WICK WIN TO PUSH HASSOCKS INTO THE MIRE
If anybody was in any doubt that Hassocks are in a battle for Premier Division survival, then this 1-0 defeat at home to Wick hammered the point home.
Wick arrived at the Beacon without a win in five games, sitting second bottom in the table. This result saw them cut the gap to the Robins to just three points in the ridiculously congested lower half in which only five points now separate 13th and 19th.
Things don’t get any easier for Hassocks either. Their next four league games are against three of the top four in the division. Come mid January, they could be in real trouble.
Joe Grommett got the only goal of the game on the hour mark, finishing off a counter attacking move as Hassocks again conceded a goal from a passage of play that started out as their own attack.
That seems to have become nearly as much of a recurring theme this season as the Robins’ inability to defend set pieces and those two areas are obvious starting points for Mark Dalgleish and Phil Wickwar to look at as a base for dragging Hassocks out of the mire.
It was the talented Danny Simmonds who led Wick’s lighting quick turnover from defending to scoring. He’d only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes when he found Rob Hutchings whose cross was turned in by Grommett.
Goalmouth action was sparse in the first half, which was just as well given the heavy fog that encompassed the ground.
Although never serious enough to threaten the game, it did make spectating difficult, particularly when the action was taking place at the far end.
Wick goalkeeper Lewis Broughton made an excellent stop from a Phil Gault free kick while Grommett had a good chance on the stroke of half time but James Broadbent spread himself to save bravely at the striker’s feet.
Once Wick took the lead Hassocks seemed to lose their heads and all the good work they had done in possession in the first half went out of the window.
The advantage could have been doubled on a couple of occasions. There was a block on the line from Jordan Badger which looked suspiciously like a handball. It was the sort of decision that nine times out of 10 gets given but the Robins somehow got away with it.
They were then indebted to Broadbent for keeping them in the tie with 10 minutes remaining as he pulled off what was quite simply an extraordinary safe from point blank range from an Ash Harper header.
Hassocks did manage to carve out a couple more opportunities but they are really missing a cutting edge in front of goal currently, this making it a third game in a row without scoring. The returns of Nathan Miles and Michael Death really cannot come soon enough.
Wickwar admitted afterwards to being severely concerned about his sides current run of form, which now stretches to just three league wins in 17 games dating back to the heady days of August when they’d begun the campaign in flying fashion.
“We mustn’t panic but the players need to realise we are deep in it now. We’ve got to pull our fingers out, get some more points on the board and try and get away from the drop zone as it looks like any two of six or seven teams could go down.”
One thing that will help is the return of Spencer Slaughter. The popular midfielder was there to watch having recently returned from 10 months of travelling and he has put pen to paper.
Having been out of the game for so long, it will no doubt take Slaughter some time to get up to speed but he possesses the sort of battling qualities that are desperately needed if Hassocks are to get themselves out of their current predicament.
Hassocks: James Broadbent; Bradley Tighe, Luke Akehurst, Jordan Badger, Bradley Bant; Harry Mills; James Westlake, Lewis Westlake; Jamie Hillwood; Ben Bacon, Phil Gault
Subs: Liam Benson (used), Tom Barnes, George Galbraith-Gibbons, Radu Avram, Ben John (unused).
Starman: James Broadbent.
