Brothers Lee and Ian Robinson are used to being in the shadow of elder sibling Jake, a former professional with Brighton among others, but are doing their bit to change that after firing Newhaven into The Emirates FA Cup preliminary round.
Lee, 27, and Ian, 20 ply their trade in the Southern Combination Premier Division, three tiers below Jake who plays for Hemel Hempstead Town after starting out at local club Brighton & Hove Albion before spells at Northampton Town and Whitehawk.
Eastbourne United v Newhaven
The Emirates FA Cup
Preliminary Round
3pm, Saturday 20 August 2016
The Oval, Eastbourne United
Winning clubs receive £1925 from prize fund
By Tom Bodell
Click here for fixtures
But Lee and Ian proved he is not the only footballer of note in the family by scoring in the same game for the first time last week to knock Rochester United out 4-1.
"It’s always been a running joke that if I ever did anything for Newhaven it would be in the local paper and say ‘brother of Jake’," said Lee, whose team travel to Eastbourne United on Saturday.
"But I don’t really mind that. I scored a hat-trick in a Sussex Charity Cup final last season, which was nice because that was my own thing."
The original tie against Rochester ended in a goalless draw. With the score at 1-1 in the replay, Lee netted five minutes into extra time after being set up by Ian. He added a second from the penalty spot before assisting his younger sibling for the fourth.
But there is unlikely to be a repeat when the Dockers face Eastbourne United in the next round on Saturday.
"The problem is Ian works for an estate agent every other Saturday so he can’t play every week," explained Lee.
"He came on and did well but won’t be able to play on Saturday.
"The gap is seven years so we’ve not really played together for teams. It was the usual thing of brothers playing together at the park."
They are still some way off the possibility of a meeting with Jake’s Hemel, who will enter in the second round qualifying, but just playing in the world’s original Cup competition means everything to Lee.
"I still see it as the biggest cup competition in England," he said.
"This is the first chance I’ve had to play in the cup because in the eight years I’ve been here the club haven’t entered it.
"This is the first time they’ve entered – it was 22 years ago we last played in it as a club.
"It’s not something you’re ever going to win but the prize money is nice for the club. As a player that doesn’t mean anything though, you just want to play in The FA Cup."
Emirates FA Cup history
It’s been 22 years since the Dockers even competed in The FA Cup. On that occasion they lost 6-0 to Canterbury United in the preliminary round. The furthest Newhaven have gone post-war is when they reached the second round qualifying, losing 6-1 to Eastbourne United in 1961 and 5-1 to Bognor Regis Town in 1957.
One to watch
The goals of Lee Robinson have made the headlines during his time at the Trafalgar Ground, but Callum Connor weighed in with 16 strikes in all competitions last season and scored in the 4-1 win over Rochester United in the extra preliminary round.
Did you know?
Lee Robinson elected to stay with Newhaven this season after hitting an incredible 57 goals for the Sussex side in all competitions last season. That tally included five hat-tricks, two of which came in consecutive games against Worthing United and St Francis Rangers.
The Prize
Eastbourne United and Newhaven are playing for £1,925 and a place in the first qualifying round to meet Ardley United or Highworth Town.
