#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Saltdean United 1 Newhaven 2, SCFL Premier Division match #24 Newhaven made the short trip to Saltdean last night, aiming to make it three league wins from as many games in 2025. On paper, the Dockers should have been more than confident of claiming three more points against a Saltdean side who are struggling near the foot of the table. However, as regular watchers of Newhaven this season will be only too aware, the only guarantee with the Dockers at the moment is that there are no guarantees. See Little Common at home for proof of that. And with former Newhaven coaching stalwart Kieran Ridley at the Saltdean helm, you can always be sure that the Tigers will be extra fired-up for this encounter. On a bitterly cold evening, and with the match being played on a surface that you couldn’t exactly describe as a carpet (understatement alert), few of the spectators present would have been expecting to watch a footballing classic.   And they didn’t. This most certainly was not ...

Newhaven 3 Saltdean 2, SCFL Premier Division match #5 Following Sunday afternoon’s monumental victory in the FA Vase (we’re though, who cares), and subsequent viral social media explosion (which sounds far worse than it is), it was back to the relative normality of league action last night as a fully kitted-up Saltdean visited Fort Road. With both sides struggling for early season form, it was a game that would give each team a chance to really kick-start their season. The Tigers, given their numerous close connections to the Dockers through their manager and playing staff, will have been well aware that now is as good a time as any to be playing us. Not that you would have known it given how the first half-an-hour of the match went. The Dockers started rampantly, playing with the type of confidence and swagger that has so entertained the Fort Road faithful over the past three or four seasons. They got off to the perfect start when, on just 5 minutes, Lee Robinson raced onto a ...

Newhaven 5 Saltdean United 3, SCFL Premier Division Match #29 Newhaven welcomed local rivals Saltdean United to Fort Road yesterday afternoon, hoping to bounce back from last week’s horror-show against Eastbourne Town . On paper, struggling Saltdean should have provided the ideal opposition for Newhaven to get their season back-on-track. However, with a number of close connections between the two clubs – not least Tigers' manager Kieran Ridley who spent many years fulfilling various coaching and off-field rolls at Newhaven – there was always added potential for an upset. What’s more, while Newhaven were losing last weekend, Saltdean were picking up their first three-points in quite a while with a victory at Loxwood. If they could have picked the ideal time to travel to Fort Road then this would probably be it. With confidence no doubt still slightly frail after the Eastbourne match (it certainly was in the crowd), it was widely felt that a fast start was a necessity. Saltde...

Saltdean United 0 Newhaven 3, SCFL Premier Division match #9 It’s fair to say the weather has well and truly turned. Autumn has arrived. Proper football weather is here. And probably here to stay! Whereas just 10 days ago, I stood on the side of the pitch in Loxwood , practically melting whilst just spectating, last night the winter clothes were out in full-force on a blustery and, occasionally, wet night in Saltdean. With the conditions likely to make flowing football difficult, maintaining concentration was essential as Newhaven looked to extend their league winning run to three matches. Especially with local rivals Saltdean, managed by former Newhaven stalwart (dare we say legend?) Kieran Ridley, certain to be up for the task of trying to break the Dockers' momentum. A fast start was essential. And a fast start is most certainly what we got. Surprisingly, Saltdean seemingly decided to kick against the strong wind in the first-half, handing Newhaven a clear advantage. I...

Saltdean United 0 Newhaven 7, SCFL Premier Division match #21 After last week’s thrilling Boxing Day victory over Peacehaven , Newhaven started the New Year with another local derby, this time away at Saltdean. As mentioned in the report of the previous match between these two teams back in August , The Tigers are a very different proposition this season from the ones they have been in recent years. Without a win since 29 th October, this was a match the Dockers should clearly have been expecting to win. But, as we’ve seen with Newhaven at times this season, expecting to win and winning doesn’t always go hand-in-hand. Having spent much of the weekend confidently insisting to my sons that there was no chance the game would go ahead due to the weather, I was surprised (and needless to say very happy) to note the early-morning Tweet on Saltdean’s Twitter feed confirming that the game was on. So before I get started on the match report, a quick doff of the hat to all the Saltdean vo...

  Newhaven 5 Saltdean United 0, SCFL Premier Division match #4 After Saturday’s, erm, less than exciting trip to Hailsham , it was back to league action on this Bank Holiday Monday morning, for the first league game to be played on the new Fort Road playing surface. For a variety of reasons, the morning’s visitors, Saltdean United, are not the proposition they have been in the past few seasons, where they, along with the Dockers, had been perennial title challengers. A youthful Tigers side have endured a difficult start to the season, suffering six straight defeats and conceding more than five goals in four of those matches. With this in mind, it always seemed likely that the Fort Road faithful might have to endure 90 more minutes of the spoiling-type tactics that Hailsham had used to such good effect on Saturday. Indeed, that’s exactly the way the match panned out. From the off, Saltdean got men behind the ball to try and make life as difficult as they could for the hosts....