HALLOWEEN HORROR SHOW AS HASSOCKS CRASH OUT OF CUP
In the space of one week, any hopes that Hassocks had of picking up silverware this season have gone up in smoke.
Seven days after a disappointing John O’Hara League Cup exit at the hands of Division Two Seaford Town, a catastrophic opening 20 minutes saw the Robins eliminated from the Sussex RUR Charity Cup with a 4-2 loss to Selsey.
It was apt that this game took place on Halloween as Hassocks’ defending was a real horror show. Selsey raced 3-0 ahead inside of 19 minutes to leave home supporters flummoxed, bewildered and tearing their hair out.
The Robins to their credit did pull it back to 3-2 in the second half but ultimately, that terrible start leaves them with only league points to play for over the course of the remaining seven months of the campaign.
Selsey flew out of the traps to blow Hassocks away. They took the lead with six minutes played when Ross Woolf was given far too much space in the box and his shot took a big deflection off Ashley Marsh to send Joel Harding the wrong way.
Hassocks had a good chance to level things up shortly afterwards when Selsey goalkeeper Ross McClelland was adjudged to have handled a back pass on the edge of the six yard box. Taking such opportunities from close range is notoriously difficult and Anthony Hibbert’s effort was charged down by the wall.
Gerald Joseph was an impressive combination of power and pace and he doubled the advantage on 18 minutes. Woolf’s cross caused issues for Harding, the normally reliable Hassocks goalkeeper misjudging the flight of the ball with Joseph heading home at the back post.
Less than 60 seconds later and Selsey made it three. Hassocks were sloppy with possession from kick off, gifting the Blues the ball and they managed to quickly play in Joseph who coolly lobbed Harding for his second of the afternoon.
The Selsey striker nearly had a five minute hat-trick when another good cross came in but this time his header was marginally over the bar. Hassocks looked shellshocked and failed to trouble the Selsey defence or visiting goalkeeper McClelland once.
Whatever Dave John said at half time – and you can be sure it won’t have been repeatable – had the desired impact and the second half was a different story as Hassocks belatedly began to resemble something like the side who had been playing some excellent football prior to the previous week’s defeat to Seaford.
Phil Gault played in Neil Kane but his shot was kept out low down by McClelland. Dan Jacques then fired narrowly wide from 22 yards and Daley Clark hit a clean strike from distance which just whistled over the bar.
Gault left the action with a thigh problem with Logan Newington taking his place. Hassocks didn’t seem too badly effected by the loss of their talisman and Kane soon pulled one back, netting from close range on 58 minutes.
It was a well worked goal. Clark flicked on to Hibbert who played the perfect ball into an area of uncertainty for Kane to convert. Hibbert nearly had a goal of his own seconds later, his delightful chip leaving McClelland a spectator but the ball sailed agonisingly over the bar.
Hibbert did find his range four minutes later with an exquisite curling effort into the very top corner of McClelland’s goal from 25 yards. That made it 3-2 with half an hour still to play, rising hopes among the home faithful that Hassocks might force extra time from what had been a hopeless position.
For reasons that weren’t readily apparent, the Robins appeared to take their foot of the gas at that point, despite having Selsey on the ropes. The closest Hassocks came to finding an equaliser was when the industrious Terry Gacias looped an effort just over on his return from suspension.
With eight minutes remaining, the game was up as Selsey scored a killer fourth. Gacias was harshly adjudged to have fouled Stuart Soutar and from the resulting quick free kick, Joseph completed his hat-trick by drilling past Harding from the angle while Hassocks appealed in vein for offside.
John threw on Ian Simpson in place of Clark as an emergency striker for the final five minutes, an act of desperation that summed up Hassocks’ afternoon nicely. They did have a chance to make it 4-3 in injury time but Sol Bowra blasted well over from six yards as Hassocks’ interests in knockout competitions came to an end for another year.
Hassocks: Joel Harding; Dan Jacques, Sol Bowra, Ashley Marsh, Stuart Faith, Arni Kublickas; Terry Gacias, Daley Clark, Anthony Hibbert; Phil Gault, Neil Kane.
Subs: Logan Newington (Gault 55), Ian Simpson (Clark, 85), Richard Thompson, Jack Simpson (unused).
Starman: Difficult choice but goes to Terry Gacias.
