CUP KINGS CHI HEAP MORE MISERY ON HASSOCKS
Cup specialists Chichester City bought their knockout form to the Beacon as they inflicted more misery on struggling Hassocks.
These are worrying times for the Robins. Only Littlehampton Town are below them in the Southern Combination League Premier Division table and this 4-0 defeat stretches their winless run to 11 weeks and 10 games.
The fixture list has played it’s part in Hassocks’ barren run of form with joint boss Phil Wickwar bemoaning the fact that his side have faced “the three best teams in the league in a row”, the Chi fixture coming after equally chastening encounters with Saltdean United and Haywards Heath Town.
It doesn’t get any easier either; if they want to avoid a club record of 11 games in senior football without a win, they need to beat second placed Eastbourne Town at home on Saturday.
To that end, there were at least some signs of encouragement against a Chi side who have excelled in knockout competitions so far this season.
They arrived buoyed by last week’s FA Vase win over Combined Counties League side Horley Town, which leaves them just three wins from a potential Wembley date. They also have a Peter Bentley League Cup semi and a Sussex RUR Charity Cup quarter final to look forward to.
In spite of the obvious quality of their visitors, all the while Hassocks had 11 men on the pitch they looked like a match for Chi.
Unfortunately, they only had their full quota for the opening 35 minutes, at which point Ashley Marsh added another interesting dismissal to his impressive collection.
Marsh was booked early on for a robust challenge on Scott Murfin and shortly after, the Robins skipper was needlessly shoved into the perimeter fencing by a Chi player as he chased down a ball.
Clearly aggrieved at not having been awarded a free kick, Marsh’s appeals to referee Conall Bartlett fell on deaf ears, during which Marsh ran in front of the Chi player attempting to take the throw. Mr Bartlett deemed that to be foul play, bought out the second yellow and that was the end of Marsh’s afternoon.
Hassocks were already 1-0 down by that point. Josh Clack had opened the scoring nine minutes earlier by slipping the ball past on rushing youth team goalkeeper Ben John after possession was surrendered in midfield.
But it was the Robins who had had the clearer chances before the red card as they played on the counter to good effect, Bradley Bant being guilty of squandering two opportunities he should have done better with and Will Broomfield lifting over Chi keeper Anthony Ender with the ball dropping just the wrong side of the post.
It’s been a stop-start first season at the Beacon so far for Broomfield and frustratingly it came to another halt again at half time through injury, Dan Stokes being introduced into midfield in his place.
The Robins held firm at the start of the second half and there was astonishment from the home crowd when Lorenzo Dolcetti got away with a blatant stamp on Spencer Slaughter.
One of Mr Bartlett’s assistants flagged the incident to the man in the middle’s attention but remarkably he didn’t deem the offence worthy of even a yellow.
Wickwar felt that the failure to dismiss Dolcetti was more of a turning point than Marsh’s red and to rub salt into the wounds, the Chi player went onto score the goal of the game with a fabulous long distance effort shortly after he should’ve been taking an early bath.
Hassocks abandoned their counter attacking strategy after that and threw on George Galbraith-Gibbons as they went two up front in a bold effort to wrestle something back from the game.
That only left acres of space for Chi to exploit however and they did so expertly, adding two further goals late on through Clack’s second of the afternoon and Murfin.
Hassocks: Ben John; Adam Dawson, Josh Tuck, Spencer Slaughter, Ashley Marsh; Jack Wilkins, Will Broomfield, Lewis Westlake, Harry Mills, Bradley Bant; Michael Death.
Subs: Dan Stokes, George Galbraith-Gibbons (used).
Starman: Spencer Slaughter.
