Lacklustre Newhaven limp to defeat

Shoreham 1 Newhaven 0, SCFL Premier Division match #12

Newhaven reached another milestone during yesterday’s match away at Shoreham, as Ben Cheverton became the 41^st Docker to appear for the first team this season.

Typical of how Newhaven’s season is going, Cheverton’s debut was somewhat fast-tracked when Tom Vickers pulled-up injured in the warm-up. It comes to something when the injury jinx is striking even before we make in on to the pitch!

Losing a key player so close to kick-off wasn’t exactly ideal preparation. And the day failed to improve from there

Shoreham went into the match having accumulated just nine points from their opening 12 games and having conceded 28 goals.

Yet the disjointed Dockers only rarely looked like adding any damage to Shoreham's goal's against tally, as the visitors looked largely comfortable on route to what could prove to be three valuable points for them.

After a scrappy start from both sides, Newhaven had the game’s first opportunity when Jack Shonk’s free-kick drifted just wide.

Moments later, Lee Robinson had what would prove to be the visitor’s best chance of the game, when he got through on goal, rounded the keeper, but his effort from a tight angle was cleared off the line.

With Shoreham looking more than happy to contain the Dockers and try their luck on the counter, they hadn’t offered much going forward until the 18^th minute when, wouldn’t you know it, they took the lead.

In fairness, it was a great finish from Ramon Santos whose dipping, swerving effort from just outside the area beat Josh James and nestled into the top corner.

The Dockers almost launched an immediate response when Bailie Rogers did well to keep a deep Shonk free-kick in play, but Robinson couldn’t make contact by the penalty spot and the chance was gone.

From that moment on, Newhaven spent much of the next 70-minutes huffing and puffing without ever really looking likely to score.

In fact, despite seeing far less of the ball, it was Shoreham who consistently looked the team more likely to find the back of the net.

On the half-hour mark, the hosts went close to extending their lead only for the ball to twice be hacked off the line in quick succession.

Kwabena Osei then made a brilliant block to deny Shoreham what would have almost certainly been a second goal as Newhaven started to look ragged.

The second-half offered little improvement. Charlie Curran had half a chance on the hour mark, but could only guide Lee Robinson’s lofted ball wide of the post.

The Newhaven management looked to the bench to try and change things up, and while the introduction of Mo Huchu certainly added some energy to the attack, an equaliser still never appeared likely. Shoreham’s defence were probably surprised by how comfortable their afternoon was becoming, as the more time ticked by, the more the Dockers seemed to run out of ideas.

Huchu shot high and wide from a tight angle with just under 20-minutes left, and after that it was only Shoreham who created opportunities, as they missed a couple of decent openings to well-and-truly put the game to bed.

With time almost up, there was a moment of controversy when Huchu seemed to be fouled right on the edge of the area when about to shoot, only for the ref to somewhat bafflingly award a free-kick the other way (not the first time a 50/50 decision went the way of the hosts, it has to be said).

However, the honest truth is that a, shall we say, inconsistent performance from the mad in the middle had absolutely no bearing on the result. The truth is that Newhaven got what they deserved from the game. Nada.

It’s hard to be overly critical of the team at the moment, given the number of injuries and obvious unfamiliarity of the players taking to the pitch each week. But after the positivity generated by Tuesday night’s performance against East Grinstead, this was a stark reminder of where we are currently.

With no game now scheduled until the 26^th October, one can only hope that the mini-break gives us time to get some of the injured players back, whilst giving some of the walking wounded some additional recuperation time.

Maybe this is the reset we need. Fingers very tightly crossed.

Hopefully, by the time we host Little Common in two weeks’ time, the Newhaven we see on the pitch will more closely resemble the team we know we can be.

Keep the faith.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): No outstanding candidates, I’m afraid.