Tranmerekat on Tour: YM Does It Always Rain On Me?

Newhaven FC away to Horsham YMCA in the FA Cup Extra-Preliminary round at the Herbert Direct Stadium

Newhaven FC away to Horsham YMCA in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round at the Herbert Direct Stadium The FA Cup starts here with the Dockers visit the YM at Gorings Mead with just 6 rounds to go to reach the first round proper. It's a nice ground surrounded by tall trees and we're in the main stand sitting on seats that came from the Withdean Stadium. Last time we sat on these was to watch Tranmere lose to Brighton. Hoping for a better result today and a the forecast is for a bit less rain. We've got raffle tickets so will need to keep and ear👂🏻 out and fingers crossed 🤞🏻at half-time. It's a mixed up line up and we're not quite sure who is playing where. Hope they know what they are doing. Bussy we know about the backline consists of Billy and Ash Wadhams with Max and maybe Tom in the middle. Or it could be Joe Summerbell and tom in the 6. Maybe they don't know either. Charlie Curran is on the left wing and it might be Koby or Warwick on the right. Lee and Jake are up front. Bailey, Shonk and Luca are on the bench. Don't recognise any of the YM players. The pitch seems very short and wide but at least the grass has been cut. There is a bit of a slope in places but it's better than many. The YM won their first game against Little Common 5-0 which put them top of the league which will fill them with confidence. The Dockers beat the Varndeanians 2-1 at Fort Road so no big statement to start the season. Perhaps they peaked in pre-season as they won all 6 games. Let's see how it goes.

The YM are on it from the start. Very intense and aggressive. The first chance goes to teg Dockers though as Tom heads just over. It's the hosts who are first on the score sheet as a low cross is deflected in off a dockers leg on 8. A goal down, the Dockers need to settle and get a grip on the game. They don't and it's 2-0 after 14 minutes. Important third goal, etc, etc. The YM are denied it as they head just over on 18. The first sub of the day is the injured Charlie Curran who was hurt in a "50-50" tackle a few minutes ago. No one seems to fill Charlie's role of the left as his replacement, Reedy, goes on the right wing. Looks like Ash has the left wing to himself. That's a lot of space to fill. Bussy jumps to punch a ball clear at the edge of the box and is clattered into by a YM striker. He goes down badly, not m moving and is soon surrounded by support staff. He is down for about 15 minutes before he gets up and is applauded as he is helped off the pitch. He is walking and conscious which is good but if it was serious he would be fighting them off to get back in goal. Hope he is OK. Get well soon Bussy. The replacement keeper is Roman Chiosa who we have seen before. He was around for pre-season but also playing the Whitehawk cup win a couple of seasons ago. Big performance needed from him today as he could have a busy afternoon that could start to look like a rugby score if the Dockers don't get it together. A big sigh of relief is breathed as the whistle goes for the break and the Dockers can get a stern talking to🗯.

Winner, winner, tofu dinner. We won a tub of celebrations in the half-time raffle. As tempting as it to spend the 2nd half in the car eating them. it's time to return to the torment.

A sub for the Dockers at half-time with Joss O'Halloran replacing Ash at left back. It's still a struggle for the Dockers but the important 3rd goal could change the game. The battle against the ref takes on a new twist as Max Vardy is booked for an alleged foul off the ball. The ref didn't see as he was 15 yards away watching the play. So how he could give a yellow card is anybody's guess. Answers on a postcard to wedontknowwhatweredoing@thefa.com. Anyway, a freekick it is. It's taken 7 or 8 yards forward of where the alleged foul may or may not have taken place. It's curled into the box and ends up in the back of the Dockers net on 56. The ref chalks up his first assist. The Dockers first "shot" of target comes from Tom who shoots from range after a storming run up the pitch. It's tame and easily saved on 60. An attacking change is made a Vardy is replaced by Luca who goes on the left. The hosts are still dominating and score their fourth on 70. Is it an OG off the keeper? Who cares to be honest. Keepers not going to claim it. The Dockers defence is still all over the place. There is no cover from the mid-field either. It certainly isn't inspiring confidence in Roman who looks nervous in goal. The YM striker misses an open goal on 74. How did he put that wide. It's 5-0 on 40 from a great volley. Work rate and team work has made the difference but at last a little bit of quality. Shame it's for the wrong team. The Dockers finally manage to string together a couple of passes as Billy and Luca combine down the left wing. A decent cross to Shonk who scores the late consolation on 88⚽. It's a bit too late for a fight back now lads. The YM miss again on 90+1 with almost the last kick of the game. Glad that's all over.

What a horror show that was. The Dockers were so good in pre-season but now seems to have forgotten all that training and who their new team mates are. This should have been a tight game between two good teams but the Dockers chose otherwise. The mid field and defence were non-existent. When you being ripped to bits that the back yet continue to pass out from the back was the cause of some real nail biting moments. A lot of work to do before Tuesday with the first away league game at Crawley Down. That's enough moaning for now. Congratulations to the YM and good luck n the next round of the FA cup. That energy and aggression could carry them far.

POTM: One player that really put in a shift was Billy. Also played a big part in the only goal. Well done 🏅.

The ref had a bit of a shocker too and the injuries may not have happened had he got a grip early on. The aggression of the YM crossed the line at times and the ref turned a blind eye to what was not far from judo at times. Though the tackle on Bussy was an easy yellow as there was no attempt to jump to play the ball yet the jumping Bussy got upended by the player going under him. The ref didn't even think it was a foul and had to give a dropped ball as he had let play to continue with the keeper unconscious on the floor. And the first of only 2 yellows was for an alleged tackle that he didn't see. It can't have been giving for stopping an attacking opportunity because he did nothing about those later on in the game. So what was it for? He didn't know because he was miles away watching the player with the ball. We should have kept quiet about not be able to moan about the refs as they were all acting like grown ups. It seems that there a still a few opinionated "Tories" out there to let us have a good moan every now and then. Just hope it's not too often.

The Dockers are back to concentrating on the league. And the 3 other cups. See you somewhere soon.

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