#COYD - Come on You Dockers

Newhaven 1 Roffey 2, SCFL Premier Division match #9, Saturday 26 th September 2026 Having finally bounced back to winning ways in the league seven days ago, Newhaven faced a tricky trip to Roffey looking to keep that momentum going. Roffey are a team that many have tipped to battle for a play-off berth this season, and have started the season looking like a side hoping to live up to that billing. Now playing at Horsham FC (which is a personal shame as I loved the ‘Theatre of Trees'; although obviously Horsham’s ground isn’t too shabby, either), the Boars are a team with a burgeoning reputation for fast-flowing possession football. The Dockers, still engulfed in the midst of a seemingly never-ending injury crisis (one that would get even worse by the end of this game), knew they’d have to be at their battling best to get something from it. And, oh my, they were so close to doing so. Despite the hosts seeing plenty of the ball in the early stages, it was Newhaven who actua...

Newhaven 2 Forest Row 1, SCFL Premier Division match #8, Saturday 19 th September 2026 Having visited the league leaders last weekend, it was a home match against the team at the opposite end of the table which awaited the Dockers this time out. On the back of three consecutive league defeats, following a four-match unbeaten start to the season, Newhaven were desperately looking for three-points to get their season back on schedule. In theory, a home match against bottom side Forest Row – a side we’ve already beaten in the FA Cup this season – should have been the ideal match in which to rediscover some form. But in a case of what seems to happen quite often to us, the previously winless Row picked up their league win of the season on Monday night (having progressed in the FA Vase a week earlier), meaning they actually entered this match on a better run of form than we did. Nevertheless, it was Newhaven who made much of the early running, albeit without really dominating proce...

Eastbourne United 4 Newhaven 2, SCFL Premier Division match #7, Saturday 12 th September 2026 On the back of two league defeats, and a narrow cup victory over a lower division side, the last thing we needed right now was a trip to league leaders Eastbourne United. Bucking the trend of previous seasons, where United have been traditionally tight at the back but haven’t tended to score enough, this year they are simply flying, With 29 goals scored from their opening eight games (ten more that the division’s next highest scorers) this was always going to be a tough task for a Dockers side still dogged by injuries to key players. With many of a Newhaven persuasion fearing the worst, the Dockers actually made a strong start to the game, with both sides cancelling each other out in the early exchanges, The game’s opening goal arrived in the 24 th minutes and went the way of Newhaven.  Excellent work from Ryan Blunt down the left (which included another great advantage played by...

Westfield 3 Newhaven 4, Sussex Senior Cup First Round, Tuesday 8 th September 2026 Following two league defeats on the trot, Newhaven travelled to Westfield on Tuesday night for a match in the opening round of the Sussex Senior Cup. In need of a confidence-boosting win, the Dockers fielded a strong (although far from full-strength) starting line-up against their lower division opponents, who have made a consistently inconsistent start to the season; winning two, losing two and drawing two of their opening six matches. However, any Newhaven fans hoping for a comfortable night watching the team play their way back into some degree of form were to have their hopes swiftly dashed as Westfield made a strong start to the match. The hosts were ahead within five minutes, as Jonny Barnes-Galloway could only parry a fiercely struck shot, leaving George Murphy with the simple task of tapping home from close-range. Tyler Capon and Lee Robinson both missed tricky half-chances to equalise f...

Lancing 3 Newhaven 1, SCFL Premier Division Match #6, Saturday 5 th September 2026 Warning. Spoiler alert. This is not going to be the longest blog I’ve ever written. Nor is it going to be the most enjoyable. Not, that is, if you are of a Newhaven persuasion. The Dockers travelled to Lancing on Saturday keen to put Monday’s first league defeat of the season firmly behind them. We may have been beaten 5-1 by Haywards Heath on the Bank Holiday, but that defeat wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the scoreline may suggest. In fact, up until the final 25 minutes of that game, we’d been well in it, before it quickly unravelled late-on. With a (mostly) young Lancing team having only taken three points from their opening six matches, hopes were high that Newhaven could bounce quickly back to form with a morale-boosting win. Needless to say, that’s not what happened. There can be no denying that, to a man, the Dockers were miles off it on Saturday. Lancing simply looked hungrier th...

Newhaven 1 Haywards Heath 5, SCFL Premier Division Match #5, Monday 31 st August 2026 No one said it was going to be easy. After a packed opening month of the season, Newhaven hosted Haywards Heath on Bank Holiday Monday. With injuries already biting hard – Matt Gunn and Joe Radley-Martin both joined George McCarthy, Noah Hoffmann, Tyler Capon, Billy Oliver, and Lee Robinson to name but a few on the unavailable list for this fixture – it’s fair to say that a match against many people’s pre-season title favourites wasn’t exactly what the doctor ordered. (And we've being seeing a lot of the doctor!). True, Heath have their injury issues as well. But I don’t think it’s unfair to suggest that one of these team’s playing budgets may be better equipped to deal with such issues than the other. Nevertheless, the Dockers started this game fairly well. After an early penalty appeal was waved away, Max Vardy went close with a shot from the edge of the area that was well turned over...

Newhaven 1 Horsham YM 0, SCFL Premier Division match #4, Saturday 29 th August 2026 Newhaven kicked-off August Bank Holiday weekend with a home match against Horsham YM. Just a few weeks ago, this fixture was probably viewed as being one of the most challenging of our early league matches. YM were many people’s favourites for a play-off place at the very least, having reached the post season matches last season and then further strengthened during the summer. Come yesterday, though, no one knew quite what to expect from our visitors. A very early-season manager departure was followed by a player exodus, leaving YM to field a virtual team of kids in their past few games. A new manager appointment in the week brought with it a large influx of new signings in time for yesterday’s match. Staggeringly, after yesterday’s game YM have already used 51 players this season! We’re not even through the first month! Hence, no one knew quite what to expect from yesterday’s game! Especia...