RABBLE OF FORMER ROBINS RETURN TO HAUNT HASSOCKS
Loxwood had played 22 times in the Southern Combination League Premier Division so far this season without winning.
Yet within 25 minutes of Hassocks’ visit to Plaistow Road, the hosts had stormed into an unassailable 3-0 lead.
A cricket score might have been on the cards at that top point in time. The only positive that the Robins could take is that they didn’t concede again, suffering ’only’ the 3-0 defeat as Loxwood hauled themselves back into the battle to avoid relegation into Division One.
The Magpies are now eight points behind Hassocks. To their credit, Loxwood have been difficult to beat this season, racking up six draws – only Steyning Town and Langney Wanderers have more.
If interim manager Mark Courtney can find a way to turn those stalemates into wins over the course of the remaining third of the season, then you certainly can’t rule Loxwood out of pulling off a great escape.
What this result means for Hassocks is less clear. The Robins had been in decent form since the turn of the year, beating Pagham and Steyning Town, drawing with Saltdean United and only losing to a controversial penalty against league leaders Lancing.
This was a case of five steps back from all those little steps forward. There’s an immediate chance to put things right with Horsham YMCA’s visit to the Beacon which was postponed a week ago hastily rearranged for Tuesday night.
That game with YM kicks off a run of three consecutive home fixtures, which now appear even bigger than they already did.
Hassocks need to find goals from somewhere. Phil Johnson’s early return from injury as a second half substitute at Loxwood should at least given them some hope going forward, but it remains to be seen how match fit Johnson actually is – especially as blanket call offs of Under 23 games restrict Hassocks’ chances to get match action under his belt.
Mark Dalgleish also gave some rare game time to their Under 23s’ top scorer George Galbraith-Gibbons as a substitute here while Jamie Hillwood made his first start in sometime too.
The Robins do appear to at least have options in attack all of a sudden. That’s a far cry to even a couple of weeks ago, when the cupboard looked bare save for Liam Benson, who continued to plough a lonely furrow at Plaistow Road.
Loxwood meanwhile have dipped into the transfer marker in order to boost their own firepower, with Courtney bringing in ex-Robins’ striker Charlie Pitcher from Burgess Hill Town.
Pitcher marked the first start of his third spell with Loxwood with the Magpies’ second goal which arrived on 12 minutes.
Mark Goldson had given the hosts the lead five minutes earlier and it was from yet another cross into the box from which Hassocks conceded.
Another former Robin was involved. Dan Webster had a brief spell at the Beacon at the start of last season before departing for Oakwood and it was his header back across goal that Goldson got on the end of just before young Hassocks goalkeeper Charlie Pugh to scramble home.
Loxwood’s third arrived on 25 when Timothy Bennett found himself through one-on-one and despite the best efforts of Dan Turner, Bennett was able to get in and slot past Pugh with aplomb.
Hassocks were then dealt a blow when Will Broomfield limped off. Broomfield had been handed the captaincy in the absence of the injured Alex Spinks and to lose another vital player to a spell on the side lines won’t do the Robins’ cause any good. The enigmatic Dan Jacques took Broomfield’s place, Jacques himself returning from nearly four months out.
Hassocks huffed and puffed in the second half but to no avail while only some brave goalkeeping from Pugh prevented the lively Jason Dawson from adding a fourth for the hosts.
Dan Stokes and Harvey Enticknap did their best to drive the Robins on, Enticknap another player coming up against his former club having started his senior career at Plaistow Road half a decade ago.
The familiarities didn’t end there either; Lewis Westlake spent half of last season as a Magpie and was making his first Hassocks start since October.
Three more of Loxwood’s side meanwhile remain hugely popular with the Robins faithful in one-time Hassocks and Sussex Under 18s captain Eddie French, Josh Hawkes and substitute Spencer Slaughter. French was voted as the home side’s Man-of-the-Match afterwards with Pitcher finishing second and Hawkes third.
Hassocks didn’t even bother running their own vote, which tells you everything about what a bad day at the office this was.
Hassocks: Charlie Pugh; Harvey Blake, Will Broomfield, Dan Turner, Jack Troak; Lewis Westlake, Harvey Enticknap; Jamie Hillwood, Dan Stokes, James Littlejohn; Liam Benson.
Subs: Dan Jacques, Phil Johnson, George Galbraith-Gibbons (used), Luke Marshall, Ben O’Leary.
