LITTLEJOHN GOES BIG AS HIS BRACE BEATS THE TYE
Two goals in two minutes gave Hassocks a 2-1 Premier Division victory against Peacehaven & Telscombe just two weeks after the Tye eliminated the Robins from the FA Vase.
The difference in performance from the Robins a fortnight on from that toothless afternoon on which they lost 3-0 at the Beacon could not have been more stark.
Last time out, Dave John’s side failed to really test the Peacehaven goalkeeper, a fact made doubly disappointing as it was actually former Hassocks defender Harry Mills between the posts.
Peacehaven came to Mid Sussex this time with a recognised goalkeeper in James Broadbent – another ex-Robin – and without his interventions, this would have been a much more comfortable win for the hosts.
Broadbent won a clean sweep of Hassocks’ Players’ Player of Year, Supporters’ Player of the Year and Manager’s Player of the Year awards after an outstanding 2016-17 season in which he played a huge role in keeping the Robins in the top flight.
He reminded everyone at the Beacon of his quality with three excellent saves to prevent the game running away from his new club, which also helped to set up a tense, dramatic and somewhat heated finale after Peacehaven pulled one back with 12 minutes remaining.
The Robins’ goal led a charmed life after that with two Tye efforts cleared off the line and Callum Edwards effort rattling the post. Hassocks though held on for a big three points, meaning they have now defeated two of last season’s top five at the Beacon already in 2020-21.
Another big crowd of 228 – the fifth highest step five attendance of the day in the entire country – had to wait a while for the action to heat up as neither side was able to make much of an impression in the opening 25 minutes.
It was only once referee Adam Parry began to make some increasingly bizarre decisions that things started to get going. Jack Troak entered the book for the crime of winning a 50-50 slide tackle and Will Broomfield was judged guilty of a foul after winning the ball during a five minute period in which you could have been forgiven for forgetting football is a contact sport.
Sarcastic cheers from around the ground greeted Mr Parry awarding Hassocks a soft free kick of their own on 28 minutes, a decision the Robins made the most of as it helped them fashion their first chance.
James Littlejohn was the man to have it as he went scampering in on goal, only to be denied by a brilliant Broadbent stop. Littlejohn then saw his follow up blocked by Jake Brocklebank on the line.
Seven minutes later and Hassocks should have had a penalty when Josh Short was barged over by Brocklebank with little intention shown to win the ball. Home frustrations began to boil over at this point and Charlie Pitcher soon joined Troak in the book when he made a poor sliding tackle on Matt Gunn.
Tyler Scrafton came close to opening the scoring for Peacehaven on the stroke of half time when he did well to connect to a Luyolo Mafu knockdown on the stretch, lifting the ball just over Charlie Pugh’s bar.
Hassocks had their first goal of the afternoon on the hour mark. Troak skipped away down the left flank and his low ball was perfectly drilled across goal for Littlejohn to slam home side footed without breaking stride.
Less than 120 seconds later and the lead was doubled in almost identical fashion. A ball up the line from the outstanding Andy Whittingham looked to be heading out of play until it turned like a Shane Warne wrong un to stay in.
Whilst the Peacehaven defence had all stopped expecting a throw, Troak chased down the lost cause, collected it and crossed again. Littlejohn this time provided a flicked finish past Broadbent.
Peacehaven were rattled. 10 minutes later and substitute Harvey Enticknap drove forward, Pitcher and Troak exchanged passed and the former was denied by the legs of Broadbent.
Littlejohn then had a sight of goal for his hat-trick but selflessly squared to Josh Short whose effort was kept out by a strong hand and fast reactions from Broadbent.
Peacehaven pulled one back on 78 after Harry Reed converted following a goalmouth scramble and that led to a complete change in momentum as the Tye became camped in the Hassocks half.
Broomfield turned a Peacehaven effort over the bar with his head; Edwards twisted and turned his way into the box to hit the post with Whittingham blocking the follow up on the line and Troak proved his worth defensively when hacking another effort away.
The relief was palpable when the final whistle went after an excruciating seven minutes of injury time. Hassocks had a first win over Peacehaven since 2016 and so soon after that FA Vase capitulation against the same opponents. What a difference 14 days can make.
Hassocks: Charlie Pugh; Jack Gardner, Dan Turner, Will Broomfield, Andy Whittingham; James Littlejohn, Bradley Bant, Jake Chadwick, Josh Short, Jack Troak; Charlie Pitcher.
Subs: Harvey Enticknap (Chadwick 70), Phil Gault (Pitcher 82), Alfie Loversidge (Littlejohn 89), Ben O’Leary, Joe Bull (unused).
