoon, misjudged Lloyd Francis’ flighted free-kick and was dismayed to see
it find the corner of the net.
Having reduced the arrears, Steyning promptly set about getting a quick second. Had they done so, those expected nerves may have come flying back.
The Dockers were struggling to get out and were having
to dig really deep to avoid an unwanted nervy finale.
With the tireless Lee Robinson and Alfie Rogers both having
been brought off to enjoy a much-deserved rest, Steyning did grab a second goal
with the game ticking into injury time.
There was nothing fortunate about this one with debutant Tom
Chalaye’s long-range strike finding the top corner, giving Gibson absolutely no chance.
It was too little too late for Steyning, though, and while
they continued to probe, Newhaven’s burst of brilliance at the start of the
second-half had been enough to secure them three important points.
And with league leaders Crowborough surprisingly losing away
at Pagham today, it means that should the Dockers see off the Crows next week
then Newhaven will go top on goal difference.
An already big game may have just got even bigger.
Your support, as ever, could make the difference. We hope to
see you there.
Come On You Dockers!
My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Lee Robinson. Two goals and an assist only tell part of the story. Robbo was sharp from the outset, and his selfless chasing and harrying of defenders really set the tone for the team’s much-improved press. In fairness, all 11 players who started could put a case forward to be nominated as they were all superb (they had to be!).
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