LACKLUSTRE HASSOCKS HIT FOR SIX AS CHI RUN RIOT
Hassocks went down to a fourth league defeat in succession and this one was easily the worst of the lot as they were hammered 6-1 away at Chichester City.
There was no hiding for the Robins after the game with Phil Wickwar saying, “Today we fell well below the standards you expect of anyone wearing a Hassocks shirt.”
Three goals in either half from Chi ensured the three points stayed at Oaklands Park. Hassocks could have no complaints about the manner of their defeat as they failed to play anywhere near the level that they are capable of.
Indeed, this was a far cry from their midweek efforts against Eastbourne Town. The Robins had more than matched their illustrious opponents on Tuesday night and looked well on course for a hugely impressive three points as they led 2-1 entering injury time.
Two sucker punch goals in the five additional minutes turned that fixture on its head as Town came from nowhere to win 3-1.
Perhaps this heavy defeat four days later was in part because Hassocks were still reeling from the painful manner of that defeat against Town – although there was no indication in the first 15 minutes against Chi of the battering that was to come.
In fact, there appeared to be little between the teams in those opening stages. Both sides seemed intent on keeping the ball and finding their feet in a ponderous start to proceedings.
That was the case until the 16th minute when Chi took the lead. Kieran Hartley was the scorer, slotting the ball home after good work from wide man Josh Clack.
Clack was again the architect of the second which arrived some five minutes later. Daniel Hegarty eventually claimed and was awarded the goal despite there being a strong case that it was actually an own goal from the returning Dan Jacques.
Chi made it 3-0 with 10 minutes of the first half remaining. There are no prizes on offer for guessing who teed it up, Clack again providing an excellent cross which Jimmy Wild volleyed home from close range.
New signing Michael Death replaced Ryan Collins at the break for his debut as Hassocks looked to try and salvage something from the game by switching to two up front, Death partnering record Robins scorer Phil Gault who was making the first appearance of his third spell with the club after transferring from Haywards Heath Town.
Any hopes that the most unlikely of comebacks could be on were dashed within a minute of the restart, Hassocks handballing in the box to give Ruben French the opportunity to smash home a penalty which he duly did for 4-0.
Then came one of the only positives of the day from a Robins point of view, Jonno Melia heading home for his third goal in five appearances since arriving from Lancing.
At 4-1 the sting went out of the game slightly which allowed Hassocks a bit of respite. They put together a couple of chances to pull another back, the best of which fell to Dan Stokes but the young midfielder’s effort whistled narrowly over.
Chi added gloss to the scoreline with two goals in the final quarter of an hour, Hartley netting his second of the game with a fine strike from the edge of the box that flew into the bottom left corner of George Willett’s goal before substitute Graham Bush rounded off the scoring seven minutes from time.
Hassocks: George Willett; Dan Jacques, Tom Barnes, Rowan Wallis, Luke Akehurst; Dan Stokes, Ryan Collins, Josh Hawkes, Bradley Bant, Jonno Melia; Phil Gault.
Subs: Michael Death (Collins), Bradley Tighe (Jacques), Jamie Hillwood (unused).
