JEREMIAH STRIKES LATE TO EARN HASSOCKS A POINT AT PAGHAM
It may only be the first week of March, but Hassocks have just eight Sussex County League Division One matches remaining.
Their 30th league fixture came away at relegation battlers Pagham and resulted in their 11th draw of the season, a hard-fought point earned through Sam Jeremiah’s first goal for the club.
The Robins are on course to finish their season by mid-April having completed more games than any other team in the league. That is testament to the drainage work carried out at the Beacon last summer with the ground having lost hardly any fixtures to wet weather.
With other teams having games in hand, Hassocks can expect to slip steadily down the table from their current top 10 berth. Dave John won’t be too bothered by that; his aim as always is to reach the magical 40 point mark and the Robins now need only two more points to do that.
Pagham boss Dave Berkovitz no doubt views Hassocks’ comfortable position with envy. The Lions have struggled all year and although there has been an upturn in performances and results in recent weeks, they will need to find more if they are to extend their stay in the top flight to a fourth season.
Hassocks arrived in the west of the county missing numerous regulars. Joel Harding, Dan Jacques, Arni Kublickas, Pete Lear, Anthony Hibbert, Spencer Slaughter, Terry Gacias and Neil Kane were all among the absentees.
John made several intriguing selection decisions to fill the holes in his line up. Michael Bates came in for a rare start out-of-position at right wing back, Kieran O’Callaghan was pushed into central midfield and Jeremiah and young Nathan Miles formed a new-look strike partnership.
The unfamiliarity in the Hassocks side at least explained why they looked so disjointed. Pagham were equally slapdash and that made for a spectacle that was hard to watch at times, especially with a biting north wind making Nyetimber Lane a particularly uncomfortable place to be.
Daley Clark went close with a glancing header from a Bates cross with eight minutes played but that was it in terms of goalmouth action until the first half entered its final 10 when Ashley Marsh fouled Brett Forden in the box.
Hassocks could have no grumbles about the award of the spot kick although they did feel that referee James Slaney had missed a foul in the passage of play preceding the penalty, won after Ryan Cox did well to work the ball to Forden.
Forden himself took the penalty, striking Jack Simpson’s right hand post after sending the goalkeeper the wrong way. The Robins no doubt viewed that as poetic justice and Simpson then made an excellent save low down to his left to prevent the hapless Forden making amends for his miss from 12 yards.
Those two chances passing him by clearly got in the head of Forden and as the first half came to a close, he got involved in a spat with Marsh. The Hassocks captain to his credit wanted little to do with Forden’s tantrum, which only came to an end once Mr Slaney’s patience had been stretched far enough to result in a yellow card coming out for Forden.
The intriguing battle between Pagham eight and Hassocks four dominated the half time talk in the clubhouse and for the first eight minutes of the second half until an error from Marsh offered the hosts a welcome distraction.
Even as Marsh shaped up to attempt a back header to Simpson, it looked like a risky maneuverer and when it went awry with grim predictability, Marsh’s misery was compounded by the fact that it was Pagham’s top scorer Michael Frangou who latched onto the loose ball to clinically fire the Lions into the lead.
One wondered at that point where a Hassocks equaliser would arrive from, given that Clark’s header remained the only attempt of any note that the Robins had mustered. An inkling came three minutes after Frangou’s strike when Jeremiah conjured up a good run and a crisp shot that was just a little to close to Wes Hallett in the Pagham goal.
Jeremiah of course has previous at Nyetimber Lane. It was here that his goal deep into stoppage time on the final day of the 2006-07 season earned Hassocks’ local rivals St Francis Rangers their treasured Division One status.
Having spent a year travelling the world, John knows that it will take Jeremiah some time to rediscover the sharpness that made him a regular scorer during his time at Colwell Road. Match fitness may be lacking, but Jeremiah certainly hasn’t lost his knack for being in the right place at the right time as he proved with the leveller.
It arrived on 73 minutes, Bates and Miles combining neatly from a throw-in out on the right with Miles’ deep cross being headed in by Jeremiah arriving at the back post with perfect timing.
Two minutes later and Simpson had to stay big to deny Frangou from a one-on-one to ensure that honours remained even. There may have been 15 minutes left still at point but neither side managed to fashion another chance, a dull end to a dull encounter which left both sets of players relieved and disappointed with their points in equal measure.
Hassocks: Jack Simpson; Michael Bates, Sol Bowra, Ashley Marsh, Stuart Faith, Richard Thompson; Kieran O’Callaghan, Phil Gault, Daley Clark; Sam Jeremiah, Nathan Miles.
Subs: James Laing (Jeremiah 81), Ian Dawson, Ian Simpson (unused).
Starman: Skipper Marsh generally had a good game but ruled himself out with a couple of bad errors and so it goes to the ever-reliable Stuart Faith.
