#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Loxwood 1 Newhaven 4, SCFL Premier Division match #34 The Dockers made it a magnificent seven wins from seven games as three goals in the last twenty-five minutes saw off a hard-working Loxwood side. Battling against relegation, seven points from their last three games had given the Magpies a slight cushion from the drop zone. And it was clear to see from the outset that this was a much-improved Loxwood side from the one that had we had beaten comfortably at Fort Road earlier in the season. Thankfully, even with a host of absent players which saw a late call-up for under 18s goalkeeper Ashley Overton, this is a far more confident Newhaven team, too. That said, after a frankly unentertaining opening 20-minutes of the match (it was reminiscent of a pre-season match, being played in pre-season temperatures), the Dockers got the benefit of a decision that could easily have led to young centre-back Liam Osborne being given his marching orders. A long ball over the top led to the L...

Newhaven 4 Loxwood 0, SCFL Premier Division match #17 While most games across Sussex fell foul to the wind and rain yesterday afternoon, Fort Road’s artificial surface meant that Newhaven’s match against Loxwood was not one of them. Of course, whether this would actually prove to be a blessing or not, only time would tell. On paper, this looked to be a good time to playing Loxwood. After a bright start to the season, the Magpies have struggled in recent weeks after some off-field issues, and they went into this match on the back of a crushing 8-1 defeat against Roffey. However, Dockers fans have been here before in recent months, most notably against Little Common and Shoreham who were both on dismal runs before claiming three-points against us. After 25-minutes of yesterday’s match, a repeat of such an outcome never looked likely. Newhaven took the lead with just two-minutes on the clock. Callum Edwards was tripped in the area and from the spot Lee Robinson made no mistake, ...

Newhaven 4 Loxwood 2, SCFL Premier Division match #38 And so another league season reaches its conclusion. Unfortunately, the campaign didn’t have the fairytale ending that us Newhaven fans were hoping for. There were to be no slip-ups from Broadbridge Heath or Crawley Down Gatwick in the final week of the season, with the former being proclaimed league champions and the latter taking the runners-up spot, thereby earning a promotion play-off match. Meaning we had to contend with a second successive third-place finish. Our congratulations go out to both of those two teams at the end of what has been a long, gruelling season. Also, best of luck to Crawley Down in the play-off! In truth, a lot of the drama was taken out of yesterday afternoon’s fixture even before the game against Loxwood had kicked off. With Crawley Down’s match against Roffey being, slightly bafflingly, allowed to kick-off an hour before everyone elses, the knowledge that they were 3-1 up at half-time in a g...

Newhaven 2 Loxwood 0, Peter Bentley Cup semi-final In a season where almost every game seems to have something riding on it, Newhaven were involved in yet another winner takes-all clash last night, with a trip to Steyning to play Loxwood for a place in the Peter Bentley Cup final. Having won the inaugural Peter Bentley Cup back in 2014/15, and reached the final of last year’s competition (we’ll gloss over the result of that one), this is a tournament that the Dockers do have something of a pedigree in. On paper, the tie against lowly Loxwood placed the Dockers as huge favourites to reach a second consecutive final. However, as we all know (this blog loves a cliché), football isn’t played on paper. With former Newhaven player and coach Dave Altendorff now in charge of the West Sussex side, the Dockers were only too aware that the Magpies would be fully fired up to produce something of an upset. After 25 minutes, though, it looked as if the outcome of the match was going very much ...

Loxwood 1 Newhaven 6, SCFL Premier Division match #15 The Dockers headed north for one of their longest league away trips of the season this afternoon, visiting lowly Loxwood in the SCFL Premier Division. The match marked a significant milestone for the Dockers managerial duo of Sean Breach and Andy Cook, who were taking charge of Newhaven for an almost unprecedented 400th time. A phenomenal achievement for both managers. I’m sure I speak for most Docker’s fans, officials and players when I say that hopefully there will be many, many more games to come from the hardworking – and hugely popular – gaffas! Unfortunately, despite the significance of the occasion, Cook was sadly absent from the ground, serving a ban following a recent dismissal at a women’s game (he pulls double-duty managing the women’s team as well - selfless). Good to see that sentiment is, as always, alive and well at the good old FA! In a quirk of fate, the man in the opposing dugout for the co-manager’s 400 th...