HARDING HEROICS AND BRISTOW DOUBLE TAME THE LIONS
It may have been Simon Bristow’s excellent double strike that earned Hassocks their second win over Pagham in the space of three weeks, but it was only achieved after a superb performance from goalkeeper Joel Harding.
The Robins’ captain made a string of quality saves to deny the lively Pagham front line of Rob Wimble and Michael Frangou and earn his side three points in a hard fought encounter at Nyetimber Lane.
With Dave John’s options limited again by injury and unavailability, the Hassocks boss continued with Spencer Slaughter in the sweepers role while the bench consisted of three youth team players in Jamie Ingham, Phil Johnson and Arni Kublickas.
Hassocks could have taken an early lead but Phil Gault’s shot on the turn four minutes in went just wide. Harding them made two wonderful saves in quick succession, firstly diving full length to his right to deny a Frangou shot that took a deflection on route and then getting down low to his left to fingertip an effort from Wimble away for a corner.
The Robins had to defend four successive corners, with Pagham’s Jamie Angell eventually shooting high and wide from 12 yards to relieve the pressure on the Hassocks goal.
At the other end, Laurence Robinson’s pace caused problems and it was only his poor control when through on goal from an exquisite Gault pass that denied him a clear shooting chance.
There was an unfortunate and nasty clash between visiting defender Sean Dobbs and his goalkeeper Wes Hallett in that incident. As a result, Dobbs had to leave the field in a considerable amount of pain after colliding with his robust keeper.
Robinson was denied a penalty when he appeared to be bundled over in the box just before the interval as Hassocks finished the half strongly.
Any hopes that their domination could continue after the break were dashed when Pagham took the lead on 53 minutes. Dan Martin was allowed too much time to shoot from the edge of the box after Pete Lear missed his header and when Harding parried the effort, the alert Frangou was on hand to tap home.
Lear, Wimble and Martin were then all booked by referee Massey as a brawl erupted after Martin’s terrible challenge on Matt Robbins.
Normally a placid character, Lear reacted angrily to the challenge stating that the Pagham midfielder had left both his feet in on Robbins’ midriff.
Handbags ensured and the trio were the only ones to find their way into the referee’s notebook when in theory, about five or six players could have been carded. Martin for his part was very lucky to remain on the pitch.
That incident seemed to spur Hassocks on and they were soon level as Bristow seized on a miss kick by Kieron Urquhart to fire past Hallett with a fine left foot strike on the hour mark.
Harding then brilliantly denied Frangou with his feet and sensationally tipped away an effort from the same man at point blank range with the goal at his mercy.
It was not Frangou’s day and Harding once again saved from him, this time with a brave stop at the Pagham forward’s feet when the two adversaries found themselves in another one-on-one situation.
Harding’s heroics were rewarded when Hassocks netted their winner with just 10 minutes remaining. It came from a superb move down the right flank involving Mickey Turner, Robinson and Bristow which saw the little front man played in to beat Hallett with a well taken curling effort from 18 yards.
Bristow seems to enjoy playing against Pagham. His only previous goal in Hassocks colours since moving from Haywards Heath Town came in the Robins’ 2-1 win against the Lions at the Beacon 21 days ago.
Pagham looked almost resigned to their fate at that point, probably sensing that even if they could conjure up another opportunity, it would probably just be saved by Harding.
Hassocks tried to take advantage of that as they went in search of a third goal to kill the game off. Gault nearly provided it with a stunning volley from 22 yards which cannoned off the underside of the bar.
Had that of gone in, Gault would have had a Goal of the Season contender on his hands. As it was, the Robins had to settle for a 2-1 win, completing an excellent league double against a talented Pagham side.
Hassocks: Joel Harding; Mickey Turner, Pete Lear, Spencer Slaughter, Stuart Faith, Richard Thompson; Michael Bates, Phil Gault, Matt Robbins; Laurence Robinson, Simon Bristow.
Subs: Jamie Ingham, Phil Johnson, Arni Kublickas (unused).
Starman: Joel Harding for a wonderful display of goalkeeping, both for his superb shot stopping and handling in difficult conditions.
