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Newhaven FC v Roffey FC in the SCFL Premier League at Bartholomew Way |
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The Dockers are back at the theatre of 🌳🌳🌳 trees 🌳🌳🌳 in West Sussex to face the Boars 🐗. We were here 4 weeks ago but the match was postponed at short notice due to a waterlogged pitch. The pitch looks OK tonight so we are hoping for a good game tonight. There is a lit up bar 💡💡💡in the entrance. Very welcoming. The Dockers are in rubbish form and are 11th in the league. They lost on Saturday to Little Common for whom it was their first win of the season. Their opponents, the Boars, are in 7th after back to back wins. They are certainly going to be a tough test for the depleted Dockers. Bussy has retired so Josh James is in goal. Reedy and Bailey are the fullbacks. There are 2 new faces in the line up, Regan Clarke-Salter and Kwabena (Kwabs) Osei. The rest of the gang is here. Blunty, Tom, Vickers, Lee and cal Edwards. Also up front is Alfie Rogers who has returned from Steyning. What a sight for sore eyes he is, always puts in a great shift and is a massive presence in the up front. Welcome back. A few regular names are out for a while including Josh Tuck (illness), Billy Barker (broken foot) and Robbie Keith (unknown). Hope they are all doing OK and we see them back soon. This is our first time at Roffey but we have seen the Boars at Fort Road when we beat them 11-0. They were relegated that season and have just come back up and are doing better this season. Hopefully we get a goal or two in the right end but are certainly expecting to ship a few in the wrong end.
The Dockers are pressing from the start and Cal’s shot is saved on 3. Roffey are starting to build into the game. There are a few chances for both sides but it’s not great football. Lee gets through the defence. Alfie is offside and runs the other way leaving Lee to round the keeper and slot into the net on 35 ⚽. 1-0. Roffey nearly equalise straight away but Reedy is injured blocking the shot so has to go off on 41. He is replaced by Luca Page. The Dockers make it 2-0 as Bailie heads in a Cal Edwards corner on 45+5 ⚽. The half comes to an end at 45+15 due to a number of lenghty injuries to Roffey players. The Dockers are 2 goals up, largely against the run of play.
The Dockers get in the first shot. It’s from Tom Vickers. It’s not long before he is subbed off to be replaced by O’Halloran on 65. The ref has a funny turn on 66 and books Cal for kicking the ball away missing the fact that everyone has been doing it all game. The Boars are quite dominant now, pushing to get back into the game. They succeed with 10 minutes left on the clock scoring from close range. Lee gets a chance to restore the advantage but it’s saved. Alfie hits the resulting loose ball just over. Was that a foul on Lee? A few on the pitch and a few beside it think it should be a penalty. Ref not impressed. The Boars level the score with a good shot from outside the box on 85. Robbo is through to score the winner but he gets just too much on it and it goes just over. You can see how gutted ( and knackered ) he is. Some shift he’s putting in. We get one last chance from Cal on 90+4. It’s a bit hopeful but not beyond his skills. He doesn’t manage to keep the ball down and it goes well over. The end. 2-2..
It wasn’t the game of 2 halves that the scoreline suggests. The Dockers goals were very much against the run of play. But score they did. They were never going to keep a clean sheet though. A shame they couldn't get a late winner. There were some tired legs at the end after they had put in a great shift. Those include Lee, Alfie, Blunty and Cal. There was a scarey amount of injury time in the first half. We hope the player who was helped back to the dressing room at half time by his teammates is OK. The ‘Theatre of Tree’ is a lovely ground with an outdoor bar area. The surrounding trees were swallowing up the match balls with bags of balls being available behind the goals to keep the game flowing. Hope to see a few more familiar faces soon as the Dockers form is so poor at the moment. It's seems like a long time since that pre-season winning run. A cup game next week so let's keep everything crossed for a bit of a cup run.
POTM: Captain Lee (big) Robinson gets the award🏅. Never stopped trying to make chances right to the end.
The ref probably had worse games. Everyone moaning is always a good sign.
The Scran’O’meter registered a sugary 7/10 for the hot chocolate.
See you soon.
Love Tranmerekat 🐾
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| Treemendous here under the lights |
