On song Robins leave previously unbeaten Alfold in a flap
Hassocks Under 18s could not have asked for a harder test with which to start their Southern Combination Supplementary Shield campaign than a trip to an Alfold side who possessed a 100 percent record prior to the curtailment of the regular season.
And yet it is one that the Robins passed with flying colours. Their first ever visit to the newly-Christened Elliott Scott Group Stadium ended in an excellent 3-1 victory which suggested that, had the North Division season been able to finish, Hassocks would have had every chance of lifting a first league title since 2018.
Brad Sweetman’s team topped the table with six wins and one draw from seven games when the campaign was halted in December. Alfold looked their chief rivals having won five from five to sit second to the Robins in the standings, four points behind but with two games in hand.
This then was a meeting between the two sides who may well have ended up fighting it out for the championship. For Hassocks to win 3-1 was therefore an impressive result on their first competitive outing since hammering Crawley Down Gatwick 8-0 on November 13th.
The Hassocks line up remained pretty much as it had been before lockdown with three exceptions. Jack Gardner and Alfie Loversidge being elevated to the senior squad had seen their game time for the Under 18s carefully managed in 2020-21, but they were both available for the Robins here. Loversidge arrived fresh from scoring for the first team in their 2-2 friendly draw against Littlehampton Town the previous day.
There was also one new face in the Hassocks squad. George Mitchell-Phillips has signed on at the Beacon for the Supplementary Shield and the forward capped his debut with two of the Robins’ goals.
Normally, a debut brace would be enough to secure the headlines but Hassocks’ other goal was anything but normal. Luke Marshall is another player who has been involved with the senior squad this season and the defender opened his season’s account for the Under 18s in some style by scoring from a free kick taken from inside his own half. Alfold’s consolation came from Ayo-Oluwa Oke.
The result leaves Hassocks as the early leaders of Group C of the Supplementary Shield. Horsham YMCA overcame Saltdean United in the day’s other game whilst the fifth team in the section are St Francis Rangers.
Like Alfold, Rangers were enjoying a decent campaign pre-December having won four out of their five league matches. Hassocks have a three-week wait to face their local rivals; the Robins have a blank weekend next Sunday before travelling to Horsham YMCA on Sunday 18th April.
Hassocks: Jayden Dunkley, Jack Gardner, Alex Crawford, Luke Marshall, Sam Geard, Kobe Dersley, Charlie Jones, Cody Craig, George Mitchell-Phillips, Alfie Loversidge Lewis Beebee.
Subs: Archie Russell, Daniel Llewellyn, Josh Sprigg, Louis Thwaites (used).
