ROBINS STILL UNBEATEN BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD MORE FROM TALENTED TYE
Talented Peacehaven & Telscombe posed the sternest test yet of the Mickey Jewell era at the Beacon on Tuesday night.
A third successive 1-1 draw preserved Hassocks’ unbeaten start under their new manager but the Robins will surely have been disappointed not to earn all three points.
Hassocks were superb in the first half and with a little more composure, they could have been out of sight rather than having a mere one goal lead provided by Sam Jeremiah.
Peacehaven came roaring back in the second half, as you would expect from a squad packed with some of the best talents in the County League who will surely be challenging for the title come the end of the campaign.
And despite their quality, the visitors still needed a hugely contentious penalty which left Jewell fuming to claim their share of the points.
One of the most notable aspects of the campaign so far has been the way in which Jewell rotates his players and there were several changes again from the side who drew with Arundel at the weekend.
The most intriguing came at right back, where 18-year-old Stuart Brown made his full debut in place of Luke Akehurst.
Brown won the Robins’ Young Player of the Season award last year and is highly thought of by Jewell, who has been keen to involve him in the first team despite the influx of new arrivals to the Beacon.
There was also a change in goal, where the injured Mike Abbott was replaced by Jack Simpson. Simpson was making his first appearance of the season but with his weekend cricketing commitments now all-but complete, he will be available for the foreseeable future.
That will only strengthen Hassocks further, even if Abbott has hardly put a foot wrong since signing from Steyning Town.
Simpson had a relatively quiet evening despite the Tye dominating the possession count, the young Robins goalkeeper just fielding a couple of long range efforts and confidently collecting some crosses into his box.
Hassocks set their stall out early when Neil Kane forced a good save low down from Josh Heyburn and Brown embarked on a driving run and cross which was headed over by Jeremiah.
At the other end, a rare foray forward from Peacehaven saw Simpson save well from the influential Clive Snell.
The lead Hassocks deserved arrived on 32 minutes and it came via some brilliant football. Spencer Slaughter won possession in midfield and his pass found the industrious Lee Waterhouse out on the right.
Waterhouse is already becoming a fan favourite amongst the Hassocks faithful with his tricky wing play. He put that to good effect, dancing past his marker and whipping in an excellent cross for Jeremiah to glance past Heyburn at the far post.
Jeremiah nearly doubled the lead five minutes later, beating Heyburn but not Jamie Cullinane who performed heroics to clear off the line.
The Tye used half time to their advantage, regrouping and taking the game to Hassocks through lots of possession football.
They were helped slightly in that regard by the Robins, who were guilty of giving the ball away cheaply and perhaps sitting a little too deep.
Ashley Marsh and Phil Gault were both correctly booked. Slaughter looked like he would go the same way, escaping with just a talking to from referee Nigel Baker for a robust foul.
Jewell decided to save Slaughter from having Baker take his name when replacing the midfielder with Anthony Hibbert in a bid to turn the tide.
Unfortunately, Hibbert’s first task was to watch Mr Baker award the spot kick which levelled the game and looked soft in the extreme.
Andy Whittingham was adjudged to have nudged Snell, who sent Simpson the wrong way with the subsequent penalty.
Conceding an equaliser seemed to break Hassocks out of the defensive mood they had settled into and the final 25 minutes became much more of an even contest.
Peacehaven continued to do plenty of pressing but Simpson was untroubled and it was the Robins who had the better chances to win it.
Hibbert was inches wide with a trademark free kick curled towards the top corner which had Heyburn looking worried.
Cullinane then came to Peacehaven’s rescue again, this time denying Jeremiah with a superb last ditch block following a fine run from the Hassocks forward.
Peacehaven mustered one last chance in the final few minutes and it was no surprise to see Snell involved, his effort being well blocked by Simpson.
In the end, the spoils were shared. Hassocks remain undefeated under Jewell with another examination of their abilities to come when Combined Counties League outfit Farnham Town visit the Beacon in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Hassocks: Jack Simpson; Stuart Brown, Ashley Marsh, Kieran O’Callaghan, Andy Whittingham; Lee Waterhouse, Phil Gault, Spencer Slaughter, Richard Thompson; Sam Jeremiah; Neil Kane.
Subs: Anthony Hibbert (Slaughter 62), James Laing (Kane 72), Jamie Hillwood (Thompson 78), Luke Akehurst, Daley Clark (unused).
Starman: Kieran O’Callghan. An assured, confident performance at the heart of the Robins defence.
