Newhaven 1 Haywards Heath 5, SCFL Premier Division Match #5, Monday 31st August 2026
No one said it was going to be easy.
After a packed opening month of the season, Newhaven hosted
Haywards Heath on Bank Holiday Monday.
With injuries already biting hard – Matt Gunn and Joe Radley-Martin
both joined George McCarthy, Noah Hoffmann, Tyler Capon, Billy Oliver, and Lee
Robinson to name but a few on the unavailable list for this fixture – it’s fair
to say that a match against many people’s pre-season title favourites wasn’t exactly
what the doctor ordered. (And we've being seeing a lot of the doctor!).
True, Heath have their injury issues as well. But I don’t think it’s unfair to suggest that one of these team’s playing budgets may be better equipped to deal with such issues than the other.
Nevertheless, the Dockers started this game fairly well.
After an early penalty appeal was waved away, Max Vardy went
close with a shot from the edge of the area that was well turned over by Heath’s
keeper.
Slowly, though, Heath
began to grow into the game and midway through the half we were indebted to a
brilliant Fraser Trigwell save, swiftly followed by a shocking close-range miss
(both chances falling to the lively Ousman Dansko) to stay level.
Still, with just under 10 minutes to go before half-time,
there wasn’t an awful lot to choose between the two teams. Then came what would, in my opinion, prove to be the game’s turning point.
With Elliott Bresciani temporarily off the pitch, having
received treatment following a foul by Dansko, Heath took the lead. Dansko
himself scoring after a good move down the left.
Now, rules are rules. Any player who receives treatment must
leave the pitch for a minute. We all know that. But it doesn’t stop it from
being a stupid rule, punishing as it does the player who has been hurt rather
than the one who made the foul.
Worse was to follow for the Dockers as Bresciani was then
forced to leave the game permanently just a few minutes later, having failed to
run off the injury he’d picked up.
Another injury was the last thing Newhaven needed,
especially to Bresciani who had looked solid during the opening 35 minutes.
His removal from the game necessitated a change of shape,
and it was at this point that the visitors really began to turn the screw.
Dansko almost got a second before the break when he charged
down Trigwell, but thankfully for us the goalkeeper’s attempted clearance
rebounded off the striker and trickled just wide.
Half-time came at what seemed like a good time for Newhaven,
with Heath seeming to have us on the ropes.
Indeed, the second-half started in positive fashion for the
Dockers. Just a couple of minutes after the restart, an inviting low cross from
Vardy went right across the area when surely any touch from a Newhaven player would
have taken it into the net. If only our three recognised out-and-out strikers
weren’t all out injured!
Haywards Heath then nearly did us a massive favour by almost walking the ball into the net for us, after a miscommunication between
goalkeeper and defender. They survived. Just about.
Thomas Sekyere then stung the palms of the Heath keeper following
a strong run through the midfield from Ryan Blunt.
Heath chances had been at a premium in the second-half
before, with 25 minutes left, they grabbed a second. Two former Dockers were
involved as Ian Robinson’s cross-shot was eventually turned home by Lukas Franzen-Jones
(they would have almost certainly been awarded a penalty if hadn’t scored
anyway as Robinson looked to have been caught by Ash Wadhams as he tried to get
his shot away).
From that moment on, there was only ever going to be one
winner.
Whether it was that Newhaven capitulated or simply ran out
of legs (or a combination of both factors), the Dockers were suddenly miles off
it. And Haywards Heath took full advantage.
A Sam Remfry diving header put the result beyond doubt with
19-minutes remaining, before Joe Alman made it four ten minutes later with a
free header from a corner.
The pick of Heath’s five goals was saved till last with yet
another former Docker, Ryan Warwick, capitalising on a Trigwell error to loft
the ball delightfully into the net from distance.
With the final kick of the game, Newhaven grabbed a
consolation courtesy of Dan Allen, but by then the damage had been well and
truly done in the preceding 25 minutes where Heath had simply run riot.
Although well beaten, it’s one of those games where maybe
the scoreline doesn’t tell the whole story. With 25 minutes still to play
Newhaven were very much in the game, having competed well for the most part.
That final 25 minutes, though, will be a concern with Heath
ruthlessly exposing what we hope will prove to be nothing more serious than a
case of tired legs.
Still ten points after the first month of the season, having
already played two teams who I will be shocked not to see in the play-off
positions at the end of the season, isn’t to be sniffed at.
With a few players hopefully on the way back to fitness, and
with fewer games scheduled for September (five at the time of writing as
opposed to nine in August) hopefully this defeat will prove to be nothing more than a
blip and we’ll be back to winning ways soon.
After three home games in a row, we now go into a run of three
consecutive away matches. On Saturday we travel to Lancing in the league,
before a midweek visit to Westfield on Tuesday evening in the County Cup. The
run of away matches ends with a trip to current league leaders (and another
team widely tipped for a play-off berth) Eastbourne United, on 12th
September.
We’re then back at Fort Road on 19th September
when Forest Row are our visitors.
As ever, it would be great to see as many of you at all
these games as possible.
Come On You Dockers!
My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Sorry.
No stand-out candidate on this occasion.
While I’ve got your attention, if you’re off on holiday and
fancy a summer read (or just enjoy reading), please check out my debut adult
novel, Snapped (available to download on Kindle). Thank you
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