After ending a barren run of form in December 2019, Hassocks continued to pick up valuable points throughout January 2020 with two wins from four league games pointing to a potential revival in the second half of the campaign.
The new year kicked off with the visit of fellow strugglers Pagham to the Beacon. It had the look of a must-win fixture for the Robins and they duly delivered, triumphing 2-0. Liam Benson opened the scoring on 24 minutes when visiting goalkeeper Tom Crook missed his punch from an excellent Jack Troak cross, leaving Benson with the simple task of finishing into an empty net.
Harvey Blake added the second six minutes into the second half with a typically spectacular strike. There didn’t seem much on as Blake advanced up the pitch from right back but 30 yards out from goal he pulled the trigger, curling a stunning effort into the top corner for one of the goals of the season.
A tough looking trip to Premier Division leaders Lancing was up next. Not many would have given Hassocks a prayer at Culver Road and yet it was only a controversial penalty that was the difference between the sides by the time the full time whistle blew.
The excellent Ben Connolly gave the Lancers the lead with a quarter of an hour played but they were ahead for less than 120 seconds as Sam Cash took advantage of a defensive mishap to score his first senior goal for Hassocks.
Lancing’s winner arrived when Mitch Hewens went down in the Robins box under minimal contact eight minutes before half time and that was enough for referee Robert King to point to the spot.
Hassocks were incensed and their protests went on for some time with one player heading for the sin bin in amongst the furore. Not that any of that could put Lewis Finney off, the league’s top scorer making no mistake to beat Charlie Pugh from 12 yards.
The Robins should have taken heart from that performance into their next home game against another of the title challengers, Eastbourne Town. Instead, it was an afternoon to forget for Mark Dalgleish and his players as they suffered their heaviest league defeat since 2001 in losing 7-0.
Town had six different names on the score sheet. Aaron Capon notched two with Sam Cole, Zac Attwood, George Taggart, Jack Langford and Tyler Scrafton all on target. There was at least the small consolation of a stunning sunset over the Beacon for home fans.
Losing in such a manner could have caused some serious damage to morale and confidence, but Hassocks bounced back in the best way possible by beating eighth placed Steyning Town 2-1 a week later.
The hosts’ cause was helped when Steyning had Mayckol Sabino dismissed for raking his studs down the back of Will Broomfield late in the first half. Harvey Enticknap and Dan Stokes put Hassocks 2-0 ahead against the 10 men before Conor Bull pulled one back for the Barrowmen to set up a nervy last 15 minutes.
Former Hassocks favourite Jamie Weston then picked up a harsh and mysterious red card and when Jamie Brotherton was sin binned, Steyning were left with just eight players and Hassocks were able to see the time out to pick up three very welcome points.
The Under 23s kicked off January in the Sussex Under 23 Cup away at Loxwood. A spot in the semi finals was up for grabs and it was Matt Dunningham’s strike which decided it 1-0 in favour of the Combined Counties League’s Magpies.
A first West Division match for seven weeks followed when Arundel came to the Beacon. That one finished 2-2, top scorer George Galbraith-Gibbons being joined in the goals by James Westlake, who was netting for the first time since December 2018.
The Mullets scorers were Luke Jearum and Harry Callaghan, who had proved such a handful when the sides met in extraordinary 10-goal game at first team level in the Sussex Senior Cup back in October which Hassocks just shaded 6-4.
It was a tough January for the Under 18s, whose Central Division title hopes suffered a setback with two defeats in three games. Burgess Hill Town defeated the Robins 4-2 at the Beacon before Broadbridge Heath inflicted a 3-1 loss on Brad Sweetman’s side at the High Wood Hill Sports Ground. Harrison Lees and Yahya Azizi were on target in the first of those fixtures with Lewis Beebee netting in the second.
A 4-1 victory over bottom club Shoreham provided a welcome return to form in the month’s final fixture. Alfie Loversidge, Alex Crawford, Harry Meredith and an own goal did the damage at Middle Road.
The Ladies took to the field four times in January. Two of those fixtures were against unbeaten South East Counties Women’s League Premier Division leaders Worthing, a 2-0 defeat at Woodside Road being followed by a 4-1 loss at the Beacon.
Jess Craig scored the Robins goal from the penalty spot in a result that was actually quite respectable when you consider Hassocks boss Martin Lee was without 10 first choice players for the game against the Rebels.
The Robins’ other two fixtures were a mixed bag against Phoenix Sports and Eastbourne United. A 4-1 defeat at Phoenix wasn’t much to write home about, but the 1-0 win at the Oval was one of the highlights of the season as it involved an 88th minute winner with many players forced into playing out of position.
Emma Flin, Claire Stevens and Emily Brocklehurst made up a completely new look back three and regular defender Chloe John joined Katherine Chappell up front. It was Chappell who hit the only goal of the game with just 120 seconds remaining on a memorable afternoon for Hassocks on the sunshine coast.
