Peacehaven and Telscombe 2 Newhaven 3, Southern Combination Football League Premier Division, Thursday 26th December 2019
I love Christmas Day. The food. The drink. The presents. The ever-so-slightly disappointing TV schedule… Everything about it.
But… let’s face it… it can be somewhat waring. Especially for those of us with young children. After a day stuck inside with two already-excited youngsters, only hyped up further by chocolate, chocolate and a bit more chocolate, by early evening you can find yourself going a bit stir crazy.
Thank goodness, then, for Boxing Day football. A chance to escape the madness for a couple of hours. Having spent the day with family last year, there was no chance of me getting to a game. With a free schedule this year, though, wifey had somewhat surprisingly agreed that I could go to a game.
There was, however, a small caveat. A small but rather annoying one. The kids would have to come with me.
‘They need the fresh air,” she reasoned.
‘Well if they do, you do too,” I countered, desperately searching for some assistance. ‘You come as well.’
Once again, to my surprise, she agreed. And so it was that on Boxing Day morning, as a family, we made our way two miles up the road to Peacehaven and Telscombe’s Piddinghoe Avenue ground to see them take on our hometown club Newhaven in the SCFL Premier. I see the formation of a brand-new Christmas tradition in the works…
Even before the weather intervened to cause further havoc with non-league schedules throughout the South East, I had decided that this would be the game I’d be attending. Its proximity to my house, early kick-off time (11am) and potential for a decent game (both sides went into the match on good form) made it a no-brainer.
From the lack of space in the car park, and in the surrounding roads, it was clear that the local derby had attracted a sizable crowd (over 400 as it turned out – not too shabby at all). Having paid £14 for the four of us to get in (we also got a folded A4 piece of paper with team sheets and league table included) we battled to find some space under the packed covered terracing, managing eventually to squeeze ourselves into a spot where the boys could see all the action.
And there was a lot of action to see.
It was Peacehaven who started this Boxing Day encounter the quickest. They flew at their opponents from the opening whistle and three early swings at the Dockers backline almost resulted in them landing the first blow.
First, Newhaven ‘keeper Jake Buss was forced into an early save to deny Josh Marshall. Then, from the resulting corner, Marcus Allen hit the post. A few minutes later, Buss had to be alert again to deny Allen.
Despite a few forays forward from Newhaven, the hosts were largely untroubled by the visitors in the opening stages. Therefore, when Peacehaven’s early pressure did lead to the first goal in the 20th minute, it came as little surprise to anyone watching. A Jake LeGrange cross from the right wasn’t dealt with by the Dockers defence, and Marshall just about managed to get enough contact on the ball to send it past the helpless Buss.
Newhaven were wobbling and for the next ten minutes it seemed as though it would only be a matter of time before Peacehaven doubled their lead. Then came the moment which changed the game.
Surprisingly, for a local derby, the opening half-hour had been fairly tame, with little in the way of feistiness on show. This all changed on 31 minutes, though. Three rather late tackles from Newhaven defenders on various home players (none of which actually made contact it has to be said) were all missed by the ref. A clearly angered Marshall then said something to the official which led to him being sin binned for ten minutes.
While I do actually like the idea of the sin bin, to me there is an obvious problem with it. Us spectators constantly see numerous players berating refs without receiving any punishment. Then, seemingly from out of nowhere, a player is suddenly sinbinned. Obviously, being unable to hear what was actually said makes it impossible to make a judgement call on whether it’s fair or not, but it does at times seem a tad unfair.
It didn’t take long for the Dockers to make their numerical advantage count. Within five minutes, Mo Diallo – who until this point, along with fellow forward Lee Robinson, had been largely anonymous – brilliantly spun his marker on the halfway line, and raced through on goal before finishing calmly past Alieu Secka.
Suddenly, the momentum was with the Dockers. Peacehaven were on the ropes. Even the reintroduction of Marshall just before the interval couldn’t stem the tide. The visitors were suddenly finding plenty of space out wide and getting behind the hosts backline at will. And, right on half-time Newhaven took the lead. The Peacehaven defence afforded Lee Robinson far too much time and space and while his effort was well saved by Secka, he could only palm it into the path of Diallo who gleefully smashed his side into the lead.
With the rain now pouring down, both teams struggled to get going at the start of the second-half. Then from out of nowhere, a low strike from Marshall about 20 yards out seemed to catch Buss flatfooted and ended up in the bottom corner of the net. 51 minutes played and the hosts were level.
Newhaven soon regained the upper hand. And it was Lee Robinson who ultimately delivered what turned out to be the game's knockout blow. Peacehaven switched off from a free-kick which Newhaven took quickly. Diallo worked his way into the area before shooting. For the second time in the match Secka could only parry his save into the path of an onrushing attacker, and Robinson was never going to miss.
The hosts could have been level within two minutes when Marshall struck the bar from a free-kick (see video below).
Peacehaven had three penalty shouts turned down in quick succession. One, for a handball against Diallo, would have been harsh. One, when Buss may have upended Bradley Bant looked 50/50 from where I was standing, while the third, a late tackle from Ian Robinson on Charlie Lambert looked as stonewall a penalty as you’ll see.
The hosts’ anger was intensified minutes later when Reilly Grant seemed to be knocked unconscious. Bafflingly, despite being an obvious head injury, the ref played on while Peacehaven attacked, only bringing the game to a halt just as Newhaven were about to break with a man advantage. While he was right to stop the game, surely it should have happened earlier as Grant was obviously in great discomfort (hope he’s okay, by the way).
Then, from the resulting handbags that followed, Peacehaven’s Jake Brocklebank was sinbinned – again, no one watching knows exactly what was said for this to be the outcome. According to a Twitter source, it was because he’d merely asked the ref to help an unconscious player. I can only hope that there was more to it that this, otherwise it seems extremely unjust.
With the hosts having already used all three subs, and with Grant unable to continue, this put Peacehaven down to nine players for ten of the 14 minutes that remained. It was fair to say the ref wasn’t instilling too much Christmas spirt in the Peacehaven players, fans and bench.
Unsurprisingly, Newhaven controlled this portion of the game and missed a couple of decent chances to secure the three points.
With the hosts back to ten men for the last few minutes, they did have a late chance to grab a point. A scramble in the Newhaven penalty area eventually fell to sub Mikey Lloyd, but his hooked effort was well claimed by Buss.
Ultimately, you have to feel that the two sin bins cost Peacehaven the game. They were so on top up until the point that Marshall was sinbinned in the first half that it was hard to see the Dockers getting a foothold the game. Yet, the visitors took full advantage of the situation and, once level, seemed to grow in confidence. It could have been anyone’s game from that point.
A really entertaining morning, though, and the perfect way to banish any Boxing Day hangover. Same time next year?
Happy New Year everyone!
Enjoyed this blog post? Then you may be interested in reading my kindle book which recounts my 2018/19 groundhopping journey (take a look, it’s only 99p).
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