#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Newhaven 1 Bexhill United 2, SCFL Premier Division match #33 Newhaven returned to Fort Road yesterday afternoon, hoping last week’s stalemate in Pagham was to prove only a small blip on their title aspirations. Bexhill United were the visitors on what would hopefully prove to be a day of both celebration and commemoration, with surviving members (and family representatives from those sadly passed) of the title-winning 1973/74 Newhaven squad in attendance to watch the current crop who are hoping to emulate their achievements. Regardless of the result and overall performance – which I will get to in a bit – it was amazing to see so many faces from the past back at Fort Road, and brilliant to see so many friends and teammates from half-a-century ago sharing the same turf once again; banter still very much in-tact.  Sometimes it’s important to remember that there are more things than just football matches that make for a successful community football club! Unfortunately, event...

Pagham 0 Newhaven 0, SCFL Premier Division match #32 A second lengthy away trip inside a few days saw Newhaven head west to Pagham yesterday afternoon, looking to consolidate their place at the top of the table. As with Tuesday night’s match against Lingfield, this was probably a fixture that looked easier on paper than it would prove to be in reality. The Lions had already emerged from Fort Road with a point earlier in the season – and were extremely unlucky not to have come away with more – and have garnered something of a reputation as being draw specialists. In fact, going into this encounter they had drawn four of the last five matches, and had ended level with their opponents on nine occasions this season – only Eastbourne United have drawn more. While at times Newhaven been slow starters this season, yesterday they looked to take their game to their hosts from the outset – maybe the game being delayed by half-an-hour following the late arrival of an official did us a fa...

Lingfield 1 Newhaven 3, SCFL Premier Division match #31 Newhaven travelled to Surrey on Tuesday night for a rearranged league fixture against Lingfield. A victory would see Newhaven leapfrog Steyning into top spot in the league – and provide a fitting way for co-managers Sean Breach and Andy Cook to celebrate a quite remarkable ten years at the helm. While Lingfield may be ensconced firmly in mid-table, it was a match no-one involved with the Dockers was taking lightly. Lingfield are one of only two teams to have beaten us in the league this season, having deservedly taken the three points in the reverse fixture at Fort Road back in September . And it was the Lingers who were quickest out of the blocks last night. They would - perhaps even should - have been ahead within three-minutes, only for a fine Jake Buss save to keep the scores level. On a bobbly pitch, it took the Dockers time to get to grips with the conditions as well as Lingfield’s direct style and pace, and it was t...

Newhaven 4 Loxwood 0, SCFL Premier Division match #30 For what seems to be the thirtieth time this season, the Dockers went into a match knowing that dropping points could ultimately prove fatal in what is becoming one of the closest SCFL Premier Division title races in years. While Loxwood’s lowly league position may have pointed towards a routine’s afternoon work, a closer look at some of their score-lines suggested that a rather trickier 90-minutes may lay ahead. Just last month, The Magpies had made current league leaders Steyning work extremely hard for a 1-0 victory, while in January they beat Eastbourne Town; a team that we were ourselves tonked by just by a few weeks ago. It’s fair to say that the first-half of this encounter won’t live long in the memory. It kicked-off… then just over 45-minutes later it came to an end. There’s not a lot more to say about it, to be honest. It happened. That was it. Thankfully, the second-half was rather more action-packed; especially ...