UN-FAIR ON HASSOCKS AS ALEX’S DOUBLE SALVO DENIES THE ROBINS
Early Premier Division leaders Lancing put their 100% record on the line at the Beacon and despite the cards being stacked against Hassocks, the hosts came within an 87th minute missed penalty of claiming a point.
Visiting goalkeeper Taylor Seymour superbly kept out Ben Bacon’s spot kick, denying the Robins what would have been a deserved share of the spoils. Even the most hardened Lancers fans would be hard pressed to disagree with that.
Their side under new boss Naim Rouane played some lovely football but it was Hassocks who looked more of a threat playing on the counter and Hassocks who had the better chances.
That was impressive given the circumstances. While Lancing arrived in Mid Sussex after six days rest, the Robins had gone through an exhausting 90 minutes less than 48 hours earlier against Isthmian League side Chipstead in the FA Cup.
Securing a 0-0 draw away at higher division opponents in stifling heat had taken a lot out of Hassocks. As a result, Mark Dalgleish rested four of the players who’d battled so hard in the Surrey sun.
The most eye catching of the changes was a senior debut for prodigious 19-year-old centre back Dan Turner, one of the stars of Hassocks’ treble winning Under 18 side of two seasons ago.
Nick Pitcher made his first start since 2016 after a spell away with Dan Stokes and Joe Bull the other men promoted to the starting line up.
Such changes would’ve been disruptive enough on their own, but there was further interruption to come as Dalgleish then had to use all three of his substitutes before the start of the second half following a raft of injuries.
Pitcher and Turner were two of those with Will Broomfield and Dan Jacques coming on. Harvey Enticknap was also lost at the break, replaced by James Littlejohn.
It says much about the quality of the first half that Littlejohn was probably Hassocks’ best player and Alex Fair – introduced early on in the second half for Lancing – was the visitors’ man-of-the-match.
The lack of entertainment in the opening 45 minutes was in stark contrast to what the bumper Bank Holiday crowd had been promised.
All the talk before the game had been of the high scoring nature of fixtures between these two, but chances were few and far between.
When they did come, they fell to Hassocks. A header from Pitcher forced Seymour to parry behind early on and the young Lancing stopper then saved comfortably from Enticknap.
For all their possession – and they had a lot of it – it took until the stroke of half time for Lancing to force Josh Green into a save, the Hassocks goalkeeper denying his former club with a decent stop from a James Beresford free kick.
The Lancers looked more purposeful after the break and they nearly took the lead within minutes of the restart, a stretching Harry Mills doing just enough to turn a Beresford cross out for a corner before it could reach Lewis Finney.
Hassocks too were showing more intent and Matt Berridge foxtrotted past a couple of Lancing players before setting back to Stokes whose effort brushed just the wrong side of the post.
This was now much more like a traditional Hassocks versus Lancing game and on the hour mark, the deadlock was broken by the lively Littlejohn.
Ben Bacon had gone scampering away down the left before sizzling in the perfect cross to Littlejohn who judged the delivery expertly, held off a defender and then sent an unstoppable volley crashing past Seymour.
That was the least Hassocks deserved and they could have doubled the advantage shortly after when Broomfield’s 30 yarder tested Seymour.
Lancing looked rattled but there is a reason Rouane’s side haven’t dropped a point so far this season and they gradually began to work their way into the game in the final 20 minutes.
Green did well to push away another Beresford free kick after a foul on Finney which must have been a hairs breadth from being inside the area.
Two goals in the space of three minutes from Fair then completely changed the complexion of the tie. The frequency with which Hassocks concede from set pieces is well known but there was little they could do to prevent the first of Fair’s double, a stunning header with power and direction from a corner out on the left. His second was an equally impressive finish, coolly beating Green with a curling effort from the edge of the box.
Hassocks were flagging by now but they still managed to muster one final attack, Omar Bukleb bringing it to an illegal halt when he scythed down Bacon in the box. Lancing had no complaints about the award but after dusting himself down, Bacon saw his effort saved by Seymour.
Hassocks: Josh Green; Harvey Blake, Dan Turner, Harry Mills, Jack Troak; Matt Berridge, Nick Pitcher; Dan Stokes, Harvey Enticknap, Joe Bull; Ben Bacon.
Subs: Will Broomfield (Pitcher), Dan Jacques (Turner), James Littlejohn (Enticknap), Andy Whittingham, Ben O’Leary (unused).
