ROBINS OUT OF SENIOR CUP BUT IMPROVEMENT IS THERE FOR ALL TO SEE
They may have been eliminated from the Sussex Senior Cup at the first hurdle, but Hassocks’ 2-1 defeat at Chichester City was a sign of how far the Robins have come so far this season.
Rewind the clock to August 7th and the second game of the Southern Combination League Premier Division campaign. Chi were the visitors to the Beacon and demonstrated why they were one of the pre-season favourites for the title, dismantling Mark Dalgleish’s side 6-0.
Two months later and the improvement in Hassocks is clear for all to see. They went to Oaklands Park, rested arguably their most important player in Phil Johnson and one of their most consistent in Matt Berridge and still pushed a quality Chi outfit all the way.
Taking the place of Johnson and Berridge were James Littlejohn and Harvey Enticknap. Dalgleish made one further change to the side that battled back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 away at Langney Wanderers at the weekend with Ellis Common coming in for Joe Bull.
This was Common’s first start for three-and-a-half years and the Robins’ Under 23 captain put in an impressive showing at right back.
The Robins also gave a debut to Under 18’s captain Jack Baden as a second half substitute in place of Littlejohn as the famous Hassocks production line shows no signs of abating.
The first half was a fairly even affair with Chi taking the lead with 30 minutes played. Rob Hutchins delivered an excellent cross which led to chaos and confusion in the Hassocks box with Scott Jones eventually bundling home the loose ball from close range.
Liam Benson levelled things up five minutes before the break. Hassocks worked the ball out to the left where Lindsey was able to cut back onto his favoured right foot and whip in a brilliant cross which Benson rose to glance home past Anthony Ender.
That signalled the beginning of a manic final five minutes of the half as almost immediately from Chi’s restart, Hassocks won back possession and strung together an identical move to that of their equaliser, only for Benson to head this one narrowly wide.
Chi punished that miss right on the stroke of half time when a long range effort from Gicu Iordache went through Josh Green in the Hassocks goal a little too easily.
The hosts were more of a force in the second half and Green atoned for that soft concede with a string of excellent saves from some relatively powerful efforts.
Terrell Lewis grazed the bar with a free kick and the woodwork earned it’s keep as well, being rattled on a couple of other occasions while Hassocks continued to work hard with Benson and Lindsey forcing Ender into smart stops.
Hassocks had a glorious chance to force the game into extra time right at the death, but Johnson uncharacteristically snatched at the opportunity, leaving Chi to breathe a huge sigh of relief.
The hosts knew they’d been in a game come the final whistle and that itself is evidence of the progress the Robins are making, even if their hopes of an Amex Stadium final are over for another season.
Hassocks: Josh Green; Ellis Common, Dan Jacques, Jordan Badger, Harvey Blake; Dan Stokes, Spencer Slaughter, Harvey Enticknap; James Littlejohn, Liam Benson, Jake Lindsey.
Subs: Phil Johnson (Lindsey), Matt Berridge (Enticknap), Jack Baden (Littlejohn), George Galbraith-Gibbons, Alex Harris (unused).
Starman: Spencer Slaughter.
