ROBINS CRASH OUT TO COMMON IN 10 GOAL THRILLER
Ten goals, one red card and a penalty shoot out were packed into an extraordinary couple of hours at the Beacon as Hassocks exited the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup to Little Common.
This was the first meeting between those two sides since the 1994-95 season and it managed to pack 18 seasons worth of entertainment into 120 breathtaking minutes.
By that point, still nothing could separate the sides with the scores locked at 5-5. Common then proved to be superior from 12 yards, scoring all four of their required penalties to become the latest in a growing list of Division Two sides to have eliminated Hassocks from knockout competitions over the last five or so seasons.
Mickey Jewell made one change to the side that had lost 2-0 away at Deal Town in the FA Vase three days previously. Top scorer Phil Gault was available after missing the trip to Kent and he returned at the expense of Louis Pople who dropped down to the bench.
It was Gault’s strike partner Dan Smith who opened the scoring as early as the seventh minute after a totally dominant start to proceedings.
At that stage, Hassocks could’ve been forgiven for thinking a place in the third round of a competition they
reached the semi-finals of last season was a formality.
Common aren’t considered dark horses for a first ever promotion to the County League’s top flight for no reason however and they equalised on 22 minutes through Jared Lusted.
That seemed to shock Hassocks and their game went alarmingly to pieces as Common began to assert themselves. Common missed a whole host of chances before eventually taking the lead on 38 minutes in controversial circumstances.
Their captain Jerome Smith became the latest victim of the Jack and Jill Sniper as he went down under minimal contact in the box but the referee bought it, pointing to the spot and allowing Chris Cummings-Bart to convert the resulting penalty.
Going behind had a galvanising effect on Hassocks and within 30 seconds of the restart, they’d levelled things up as the Common goalkeeper spilled a James Westlake corner with Kieran O’Callaghan gleefully pouncing on the lose ball to fire home his third goal of the season.
The Robins retook the lead with the second half seven minutes old. Another Westlake delivery, this time a free kick, caused more panic in the Common box and although Hassocks captain Stuart Faith was on the scene and making a nuisance of himself, it will probably have to go down as an own goal.
In keeping with the breakneck nature of the tie, Common equalised again within five minutes when Lusted rounded Jack Simpson for his second of the evening.
O’Callaghan was dismissed for two bookable offences after that but Common couldn’t make their man advantage count in what remained of normal time, the tie finishing 3-3 to necessitate an additional 30 minutes.
Within eight minutes of those extras, Common had gone 5-3 ahead as the talented Cummings-Bart completed his hat-trick and Hassocks looked dead and buried.
Jewell’s answer was to breathe live back into his team with a double change as Elliott Butler and Louis Pople replaced wingers Westlake and Jamie Weston and it was Pople who scored a quick fire brace with two virtually identical goals to bring the scores level at 5-5.
That sent the game to penalties, where Smith missed Hassocks’ first penalty and Pople their last as Common triumphed 4-3 in the in the shootout.
Hassocks: Jack Simpson; Rob South, Ashley Marsh, Stuart Faith, Lee Bryant; James Westlake, Kieran O’Callaghan, Anthony Hibbert, Jamie Weston; Dan Smith, Phil Gault.
Subs: Spencer Slaughter (Hibbert 60), Louis Pople (Weston 98), Elliott Butler (Westlake 98).
Starman: Dan Smith missed a penalty but stayed busy up front and made chances.
