#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Newhaven 1 Bexhill United 2, SCFL Premier Division match #33 Newhaven returned to Fort Road yesterday afternoon, hoping last week’s stalemate in Pagham was to prove only a small blip on their title aspirations. Bexhill United were the visitors on what would hopefully prove to be a day of both celebration and commemoration, with surviving members (and family representatives from those sadly passed) of the title-winning 1973/74 Newhaven squad in attendance to watch the current crop who are hoping to emulate their achievements. Regardless of the result and overall performance – which I will get to in a bit – it was amazing to see so many faces from the past back at Fort Road, and brilliant to see so many friends and teammates from half-a-century ago sharing the same turf once again; banter still very much in-tact.  Sometimes it’s important to remember that there are more things than just football matches that make for a successful community football club! Unfortunately, event...

Pagham 0 Newhaven 0, SCFL Premier Division match #32 A second lengthy away trip inside a few days saw Newhaven head west to Pagham yesterday afternoon, looking to consolidate their place at the top of the table. As with Tuesday night’s match against Lingfield, this was probably a fixture that looked easier on paper than it would prove to be in reality. The Lions had already emerged from Fort Road with a point earlier in the season – and were extremely unlucky not to have come away with more – and have garnered something of a reputation as being draw specialists. In fact, going into this encounter they had drawn four of the last five matches, and had ended level with their opponents on nine occasions this season – only Eastbourne United have drawn more. While at times Newhaven been slow starters this season, yesterday they looked to take their game to their hosts from the outset – maybe the game being delayed by half-an-hour following the late arrival of an official did us a fa...

Lingfield 1 Newhaven 3, SCFL Premier Division match #31 Newhaven travelled to Surrey on Tuesday night for a rearranged league fixture against Lingfield. A victory would see Newhaven leapfrog Steyning into top spot in the league – and provide a fitting way for co-managers Sean Breach and Andy Cook to celebrate a quite remarkable ten years at the helm. While Lingfield may be ensconced firmly in mid-table, it was a match no-one involved with the Dockers was taking lightly. Lingfield are one of only two teams to have beaten us in the league this season, having deservedly taken the three points in the reverse fixture at Fort Road back in September . And it was the Lingers who were quickest out of the blocks last night. They would - perhaps even should - have been ahead within three-minutes, only for a fine Jake Buss save to keep the scores level. On a bobbly pitch, it took the Dockers time to get to grips with the conditions as well as Lingfield’s direct style and pace, and it was t...

Newhaven 4 Loxwood 0, SCFL Premier Division match #30 For what seems to be the thirtieth time this season, the Dockers went into a match knowing that dropping points could ultimately prove fatal in what is becoming one of the closest SCFL Premier Division title races in years. While Loxwood’s lowly league position may have pointed towards a routine’s afternoon work, a closer look at some of their score-lines suggested that a rather trickier 90-minutes may lay ahead. Just last month, The Magpies had made current league leaders Steyning work extremely hard for a 1-0 victory, while in January they beat Eastbourne Town; a team that we were ourselves tonked by just by a few weeks ago. It’s fair to say that the first-half of this encounter won’t live long in the memory. It kicked-off… then just over 45-minutes later it came to an end. There’s not a lot more to say about it, to be honest. It happened. That was it. Thankfully, the second-half was rather more action-packed; especially ...

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...

Newhaven 0 Eastbourne Town 4, SCFL Premier Division match #28 Warning (for Newhaven players, managers and fans): This is not an upbeat read! I’ll be honest, it’s difficult to know where to start with this one. Anyone who was at Fort Road yesterday afternoon will have struggled to believe quite what they were seeing. It was a result – and performance – that not even the most pessimistic of Newhaven fans, or optimistic of Eastbourne Town fans, would have been expecting. In fairness, Town arrived at Fort Road in decent form, having won four consecutive league games, while they have lost only once in 90-minutesso far in 2024. Newhaven, of course, had only lost once in the league all season and, although they tasted defeat in the Peter Bentley Cup on Tuesday night, they probably could and should have been out-of-sight by half-time in that one, having missed a plethora of presentable opportunities. A plethora of presentable opportunities was something the Dockers could only dream abo...

Steyning 3 Newhaven 1, Peter Bentley Cup Quarter-Final It was never going to be easy. In fact, it could easily be argued that an away trip to Steyning was the hardest draw we could have got in our bid to defend the trophy we won back in May. Many people’s pre-season title favourites, Steyning have rediscovered their form in recent weeks following a slight blip back in November and December. Going into this match, they were on a run of six wins in a row and unbeaten in their last 12. The Shooting Field, though, was perhaps the venue of Newhaven’s best all-round performance this season, a brilliant 4-2 victory back in November . A reason to be hopeful? For much of the first-half last night it looked as though history was about to repeat itself. Playing with the wind at their backs, the Dockers were dominant for large swathes of the first-half, as Steyning struggled to get to grips with the visitors energy. That said, it was the Barrowmen who mustered the first shot on target ...