Chances galore but no score

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 favour?

Callum Edwards forced the Pagham goalkeeper into a decent save inside the opening five minutes, before two-minutes later the home goal somehow survived a flurry of chances following a goalmouth scramble.

Lee Robinson almost got through ten minutes later following hesitation in the home defence, but was eventually tackled just before he could pull the trigger.

And this, in short, was to be the story of the afternoon as the Dockers continued to carve out more than presentable opportunities at regular intervals, without ever being able to find the finishing touch.

Shortly before the half-hour, an almost identical scramble to the one seen in the opening seven minutes again went unpunished, before a swinging Ryan Warwick free-kick from out wide hit the bar (the keeper may have got fingertips to it).

At the other end, Pagham were offering very little on the counter, but did have a glimmer of an opportunity ten minutes before the break, only to see their player shoot wastefully wide from outside the area.

Right on half-time, another Dockers opportunity came and went as Robinson did really well to hold the ball up before laying it into the path of the onrushing Luke Donaldson. However, instead of taking a first-time shot, Donaldson’s touch took him wide and the danger was eventually snuffed out by the hardworking Pagham defence.

There was no change to the pattern of the play in the second-half. If anything, Newhaven only contrived to create – and subsequently pass up – even more opportunities.

Just three minutes after the restart, Jacob Thompson was played through after a decent passage of play, but could only weakly roll the ball straight at the keeper.

Robinson was again denied by a last-ditch tackle when through on goal, before Edwards burst through one-on-one but could only shoot straight at the keeper.

With little more than half-an-hour to play, the manager’s turned to benched talisman Alfie Rogers in the hope of finding a breakthrough.

With just over 20 minutes left, the Pagham goal somehow survived again as a low cross into the box was missed by two waiting Newhaven players who should have had a tap-in, while Alfie Rogers was then denied what looked to be a clear-cut penalty when he appeared to be tripped in the box.

It was now starting to look very much like being one of those days. In fact, when a long clearance from the hands of the Pagham goalkeeper bounced over Jake Buss’ crossbar, it wouldn’t have surprised me in the slightest if it had somehow ended up in the back of the net.

With 15 minutes remaining, Alfie became the latest Newhaven player to shoot straight at the Pagham keeper when well placed. Josh Tuck then headed over from a corner before Robinson scuffed wide following good work by sub Harry Reed.

Another sub, Toby Reeder, then saw a shot blocked behind, before Alfie was denied yet again deep into injury time when he was unable to get enough purchase on a shot from the edge of the six-yard box.

As Newhaven pushed forward, Pagham had a couple of late opportunities on the break to complete what would have been the ultimate smash-and-grab, but Newhaven’s defence held firm and the game finished scoreless.

Despite what could ultimately prove to be two costly dropped points, it’s hard to be too critical of the overall performance (finishing aside). Newhaven played well – probably as well as they have for quite a while, in fact – and created ample opportunities. More than enough to have won this – and probably their next two – game(s).

An already frustrating afternoon was made even more so at the end of the game, courtesy of some local (rhymes with anchors) deciding to have a loot around our changing room. Hopefully the tossers can be identified and dealt with accordingly!

Results elsewhere mean that Steyning return to the top of the table (albeit having played a game more) while Crowborough can go top if they win their own game-in-hand on Tuesday. However, with us still having to play both teams in our final six games, the destiny of the title remains in our own hands. Six wins and we win the league. Simple! Right?

Attention now turns to the Easter Weekend, with two home games coming up. We face Bexhill next Saturday, before hosting local rivals Peacehaven on Easter Monday (11am kick-off). Two huge matches (they all are now, in fairness) and it would be great to see two massive crowds at Fort Road as we try to end the season on a high.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Josh Tuck. Commanding as ever at the back and always a threat at set-pieces. Did everything he could to try and drive his teammates on for a winner and will undoubtedly be a key figure as the season reaches its conclusion.