#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Newhaven 1 Peacehaven 3; Eastbourne United 4 Newhaven 1; SCFL matches #20 and #21 It was a festive period to forget for the Dockers, as they endured two bad defeats in the space of just over 48 hours. First up on Boxing Day, the local derby brought with it a bumper crowd, with more than 740 people packing inside Fort Road.  What it didn’t bring with it, though, was the three points that Newhaven fans have become so accustomed to in this fixture over the past few years. It was an opening half-hour of few chances. Lee Robinson and Ryan Warwick (twice) sent efforts off target for the hosts – while a brilliant Billy Barker challenge thwarted a dangerous Peacehaven attack. Unfortunately, it also left Billy with a fractured tibia! Get well soon, Billy! With the match low on quality, the opening goal came completely out of the blue; but it’s doubtful you’ll witness a better strike this season. A stunning Mo Kahdum effort from way outside the area, swerved in the air before nestling ...

Bexhill United 2 Newhaven 1, SCFL Premier Division Match #19 Following last Saturday’s postponement at Horsham YMCA, Newhaven travelled east to Bexhill yesterday afternoon, looking to extend their winning run to five. Bexhill United, though, are themselves one of the division’s form teams, coming into the match with just one defeat in their last 11 games. On a bobbly uneven surface, this was never likely to be a game for the purists and after a dull opening 15 minutes, during which neither keeper was tested (or even cam close to being tested), a long dreary 90-minutes looked to be on the cards. Then, out of nowhere, the hosts took the lead. The Dockers carelessly gave possession away from their own throw-in, and one ball over the top found Jack Shonk – who, of course, had started the season at Newhaven, before returning to Bexhill – in acres of space. Shonk kept his composure to fire the Pirates in-front with the game’s very first attempt. It was a blow for Newhaven, but one ...

Wick 2 Newhaven 4, SCFL Premier Division match #18 The first in a run of four straight away games saw Newhaven head west to Wick yesterday afternoon, hoping to keep their recent upturn in form going. Yet doing so would be far from a formality. Newly-promoted Wick have more than held their own since their return to the SCFL top flight, sitting firmly in mid-table and holding pre-season title-favourites Haywards Heath to a draw in their last outing. While things have certainly settled down at Fort Road in the past few weeks following a tumultuous early few months that left fans having no idea as to what starting 11 would take to the field from week-to-week, new goalkeeper Jack Webb-Olley (son of club stalwart Chris Webb) became the 47 th different first team player used this season yesterday (and around the 20 th to have donned the gloves; okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but there’s certainly been a few). On a bobbly pitch typical of those seen the length and breadth of ...

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, ...

Lingfield 0 Newhaven 1, SCFL Premier Division match #16 The Dockers made the lengthy trip to, erm, Fort Road yesterday afternoon to take on Lingfield in what was classed as a home match for the Lingers. The nomadic visitors – or should that be hosts? This could get confusing – are without a ground of their own at present, as maintenance work is carried out at their ground, meaning this fixture was counted as a home fixture for them, despite being played in Newhaven. Got it? Good. With Lingfield hovering just outside the relegation zone, and boasting just two wins from their opening 15 games, in seasons gone by this would probably have been viewed as a home – away? – banker for the Dockers. However, this season is quite unlike recent ones, with injuries, transfer upheavals and various other factors meaning that you never quite know what type of performance to expect from the lads. Or even who the players in the team will be. Yesterday, new-signing Johnson Adesanya became the 45 ...

Roffey 2 Newhaven 2, SCFL Premier Division match #14 Newhaven travelled to Roffey last night for a rearranged league fixture, postponed a few weeks ago due to a waterlogged pitch. With the Dockers currently in a poor run of form, and coming off the back of disappointing consecutive losses against struggling Shoreham and Little Common, Roffey will have been confident of building on their own two-match league winning run. Newhaven’s starting 11 looked as strong as it had done for quite a while, with Callum Edwards back among the starters for the first time since injury, alongside the recently returned from Steyning Alfie Rogers and Ryan Blunt, playing back-to-back matches for just about the first time this season. Before we get to the game itself, I just have to say a quick word about Roffey’s ground which is absolutely lovely (admittedly, that’s a strange adjective with which to describe a football ground, but in this instance the cap certainly fits. The so-called Theatre of Tre...

Shoreham 1 Newhaven 0, SCFL Premier Division match #12 Newhaven reached another milestone during yesterday’s match away at Shoreham, as Ben Cheverton became the 41 st Docker to appear for the first team this season. Typical of how Newhaven’s season is going, Cheverton’s debut was somewhat fast-tracked when Tom Vickers pulled-up injured in the warm-up. It comes to something when the injury jinx is striking even before we make in on to the pitch! Losing a key player so close to kick-off wasn’t exactly ideal preparation. And the day failed to improve from there Shoreham went into the match having accumulated just nine points from their opening 12 games and having conceded 28 goals. Yet the disjointed Dockers only rarely looked like adding any damage to Shoreham's goal's against tally, as the visitors looked largely comfortable on route to what could prove to be three valuable points for them. After a scrappy start from both sides, Newhaven had the game’s first opportuni...