SECOND HALF SHOW KEEPS ROBINS CLINGING ON
In a must win game for their prospects of staying in the Southern Combination League Premier Division, Hassocks’ young players delivered one of their most positive halves of football this season to defeat relegation rivals Worthing United 2-0.
Defeat for the Robins would’ve left them eight points behind United with only three games left to play. Now, they’re within two points of Matt Evans’ side but more pertinently, have climbed above Arundel and are level with Eastbourne United, the side immediately above the relegation line.
The odds are still stacked against Hassocks as all the sides around them have games in hand – Arundel as many as five – and their run in includes Chichester City and Pagham who are both still in the title race, but they are at least still clinging onto survival by their fingertips.
“We’re still fighting which is the main thing,” Phil Wickwar said afterwards. “The energy in our second half performance was fantastic and we’ve got to take that forward into the final three games. We’ve got nothing to lose.”
Perhaps it was that sense of having nothing to lose – or more likely the fact that they’d conceded nine unanswered goals in the previous two games – but Hassocks ditched their 3-5-2 formation in favour of a much more positive 4-4-2.
The personnel selection was equally bold with strikers Jake Lindsey and Jack Wilkins employed on the flanks, using their pace and energy to effectively make it a 4-2-4 by supporting Michael Death and George Galbraith-Gibbons whenever the Robins poured forward.
That was frequently in the second half. The first half however was a cagey affair, neither side wanting to take the risk required to win the game for fear of ending up losing it.
United just about shaded the opening 45 but they met a resolute back four of Harry Mills, Spencer Slaughter, Will Broomfield and Jordan Badger.
Haig Kingston in the Hassocks was only called into action to deal with a succession of free kicks into the box which he did easily.
Certainly, something was said to Hassocks at the break as the second half saw them eager to get on the front foot with the reward being one of their best halves of the campaign.
It was only four minutes old when Lindsey scored one of the goals of the season, a piece of breathtaking opportunism from the 17-year-old who continues to bring real joy in what has otherwise been a pretty dark season for the Robins.
There seemed to be little on when Lindsey had the ball way out wide on the left flank but unbeknown to most in attendance, he had spotted United keeper Mitchell Bromage off his line, hitting a breathtaking strike from a full 35 yards over the hapless Bromage’s head and into the top corner.
Sometimes it only takes a moment of magic to galvanise a team into life and that’s what happened here as Hassocks dominated the remaining 40 minutes. Death in particular appeared to be spellbound, everything good the Robins did going through their top scorer.
The diminutive central midfield partnership of Bradley Bant and Dan Stokes both put rasping drives just the wrong side of the United post and Wilkins was denied the goal his performance deserved when he arrived in the box to meet a Bant cross but saw his header kept out by Bromage.
Another Hassocks goal was coming and it duly arrived with 20 minutes left to play. A well worked short corner routine caught United cold as Stokes collected the ball and delivered a cross to the far post where Death was lurking to make it 2-0 with a header.
It could’ve got even better late on when Death showed great technique to connect with a close range volley, but his effort flew just over the bar
Hassocks: Haig Kingston; Harry Mills, Will Broomfield, Spencer Slaughter, Jordan Badger; Jack Wilkins, Dan Stokes, Bradley Bant, Jack Wilkins; George Galbraith-Gibbons, Michael Death.
Subs: Joe Maskell (used), Jake Atherton, Joe Russell, Mark Price, Phil Wickwar (unused).
Starman: Jake Lindsey.
