HOME COMFORTS HELP HASSOCKS OVERCOME MULLETS
Home proved to be where the heart is for Hassocks Under 23s as they took full advantage of a late switch of venue to beat Arundel 2-1 at the Beacon.
This fixture had been due to take place at Mill Road but home advantage is something that clubs across the Southern Combination League are having to sacrifice in a desperate bid to get the season completed.
The wettest February on record has left virtually every side in Sussex with a plethora of games left to play and not enough weeks to get them in.
Mill Road in particular suffers in wet weather due to it’s position on the banks of the River Arun. As a result, the Mullets asked if it would be possible to switch the game to the Beacon in the hope that the Robins’ playing surface might be in a fitter condition.
A dry week leading up to the clash meant that it was and so Arundel were back in Mid Sussex just seven weeks after they’d last visited as the away team.
That game finished 2-2 and in a sign of how decimated the fixture list has become, Hassocks had only played once since – a 1-1 draw away at Selsey two weeks previously.
Dave John had gone to the Bunn Leisure Stadium with a severely depleted squad that evening, a case of the old ’Selsey knee’ seeing a number of regulars mysteriously ruled out of the longest trip of the season through injury.
John could name only a bare 11 against the Blues which included three members of the Under 18s; here, he had a full compliment of five subs to choose from.
Coming into the side were Josh Green, Max Donaldson, Harvey Ransome, Jack Troak and Lewis Westlake with Charlie Alderton, Matt Denyer, Jack Gardner, Joe Bull and Alfie Loversidge all returning from the bench.
Dropping out were those three aforementioned youth team players – Toby Fisher, Harrison Lees and Charlie Jones – as well as Kieran Dimelow and first team assistant manager Brad Sweetman.
It was two first team players – one who’s established himself as a regular this season and another just starting to make the breakthrough to senior football – who got the goals for the Robins.
Harvey Enticknap has become one of the first names on Mark Dalgleish’s team sheet in recent weeks and he justified turning out for the Under 23s by hitting the back of the net.
George Galbraith-Gibbons was the other scorer, netting his eighth goal of the campaign to continue his recent hot streak.
The teenage striker has now scored in his past four starts for the Under 23s, as well as notching a vital 93rd minute winner for the first team in their most recent success, a 3-2 victory against Horsham YMCA a month ago. For Arundel, their consolation came via Joseph Allan.
Hassocks can look forward to further football at the Beacon next Thursday night as Southwick have switched the League Cup Second Round tie between Wickers and Robins from Old Barn Way.
John and his charges will be hoping for more home comforts and a chance to embark on a cup run.
Hassocks: Josh Green, Thomas Jupp, Luke Marshall, Dan Turner, Ben O’Leary, Max Donaldson, Jack Troak, Lewis Westlake, Harvey Enticknap, Harvey Ransome, George Galbraith-Gibbons.
Subs: Joel Bull, Charlie Alderton, Matt Denyer, Jack Gardner, Alfie Loversidge (used).
