NATHAN PROVES MILES TOO GOOD FOR LANCING TO HANDLE
Lancing away has never been the happiest of hunting grounds for Hassocks, but not even their Culver Road hoodoo could resist the sensational form of Nathan Miles.
The Robins striker netted a brilliant hat-trick as Mickey Jewell’s side won 3-1 against a Lancing outfit who have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks after a difficult start.
Hassocks have had no such issues. The victory consolidated second place, leaving the Robins five points behind County League leaders East Preston. More importantly, it showed that Hassocks are well and truly over their debacle of a performance in losing 5-2 at home to Ringmer last Saturday.
The Robins ended Dorking Wanderers’ unbeaten record in midweek when winning 2-1 at Westhumble Playing Fields before wrapping up this three points down on the south coast.
With Kieran O’Callaghan still sidelined by a toe injury, Nick Pitcher joined Ashley Marsh at the heart of the Hassocks defence and both had excellent games. So too did the industrial Dan Jacques out on the right wing, making his 100th senior appearance for the club.
Jacques marked the occasion by setting up Miles’ second goal and he would have been a shoe-in for a second successive man-of-the-match award were it not for Miles.
Both sides began the tie with intent, fashioning several opportunities. For Lancing, Bradley Bant volleyed over from 12 yards and Charlie Romain dragged a shot wide from an acute angle.
At the other end, Phil Gault volleyed wide. It was the start of one of those rare days for Gault where he was unable to make one of his chances stick on the scoreboard.
Hassocks took the lead with 28 minutes on the clock with a fine team goal which swept from one end to the other. Jack Simpson collected a Lancing corner and bowled the ball out to Gault on halfway.
He laid it back to Nathan Cooper who found Jamie Hillwood marauding down the left flank. Hillwood fed Miles on the edge of the box with Miles turning former Hassocks defender Matt Carruthers before unleashing a ferocious shot past James Shaw. It was a wonderful piece of skill and an excellent finish from Miles which drew applause from around the ground.
The crowd were soon clapping once again when Gault hit an audacious volley from Anthony Hibbert’s diagonal pass which crashed against the crossbar with Shaw helpless.
Miles tested Shaw just before the interval with the Lancing keeper doing well to gather at the second attempt. Shaw denied Gault with his feet early in the second period whilst a rare Lancing attack saw Pitcher bravely block a stinging effort from Romain.
Lancing began to dominate possession after that but without ever really doing much with it. They did deliver some dangerous crosses but Pitcher and Marsh were always in the right place at the right time to repel anything heading towards Simpson’s goal.
Gault headed over from six yards when totally unmarked with the goal at his mercy and Cooper was unlucky to flash a left footed effort just wide as Hassocks looked to double their lead.
They eventually managed to do so on 63 minutes with a goal that owed much to Jacques’ work rate and determination. The midfielder won the ball back in the centre of the pitch and found Miles with a forward pass. Miles did the rest, leaving Dave Sharman looking bamboozled by a trick and a turn before slotting the ball past the advancing Shaw.
Five minutes later and it was game over as Miles completed his treble. Hibbert’s dipping shot caused problems for Shaw who could only parry and Miles was on hand to react quickest and turn the loose ball home to make it 3-0.
To their credit, Lancing kept plugging away. The lively Ryan Waterman pulled one back with a fine header on 72 minutes and the hosts almost reduced the deficit further but substitute Michael Sims could only shoot wide.
Even as the game entered injury time, Miles was chasing back to tackle Matt Hardman on the edge of the Hassocks box. He then almost added a fourth, firing a shot against the post.
There was one further chance for Gault to net but he missed with the headed opportunity. Not that it mattered as it was job done for Hassocks, making it three wins out of three Division One games on the road so far this season.
Hassocks: Jack Simpson; Lee Bryant, Ashley Marsh, Nick Pitcher, Chris Maynard; Dan Jacques, Anthony Hibbert, Nathan Cooper, Jamie Hillwood; Nathan Miles, Phil Gault.
Subs: Jamie Ingham (Hillwood 60), Rob South (Bryant 69), Tom Davess (Maynard 69).
Starman: Nick Pitcher and Dan Jacques would have been in contention any other day, but Nathan Miles’s hat-trick and all round performance drew acclaim from around.
