GAULT GRABS LATE LEVELLER AGAINST THE BEARS
There was late drama at the Beacon as Phil Gault’s 89th minute strike ensured that Hassocks took a point against the 10 men of Broadbridge Heath.
If ever there was an advert for the well worn phrase of “game of two halves” then this was it. The Bears dominated the opening 45 minutes before Hassocks roared back into contention, eventually equalising late in the day through their talismanic top scorer.
Heath had looked totally dominant until the stroke of half time when they were reduced to 10 men thanks to a moment of stupidity from their captain Piers McDermott.
James Westlake was lying prone on the ground after being the victim of a nasty tackle and referee Jamie Collumbell was on the scene trying to restore a semblance of order when McDermott inexplicably kicked out at Westlake right in front of the official to earn a straight red card.
Quite what McDermott was thinking goodness knows, but his moment of madness went a long way to ruining Heath’s chances of picking up three points which would have closed their gap to the top five in the Premier Division table.
It allowed Hassocks to go into the break with a one man advantage and they used the half time team talk to adjust tactically, leading to the second 45 minutes resembling a siege on the the railway end of the ground.
But Heath don’t have the sixth best defensive record in the division by chance and they stood their ground manfully in spite of the fact that Hassocks ended the game with Gault, Nathan Miles, Jamie Hillwood, Ben Bacon and Michael Death on the pitch in a highly unusual front five.
Even with such an attacking threat coming at them, the visitors still managed to repel wave after wave of red shirts piling forward.
That was until Miles produced some trademark magic to unlock the defence and tee up Gault with just a minute of regulation time remaining.
It was simply brilliant from Miles as he foxtrotted his way down the right wing, eventually delivering a low cross for Gault to sweep home past the exasperated Michael Chester in the Bears goal.
But oh how different things might have been without that red card. Heath had taken the lead with 16 minutes played through Tim Martin, which was the least they deserved after a flying start to the game.
James Broadbent, as has so often been the case this season, was in excellent form along with Nick Pitcher who was making a rare start at the heart of the Hassocks defence in the absence of Jordan Badger and those two in particular were monumental in ensuring that it was only 1-0 at the break.
“A good point in the end,” was how Phil Wickwar described it. “Their league position suggests they are a good side and we certainly saw that in the first half.”
“We worked hard once they went down to 10, adjusted things a little tactically and were bold in throwing so many forwards on.”
“But it paid off in the end as we kept going until the final whistle to grab the equaliser. Given the circumstances and the way we played in the second half, it was perhaps a missed opportunity for a win.”
Hassocks: James Broadbent; Luke Akehurst, Nick Pitcher, Harry Mills, Ashley Marsh; Josh Hawkes; James Westlake, Lewis Westlake; Phil Gault; Jamie Hillwood, Nathan Miles.
Subs: Ben Bacon (Akehurst), Michael Death (Hawkes), Bradley Bant, Bradley Tighe, Liam Benson (unused).
Starman: Nick Pitcher.
