BRADLEY BRACE HELPS ROBINS BEAT OAK
Connor Bradley made sure the short journey over the South Downs to Mile Oak was a worthwhile one for Hassocks Under 23s.
The Robins midfielder struck a brace to help his side on their way to a 4-2 victory over a dogged Oak side who defied their current position towards the bottom of the Southern Combination League West Division table.
Oak came into the game with one just one point from a possible four, a draw in their last outing at home to Arundel. They met a Hassocks side who by contrast were flying, still on a high having defeated reigning champions Pagham 2-0 to consolidate their spot at the top of the pile and mark themselves out as genuine title contenders.
Hassocks manager Nigel Pearce made two changes from the side who had knocked off the Lions so impressively. Jake Lane came in for a full debut in place of Will Glenn when last seasons top scorer Max Willcox was brought straight back into the starting line up in place of George Galbraith-Gibbons after recovering from the injury he’d picked up in last months 9-1 win over Midhurst & Easebourne.
The Robins took the lead with only seven minutes on the clock through Harvey Enticknap, netting his first goal for the club. Oak’s response was to hit Josh Green’s crossbar with an absolute rocket from 25 yards from Jack Marriott.
Bradley notched his first of the evening with half an hour played to double the advantage but Oak continued to create chances and they duly pulled one back two minutes before half time.
Louis Denyer was the scorer, embarking on a great solo run which he rounded off with a finish placed just out of the reach of Green.
Bradley restored Hassocks’ two goal advantage with a quarter of an hour left to play but if the Robins thought that would kill off Oak, they were wrong as almost instantly the hosts went up the other end and reduced the deficit through Aaron Clarke.
That looked like it might set up a nervy final 15 minutes but James Littlejohn had other ideas and just a couple of minutes after Clarke’s effort, the Robin’s top scorer netted his eighth of the season to wrap up victory for the visitors.
Hassocks are on the road again next week, making their longest trip of the season down to Selsey on Friday night. Kick off is at 7.45pm at the Bunn Leisure Stadium.
Hassocks: Josh Green, Jake Lane, James Oliver, Louie Derham, Ben Jonas, Joe Russell, Connor Bradley, Harvey Enticknap, Ellis Common, Max Willcox, James Littlejohn.
Subs: Martin Ratcliffe, Will Glenn, George Galbraith-Gibbons, Kieran Wells, Kieran Dimelow.
