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Pulling Musselmen (from the shell)Newhaven FC v Shoreham FC in a friendly at Fort Road |
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Where are we and what's going on?
The Dockers ⚓ host the Musselmen 🦪 in the last pre-season friendly. It’s last season’s only relegated team because Lancing got a reprieve for some reason. We have been advised that they have improved and won all their pre-season games so far. That looks like a challenge for the Dockers today.
Last pre-season, we played Hailsham from SCFL Division 1 and won 10-0. Not expecting that sort of scoreline today but a continuation of the good performances would be very nice.
It’s Leo in goal. In front of him are Elliot and Max. Out wide and Rudy Jones and Dan Allen. The midfield are George McCarthy, Captain Blunt and Joe Radley Martin. Up front is Billy Oliver in his first start (hooray at last) with Dexter on the right and Ash on the left. Lee is injured (Achilles) so not in the squad. He did get badly tackled on the heel of his boot by the Golds so maybe it’s a result of that. We hope he is just resting for the first game back.
It’s a warm one today but the shade has just reached the stand so we won’t melt and more importantly nor will our chocolate.
This is the last of the free football. It’s been good value so far. And good fun. Hope it carries on like that. Let’s find out. Come on you Dockers.
Here we go..
The Dockers kick off and only have to wait until the 2nd minute until the first chance. It’s a good cross but Max heads just over.
Billy's determination wins a corner. It comes out to the edge of the box but Joe puts it into the Skate Park 🛹 on 6. Joe gets another shot on 8. It’s a good run from Ash to feed him in but Joe curls it just wide.
The Dockers are still dominating and camped out in the Musselman's third. Some great passing in the box ends up with Blunty who’s shot goes just over.
The Shoreham No. 5 appears to be mortally injured in a tackle. He gets some treatment and somehow seems to have survived.
The opening goal comes just a minute later. Blunty hits it from outside the box. Goal. ⚽ The keeper barely gets a chance to move. 1-0.
They are all having a go now. Ash makes a great run but his shot goes just wide.
There is a goalmouth scramble. We can’t see who taps it in the net but the offside flag goes up. It’s still 1-0 on 22.
We get a free kick in a dangerous area and it’s headed clear. Another free kick but someone has strayed offside. And it’s time for a hydration break and a quick team talk.
We think it’s a chance as there is a scramble in the visitors goalmouth. It’s cleared down the pitch. The Shoreham keeper comes out way too far and doesn’t get to the ball. One quick pass to Billy and he hits it at the empty net from over 30 yards. He thankfully hits the target on 29 ⚽. 2-0.
Just a minute later and the visitors keeper is all over the place again. He doesn’t get to the ball but Billy does. He is practically on the goal line facing the wrong way. A quick pass back to Joe and it’s 3-0 ⚽.
The Musselmen finally get a chance on 34. It’s an easy catch for Leo.
Max is the first player to get a yellow . He pulls a runner from behind so it seems fair.
The visitors can’t seem to keep the ball and Dan breaks down the right. A deep cross is met by Billy but he can’t get it on target. They go again and this time Billy’s shot is blocked.
Blunty gets ambushed at pace with the ball. There are 3 of them and 1 makes a horrible tackle. Somehow the physios fix him and he is back up to take the free kick. He doesn’t have to go off after treatment because there was a yellow for the culprit. The freekick is met by Billy but it skims off his head and goes just wide.
There are 2 more chances but the keeper saves from Blunty and Billy.
It’s still 3-0 to the Dockers at the halfway point.
There are a few changes. It’s a surprise to see Bussy replacing Leo in goal. Ezra is on to replace Dexter. He goes on the left wing and Ash drops to left back. Rudy is off for Tyler who goes to the right wing.
The Dockers are soon on the attack and get a corner on 47. Elliot gets a head on it. It’s goal bound when a defender gets a head to it but can’t get enough contact to change its trajectory ⚽ . 4-0.
The visitors get their best chance on 51. It’s a good strike on goal but Bussy proves he’s still got it. A great save. And he is back in the action straight away making a good block.
A great run from Dan down the right, finds Billy in the middle but it goes out for a corner. And repeat. Another cross from Dan to Billy goes out for a corner. This time Billy gets his head on it and it’s in the net on 59 ⚽. 5-0.
Bussy makes another good save from range to keep it a clean sheet so far.
There are some more changes on 63. Off go Joe, Billy and Ash. On comes Matt Gunn and 2 we don’t know yet.
Matt makes an impact straight away and heads it into the net from a corner on 65 ⚽. 6-0.
There is another hydration break and the ferry arrives on 69.
Shoreham haven’t given up and get their best chance yet. It takes a good diving save from Bussy to keep the ball out of the top corner of the net.
The Dockers are still pushing as well. Blunty makes a good run and shoots from inside the box. Keeper has no chance and Ryan gets his brace on 74⚽. 7-0.
It’s Captain Ryan’s last action as he is replaced and hands the armband to Tyler Capon.
Ezra make a good run down the left, cuts in along the touchline. There are options for a pass but he nutmegs the keeper instead on 76 ⚽. 8-0.
Ezra makes an impact again when he tries to do to much with the ball just outside the Docker box. He gives it away but Bussy is easily up to the save.
There is a scramble for the ball right on the Musselmen’s goal line. The ref judges that the player on the floor played the ball with his hand and gives a penalty. A handball denying a goal is usually a straight red so the ref is being generous here which is fair enough in the circumstances. Ezra does his usual and nearly busts the net for his brace on 86⚽. 9-0.
The visitor's last chance is a free kick which goes way over. Not their day today.
We are calling for a 10th goal but the whistle goes to end our hopes of double figures. 9-0 to the home team. A thrashing for the visitors. Better luck for the rest of the season.
And we think it’s all over…
A storming performance from the Dockers today. Lots of changes made it more chaotic but the outcome didn’t change much. Bussy was the busiest keeper in the 2nd half but he did what was needed.
A slightly different lineup again but it seemed to work. The Dockers style works and the defending was better. The first clean sheet of our season.
Does 9 goals reflect the performance? Maybe. It wasn’t clinical at times but was way too much for this opponent. They weren’t great. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t great fun.
So that’s the end of the pre-season. As ever, it’s been good. Now the Dockers need to carry that form into competitive football. It starts with Crawley Down, here, next Saturday. Will we be here? We hope so.
The Others Bits
POTM: With such a goal fest, it could easily go to an attacking player. But it’s a goalkeeper. Welcome back Bussy, Well done 🏅.
Officially Opinionated: Another good performance from all 3 tonight. No sign of the 5th official. We hope these performances carry on into the competitive fixtures as well.
The Seven Sisters arrived at 2:54. Nice timing Captain.
Programme Perusal: Hopefully, programmes will be back next week. Are we confident, no.
The Scran’O’meter finally got the recipe right with 1 sugar in the hot chocolate. Just right. Yum ☕.
See you soon.
Love Tranmerekat 🐾
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| Sunshine on Fort Road |
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| The Seven Sisters has arrived |
