#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Pagham 2 Newhaven 1, SCFL Premier Division match #31, Saturday 14 th March 2026 DWLWLWLW.  No, its not the name of a small Welsh village (at least, I don’t think it is. It could be. I haven’t actually checked). It’s Newhaven’s league form since the start of 2026. A run of inconsistency that has all but ended our play-off hopes after a stronger than expected first half of the season. We made the long trip to Pagham on Saturday afternoon, hoping we could make it back-to-back league victories for the first time in 2026. Unfortunately, our wait for consecutive victories will have to continue for a while longer, as this match perfectly encapsulated in microcosm the inconsistency that has hampered us over the last few months. After a sluggish opening five minutes, in which Pagham went close to scoring only for Rudi Jones to clear off the line, the Dockers took the lead from practically their first attack when we were awarded a penalty for handball after good work from Teddy Wood d...

  Newhaven 3 Lancing 0, SCFL Premier Division match #30, Saturday 28th February 2026 It says much about the Docker’s current form that since the turn of the year (cup-games aside) we haven’t yet managed to win back-to-back games. The flip-side of that, though, is that we haven’t lost two on the spin either. So having lost last weekend, we were due a win this weekend, right? (Or a draw at the very least). With bottom-placed Lancing the visitors to Fort Road, confidence was high that we’d once again be able to bounce back from defeat last weekend. However, many of the Fort Road faithful who have followed Newhaven for a few seasons or more will have been only too aware that we’re not adverse to slipping on the odd banana skin when it comes to facing struggling teams. Nothing would be taken for granted. Having failed to score in their past four matches, Lancing have signed a few new players in recent weeks to try and assist in their struggles in front of goal. After 20 minu...

Newhaven 1 Eastbourne United 2, SCFL Premier Division match #29, Saturday 21 st February 2026 Consistency has been a bit of an issue for the Dockers this season. Throughout the campaign, good performances have been interspersed with some not so good ones; brilliant performances with atrocious ones. It’s to be expected given the youthful nature of the current Newhaven squad, although it doesn’t make it any less frustrating… for players, managers and fans alike. Having been really good at Bexhill a week ago – the final scoreline certainly didn’t reflect our dominance (particularly in the first-half) – we welcomed a bang in-form Eastbourne United to Fort Road on Saturday.  United are a team we’ve struggled for results against in recent seasons, and with them on a run of 10 points from their last four games (with 19 goals scored) we knew we’d need to have one of our very good weeks to get something from this game. Perhaps had Eastbourne United’s debutant keeper not brilliantly...

Bexhill United 1 Newhaven 2, SCFL Premier Division match #28, Saturday 14 th February 2026 The less said about Newhaven’s last match the better… So with that swiftly covered, we move on to yesterday’s match away to Bexhill where we were looking for a reaction (not the first time I've written those words this season). With Bexhill firmly ensconced in mid-table, and on a mixed run of form not all that dissimilar to our own, it was hard to predict the outcome of this game. Especially given our inconsistent record at the Polegrove. A change of shape along with a couple of new arrivals further accentuated the feeling that this was a game in which anything could happen. And after just 30-seconds something did happen. Bexhill’s number five, who it’s fair to say will enjoy more productive halves during his career, made a complete hash of a routine pass/clearance, allowing Lee Robinson to race in behind and fire the Dockers in front. The fast-start galvanised Newhaven and really ...

Newhaven 4 Wick 0, SCFL Premier Division match #26, Saturday 31 st January 2026 The Dockers hosted Wick on Saturday, hoping to maintain their record of following a disappointing performance and result with a good one. With Wick occupying the lower mid-table reaches of the division – not going up and in no real danger of going down – it was a good opportunity on paper for us to bounce back. After all, on the whole this season, we have been fairly good at getting results against teams in the bottom-half. And after a blistering opening 20-minute salvo on Saturday, it was clear (or at least as clear as it can be where we’re concerned) that we’d be bouncing back from a poor performance in the best possible way yet again. Newhaven were 2-0 up inside ten minutes. First Lee Robinson took full advantage of a misjudgement in the Wick defence to finish stylishly across goal, before Ezra Roeg doubled our lead from the penalty spot. Ryan Blunt had already gone close to adding a second mo...

Newhaven 1 Guernsey 5, SCFL Premier Division match #25, Saturday 24 th January 2026 I think it’s fair to say that Guernsey have not exactly been our favourite team to play this season. Having been soundly beaten over there back in September (a game I wasn’t at so can’t possibly comment on) it was hoped that Saturday’s reverse fixture would give us the opportunity to hopefully gain at least a modicum of revenge. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. And, in fairness, it never really looked likely to, as the Dockers endured an off-day against a very good side who made them pay. From the outset, Guernsey just seemed more alert, switched on; playing at a high-tempo that we were, for whatever reason, simply unable to match. By the time the visitors opened the scoring in the 15 th minute, they’d already missed a couple of chances and had a goal chalked off for handball, courtesy of the assistant who spotted an offence that, of everyone present in Fort Road, only the ref appeared to mi...

Godalming Town 1 Newhaven 7, Peter Bentley Cup Quarter-Final, Tuesday 20 th January 2026 Newhaven made a long Tuesday night away trip to Surrey last night, to take on Godalming Town in the quarter-finals of the Peter Bentley Cup. With Godalming currently sitting top of SCFL Division 1, having lost just once in the league to date (and that defeat coming way back in October), all the signs pointed to this being a hugely tricky tie. Our route through to another semi-final in a competition that’s been kind to us in recent years was far from a formality. Ultimately, though, it was only the weather that really came close to halting our progress. With the heavens having well and truly opened shortly before kick-off, and the game played in a non-stop torrent of torrential rain, it was something of a minor miracle that this game managed to reach its conclusion. The as ever loyal Dockers contingent that made the long trip to Surrey were certainly glad it did. After a fairly even start...