Fine Howard-Bold free-kick gets us over the line (just)

Newhaven 1 Pagham 0, SCFL Premier Division match #16, Saturday 15^th November 2025

The start of a big seven days for the Dockers, which includes a local derby and a match against a National League South side, kicked off with a league match yesterday afternoon against Pagham.

The Lions came into the match flying-high in fifth-place and boasting the second-best defensive record in the division; just 11 goals conceded from their opening 14 matches.

With us being just outside the play-off places at the moment, this was a real test of our play-off aspirations. If we’re going to make a prolonged run at the top five, we need to take points from the teams also battling for those places.

The first-half of this match was cagey to say the least. Fairly boring would be another way of putting it.

Pagham created the game’s best early openings; twice shooting off target when in dangerous positions.

The visitors also had the ball in the net just past the half-hour mark, only for the goal to be disallowed for handball.

With 45 minutes having elapsed, the game entered first-half injury time without Newhaven having mustered a serious effort on goal.

This was to change when Lee Robinson beat the Pagham keeper to a perfectly-weighted through ball. He poked the ball goalwards, but was unfortunate to see it bounce back off the far post.

Goalless at the break, and it was not hard to see why Pagham boast one of the best defensive records in the league. Robust and organised (and also not particularly bothered about keeping the ball on the ground for very long) they were proving a tough nut to crack. 

Fortunately, they had also only shown fleeting flashes of attacking inspiration themselves, meaning this was a half that will not live long in the memory.

Just six-minutes into the second-half, the deadlock was broken. And in quite some style.

Ryan Blunt was clattered into in an area from which Pagham players probably felt quite safe – especially with two right-footers standing over the ensuing free-kick (in spite of Blunty’s best efforts to fool people into thinking he might take it left-footed).

It was Tom Howard-Bold who eventually did take it, and his exquisite effort bounced off the crossbar and over the line (a fact eventually confirmed by the match officials). The players must have clearly felt it had crossed the line; that can surely be the only excuse Shay Tobin has for not finishing off the rebound!

 With Newhaven ahead, Pagham started to slowly but surely turn the screw, pushing us further and further back. On the hour mark, they had a big appeal for a penalty turned down, before Jonny Barnes-Galloway made a great save from a free-kick to keep us level.

A nervy Fort Road continued to watch as Pagham began to dominate territory. In fairness, our boys were doing brilliantly to keep the visitors at arm’s length, and each and every player was working their socks off to keep us ahead. I don’t think I’ve seen a harder-working collective performance this season.

However, when you haven’t kept a clean-sheet since 9^th September – a period covering 13 games – it’s easy to fear the worst!

A couple more chances came and went for Pagham. At the other end, Ezra Roeg nearly bustled his way through, only to run out of room before he could get his shot away.

With normal-time almost up, Barnes-Galloway once again had to be at his best to keep us level, making another tremendous save. Seconds earlier, the visitors had had another huge shout for a penalty waved away. About time we were on the right end of some contentious decisions.

Nerves were really jangling now – not helped by the subsequent 10 minutes of injury-time (absolutely no idea where that came from).

Deep into said injury-time, the Dockers came close to nabbing a second, when Roeg’s effort was turned onto the bar by the Pagham keeper. The rebound fell kindly to Robbo who tapped home from close-range, but he was judged to have strayed into an off-side position.

There was still time for Pagham to have one more shot (luckily it finished closer to the corner flag than the goal) and a couple of minutes later the referee finally brought the game to a conclusion, as we held on for a hard-fought three-points.

A really commendable performance from all the boys, with every single one having a role to play in securing the victory. A largely mistake-free afternoon as well, which is a real bonus given the youthfulness of the team.

So onto Tuesday, and a massive home game for us against Worthing in the Senior Cup. Those not au fait with non-league football may not realise how big this game is for us. Worthing are arguably currently the best non-league team in Sussex and for the past few years have been close to making it to the largely professional National League.

Make no bones about it, this will be a monumental task for our youngsters, but with a big crowd expected it could be a great night for the football club. Make sure you get down to Fort Road and help cheer the boys on.

Next Saturday we’re back in league action as neighbours Seaford visit Fort Road for the third time this season (the other two being in cup matches). We’re two from two in those games at the moment, but the ‘Harriers’ have improved in recent weeks, and this is likely to be our toughest test against them yet.

Your support will be appreciated.

Come On You Dockers!

My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Team collective. I genuinely hate to do this as I love being controversial and annoying at least three players each match, but I really can’t pick one. There were so many strong candidates, that highlighting one above the other seems somehow unfair. Call me a coward if you like; I’ve been called worse.