ROBINS END 11 GAME WINLESS RUN TO PROGRESS PAST BEARS IN FA VASE
Forgetting their league woes for 90 minutes, Hassocks banked £800 in FA Vase prize money and a first win in 11 matches by defeating fellow Sussex County Division One side Broadbridge Heath 2-1 at the Beacon.
Injuries and player departures have been acutely felt since the Robins’ first – and before this only – victory of the campaign away at Shoreham back in August.
It has been a long seven-and-a-half weeks. Dave John will now be hoping that safe progress to a first round home tie with Corinthian is the result to belatedly kick start his side’s season.
Hassocks welcomed back Ashley Marsh, Dan Jacques, Dan Stokes, Nathan Miles and Phil Johnson. The boost provided by five first choice players returning at once was there for all to see.
John has also been busy on the transfer front. Bradley Bant has arrived from East Grinstead Town and he looked neat and tidy in midfield on an encouraging Hassocks debut.
Given the struggles the Robins have had in selection this season, home connections would have had sympathy with the situation facing Broadbridge Heath.
The Bears arrived without a recognised goalkeeper. All four of their registered shot stoppers were either injured or unavailable, meaning that defender Andy Howard had to take on the thankless task of donning the gloves.
Hassocks too have suffered in that department since losing Jack Simpson to injury. Sam Brock, youth team number one Josh Green and the veteran Phil Wickwar have all deputised with varying degrees of success.
Simpson remains a few weeks away from recovering from the shoulder problem he picked up in the August Bank Holiday Monday defeat at Newhaven.
It was Brock who maintained the shirt from Tuesday night’s Sussex RUR Charity Cup defeat to Eastbourne Town. That proved to be a good decision on the part of John, with Brock making two vital saves early in the second half.
The Robins took the lead with only five minutes played. Johnson raced onto a through ball from his strike partner Miles and bored down on Howard to convert from close range.
It became something of an attritional first half after that with chances few and far between. Merv Bhujun came closest to an equaliser for Heath. His goal bound header looked like it would cause issues for Brock until Marsh did brilliantly to deflect it onto the post.
Hassocks doubled their advantage deep into injury time with virtually the last kick of the half. Johnson used his pace to pose more questions of the Bears defence. When he was brought down in the box, Nick Pitcher confidently smashed home the resulting penalty with aplomb.
Heath came flying out the traps after the break, resulting in those two Brock interventions. Both came from efforts by Jake Legrange.
Hassocks then should have been home and dry when a slip in the Bears backline allowed Miles and Johnson the chance to break through.
The deadly duo were unusually sloppy on this occasion, presenting Howard with the opportunity to advance from his line and snuff out the danger as if he were a seasoned goalkeeper rather than a square peg in a round hole.
Johnson and Miles squandering that opportunity nearly came back to haunt Hassocks when Sav Bidgood was left with a free header from no more than four yards out. Fortunately for the Robins, Bidgood produced an astonishing miss to hit the underside of the bar.
Bidgood went onto make up for that shocker with a crisp finish from the edge of the box through a crowd of players which made it 2-1 with 10 minutes remaining.
That set up a tense finale. Heath threw everything they had at Hassocks. Not helping the stress levels of home fans, the Robins responded by dropping deeper and deeper to invite more pressure.
Heath hit the bar again. They then won a corner in the dying seconds, which Howard was waved forward for. And it looked like Howard had provided a fairy tale finish when he won the header, only for it to be hacked off the line by Hassocks substitute Mark Price.
The following full time whistle was greeted with understandable excitement. It was a much required and battling win for Hassocks. They will need more of these in the coming weeks.
Hassocks: Sam Brock; Dan Jacques, Nick Pitcher, Alex Gathern, Ashley Marsh; Dan Stokes, Bradley Bant, Matt Robbins, George Brown; Phil Johnson, Nathan Miles.
Subs: Aaron Czech, Mark Price, Tom Davess (used), Jake Booth, Phil Wickwar (unused).
