Double trouble as two own goals send Hassocks to a hammering at the hands of Heath
It is one step forward, two steps back at the moment for Hassocks. Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw against AFC Uckfield Town was followed by a 5-1 home defeat to Broadbridge Heath in which the Robins managed to score two own goals.
These young Hassocks players are finding out the hard way that there is a difference between Under 23 and Under 18 football and the top tier of the Southern Combination League, where mistakes and inconsistencies are ruthlessly punished.
The Robins had been getting steadily better so far over the opening weeks of the campaign. A 6-0 loss to Saltdean United who should be winning the Premier Division title was followed by Hassocks leading Combined Counties outfit Spelthorne Sports for 83 minutes before suffering late heartbreak to exit the FA Cup in a 2-1 defeat.
Hassocks then pushed a strong Eastbourne Town side close in another single-goal defeat with the midweek draw against Uckfield putting the first points of the season and Brad Sweetman’s reign on the board.
Having endured a nightmare run of fixtures – and things do not get any easier with Peacehaven & Telscombe, Steyning Town and Newhaven to come in the next fortnight – the visit of Broadbridge Heath appeared on paper at least an opportunity to pick up further points.
From the first minute however, Hassocks were struggling. Straight from kick off and the Bears meandered their way into the Hassocks half, a move which ended with Jamie Taylor firing narrowly over Christian Kiddell’s goal.
Kiddell was one of three changes that Sweetman made from the side who drew with Uckfield, replacing the absent Charlie Pugh whose outstanding performance in goal saw him win the supporter’s man-of-the-match accolade and went a long towards earning Hassocks their midweek point.
Jack Gardner also returned in place of his colleague from last season’s youth team, Kobe Dersley and Connor Bradley made his first start since the defeat Saltdean in place of Lexx Lucas.
It is rare for the Robins to be able to name an almost settled line up, especially at this time in the season when players are on holidays and have other commitments and consistency in selection was another reason that Hassocks should have had for being confident.
Heath won their first corner shortly after Taylor’s near-miss and their relentless pressure on the Robins goal eventually led to them taking the lead with 18 minutes on the clock.
Hassocks were their own worst enemy, firstly failing to convincingly clear their lines to gift possession to Harry Williams. He worked the ball right to Matt Penfold, whose effort took a wicked deflection off a player in red to deceive Kiddell and get the own goal count up and running for the afternoon.
Heath should have doubled their advantage on the half hour mark, Penfold again causing issues after Taylor and Charlie Parmiter combined to release him down that right-hand channel.
Penfold had only Kiddell to beat but from a tight angle, he failed to hit the target as a relieved Hassocks watched the ball fly wide of the goal.
Being 1-0 behind at the break was not a disaster for Hassocks. The second half collapse though was troubling as things very quickly escalated.
The Robins had not learned the lessons of the first half, namely how quickly Broadbridge Heath can fly out of the traps and whilst Taylor had missed that opportunity inside of 60 seconds an hour earlier, this time the visitors made no mistake when scoring straight from kick off.
Taylor won a flick on in the middle of the park to put Parmiter clear. Kiddell did well to save the initial effort, only to see the rebound fall kindly to Penfold who made no mistake to double the advantage.
It was game over on 55 minutes when Taylor added a third via an impressive strike hit with the outside of his boot into the top corner from the edge of the box.
Parmiter made it four on 70 minutes with a goal that his afternoon’s work certainly deserved. Kiddell was unable to hold a powerful shot with Parmiter in the right place at the right time to send a looping header from the rebound into the back of the Hassocks goal.
The Robins then immediately surrendered the ball from kick off, enabling Heath to break. Substitute Charlie Gibson’s cross into the box was not a good one, but Taylor retrieved the situation and his return ball back in ended up being sliced in by a Hassocks defender for the second own goal of the game.
There was at least one positive for Hassocks to end the game on as Lewis Beebee notched his first senior goal for the Robins in the final 10 minutes.
Beebee finished as top scorer for both the Under 23s and Under 18s last season. Chances to score have been few and far between in his four starts for the first team so far, meaning that the most impressive thing about Beebee has been his astonishing work rate.
He earned this maiden goal for that alone and Hassocks will be hoping that it now sparks a run of goal scoring form. Goodness knows they need it over the coming weeks.
Hassocks: Christian Kiddell; Arthur Rawlingson, Bradley Tighe, Andy Whittingham; Jack Gardner, Josh Short, Connor Bradley, Alfie Loversidge, Ben Hicks; George Mitchell-Phillips, Lewis Beebee.
Subs: Joe Bull, Luke Marshall, Sam Geard (used).
