Dockers hold on for deserved point

Pagham 1 Newhaven 1, SCFL Premier Division match #12, Saturday 17^th October 2026

After a much-needed ten-day break, Newhaven returned to action with a tricky long-distance trip to Pagham on Saturday.

On a run of six league defeats in seven games, and with injuries still biting hard, the Dockers arrived in West Sussex desperate to come away with something to try and reignite their season.

Pagham, though, have been flying in recent weeks, finding the net 14 times in their past three games, and currently sitting just outside the play-off places.

Yet it was Newhaven who started the game by far the brighter of the two sides, controlling large periods of the opening half, and looking far more confident on the ball than they had for quite some time.

The returning Pacey Bean went close to opening the scoring inside the opening ten minutes, when his curling corner was clawed off the line by the Pagham keeper. From my vantage point, it looked like the ball had hit the net, but having seen the incident back on Veo, it was the keeper who made contact with it, not the ball... unfortunately.

Ezra Roeg then had a flurry of chances, the best of which saw him get through on goal, only to shoot straight at the keeper from a tight angle.

Pagham were offering little threat from open play, but looked dangerous from set-pieces, although Newhaven’s defence, superbly marshalled by debutant goalie Ethan Pike, looked largely solid.

With half-time approaching, there could be little doubt that the half had belonged to Newhaven, although for all their enterprising play, clear chances had been at a premium.

On 43 minutes, though, the Dockers were hit with the kind of sucker punch that has been all-too synonymous with their luck so far this season.

Unsurprisingly, the source of the goal came from a corner, although the final contact from Owen Sheriff appeared to be more off the back/shoulder than head. Nevertheless, the ball looped agonisingly over the head of Pike and into the net.

Things could then have gone very quickly from bad to worse before the interval, as a rushed clearance only moments later led to a clear chance for Pagham to double their lead. Thankfully (for us), the Pagham player snatched at his shot, and we just about managed to get enough bodies back to keep the half-time deficit to one.

Despite trailing at the break, there was little doubt that this had been a much-improved performance on those of the previous weeks. Surely if we could maintain the level (something we hadn’t been able to do after a positive opening 20-minute spell against Guernsey last time out) then this game was far from done.

Once again, it was the Dockers who started the second-half the brighter. Yet aside from one effort from range from George McCarthy, which flew just wide, we were finding it hard to break Pagham’s backline.

This changed just after the hour mark. The hosts failed to comprehensively clear a Reece Bickerton long-throw into their area. The ball eventually fell to Max Vardy whose shot was blocked, but in a rare moment of fortune the ball fell to Roeg who fired across the goal where recently introduced substitute Billy Oliver was waiting to tap home. It was no more than the Dockers had deserved.

Just four minutes later, Oliver almost had us ahead. Great work down the left by Ash Wadhams culminated in a cross that found the striker at the far post, but he couldn’t quite generate enough power or direction on his header to beat the Pagham GK.

With 15 minutes left to play, it’s fair to say that the hosts hadn’t really looked like scoring in the second-half. It’s also fair to say that this very much changed in that remaining quarter-of-an-hour.

Having given it their all for 75 minutes, and with numerous players on the pitch playing through the pain-barrier, the Dockers simply ran out of steam, and the hosts laid siege to our goal.

What followed was a gritty, determined rear-guard effort from the Dockers. Two extraordinary saves from Pike were the highlight of this resistance, but credit to the outfield players, too, who put their bodies on the line to maintain parity.

Come the final whistle, Pagham will be wondering how they failed to a find a winner in that completely dominant closing quarter. The truth, though, is that as one-sided as the last 15 minutes may have been, defeat would have been harsh on the Dockers who had been the better side for much of the match.

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say this was a draw that felt like a win, it is certainly a result (and performance) that should give the players a confidence-boost for the weeks ahead. Make no mistake, this is the type of game we would have lost, probably comprehensively, in recent weeks. Hopefully, we’re slowly starting to turn a corner.

Having just enjoyed a ten-day break, we now face a flurry of fixtures to finish the month.

On Tuesday we travel to Crawley Down in the Peter Bentley Cup (19:30 kick-off). On Saturday we head to Lingfield (or Whytelafe) in the league, before facing off against Crawley Down again on Tuesday 27^th October, this time at Fort Road in the RUR Cup. We then finish the month with a home match against Midhurst and Easeboune on 31^st October.

Hopefully some league points and cup progressions can see us head into November back on song. Your support in making that happen is always appreciated.

Come On You Dockers!

 My man of the match (aka, the controversial part): Ethan Pike. A hugely promising debut from the new goalkeeper. As well as his late wonder saves, he looked in total command of his area throughout and was real vocal presence.

While I’ve got your attention, my debut crime fiction adult novel, Snapped is now available to download on Kindle. You can check it out here: Snapped eBook : Fuller, David: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store