Seaford Town 0 v 4 Newhaven

Tuesday 9th November 2021, Kick-off 19.45
Peter Bentley Challenge Cup 3rd Round

The Crouch, Seaford

Admission including Programme: £5.00

Attendance: 205

I paid my first visit of the season to The Crouch this evening, motivated by the prospect of a Southern Combination League cup tie between two local rivals, with just about 3 miles separating the two towns along the south coast.

This promised to be a tough assignment indeed for the home side, playing a division below the visitors. Seaford were in sixth place in Division One of the Southern Combination League, having won seven and drawn four of their 15 league games so far, whereas Newhaven were flying high in the Premier Division, in third place, following ten wins and five draws from their 17 league games. Seaford had form for giant killing feats against Premier Division opponents this season though, beating AFC Uckfield Town on penalties in the previous round of this competition, as well as Loxwood away in the Sussex Senior Cup and Peacehaven & Telscombe in the FA Vase. Newhaven defeated fellow Premier League outfit AFC Varndeanians 2-1 at home in the previous round of this competition.

Although kick-off was originally scheduled for 19.30, as normal for games at The Crouch, it was delayed until 19.48 this evening. And on a mild and dry evening, but with the ground damp after a day of drizzly rain, this turned out to be a rather one-sided encounter, with Newhaven, backed by a fair proportion of the crowd, always looking a class above their lower division opponents. And they took the lead on 16 minutes following a failed back pass by the Seaford right back, allowing James Waters to seize the ball and strike the ball towards goal, brushing the keeper as it found its way inside the far post. And on 27 minutes, Alfie Rogers struck a lovely free kick from just outside the penalty area in a central position, with the ball brushing off the right hand post before nestling into the net. The visitors came close to scoring a third two minutes later, when Henry Watson saw his powerful header come back off the left hand post. But the visitors did make it three, and probably game over, on 39 minutes, when a ball played low towards the outer left corner of the penalty area found Waters, and with the keeper coming right out to meet him, Waters struck the ball low past him and into an unguarded net.

The second half saw Seaford much improved, looking tighter as a unit, although perhaps this was helped with Newhaven seeming to have taken their foot off the gas with the game as good as won. The Seaford keeper Mike Platt was taking "sweeper keeper" to extreme levels, as he often seemed closer to the half way line than his own goal line, and Newhaven increasingly tried to exploit this with long range efforts, but did not quite manage to do so. But they did score their fourth on 68 minutes when a fierce shot from the edge of the area was spilled by the keeper, and former Seaford player Aaron Winser got to the loose ball first to tap home from a slight angle. There was to be no further damage inflicted on Seaford, as Newhaven comfortable gained the local bragging rights and progressed to the next round, where they will face either Crawley Down Gatwick or Steyning Town.