Crawley Down Gatwick took on high flying Newhaven on Saturday in the SCFL Premier Division and an insipid performance saw then slump to a disappointing 2-0 defeat. Newhaven are having a brilliant season. They came into the game second in the league table behind leaders Chichester City. Their win and Chichester’s draw at home to Saltdean means that Newhaven are now level at the top with Chichester and have a game in hand.

As in many other games involving the Dockers the contest revolved around one man. In their previous two games they won 4-0 against Langney Wanderers and 6-0 against Arundel. In both games’ prolific striker, Lee Robinson, scored four times. Almost inevitably he bagged another brace against the Anvils who are becoming sick of the sight of him. His two goals on Saturday move him on to a staggering 52 in 2018-2019 in all competitions and has now amassed a staggering 352 goals for Newhaven. That level of scoring makes Newhaven the envy of all clubs in the league.
This was the Anvils third game against Newhaven this season. In the league game In September they were two up in the first half but eventually lost 4-3 with Robinson scoring twice.
The Peter Bentley cup tie away on 16 October was another tight affair but Newhaven ran out 2-1 winners with Lee Robinson scoring both.
On Saturday the Anvils departed somewhat from their normal attacking style and in deference to Newhaven and Lee Robinson they adopted a more conservative policy of containment. It worked reasonably well until the 40th minute despite, at times, some back to the wall defending.

The opener when it came was a wonder to behold with great hold up play by Lee Robinson before a clever one two was rounded off by a sublime simply unstoppable strike into the bottom corner. It was 1-0 to the visitors at half time.

The game was finished as a context only 5 minutes into the second period when a defensive lapse allowed Robinson a more mundane strike this time around.

The Anvils never gave up and battled to the end but in reality, it was a strangely passive and anaemic performance by the home side and a fairly routine win for the Dockers.

There is little doubt that if Lee Robinson stays fit Newhaven will challenge for top spot at the end of the season.

Final score Crawley Down Gatwick 0 Lee Robinson 2!

Team: Andy Greaves, Josh Martin, Billy Wraight (Josh Brown), Michael Spence (Ollie Broad), Blair Cooney, Marc Pelling, Harry Petty (Connor Baston), Michael Belli, Nick Sullivan, Oli Leslie, Michael Wood.
Unused substitutes: Sam Packham, Sonny Barton
MOM: Andy Greaves. Attn: 59