“A breathtaking half time performance”
Hassocks welcomed a very different crowd to their Southern Combination League Premier Division home game against Newhaven as a stag party from the West Country decided to spend their afternoon at the Beacon.
As a long-suffering Swindon Town supporter, groom-to-be Steve Underwood had long dreamed of walking out at the County Ground alongside all his heroes who have played for the Robins.
Beggars cannot be choosers though and so rather than it being the League Two Robins, his friends instead arranged for Steve to be a mascot with the Sussex-based Robins some 117 miles away from Swindon and five divisions lower down the pyramid.
Steve donned a replica Hassocks kit for the day and wore a Robin mask as he led the teams out, finally fulfilling that lifelong ambition of being a mascot.
The best was saved for half time however, when Steve appeared on the pitch to dance to Swindon anthem Rockin’ Robin, much to the delight of his friends and the rest of the Beacon faithful. One Hassocks fan went so far as to describe it as “breathtaking.”
There was very little else to cheer for Robins supporters on the day as their side were well beaten 5-0 by Newhaven, four of the goals coming in a 14 minute blitz at the start of the second half.
As a former goalkeeper himself, Steve could no doubt sympathise with Hassocks number one Alex Harris with the frequency with which Harris had to pick the ball out of the back of the net.
Steve was then able to compare notes with Newhaven netminder Jake Buss at full time as the visitors’ goalkeeper posed for photos with the stag party to celebrate his clean sheet.
To complete a memorable day, Steve ended up being a landslide winner of the Hassocks supporters’ man-of-the-match poll on Twitter afterwards for his smooth moves displayed during the interval.
Steve marries fiancée Claire Sheridan in Ireland on Friday, 24 September. He will no doubt hope to convince Claire to fly back to England the next day so the two can start wedded life by watching Hassocks host either K Sports or Beckenham Town in the second qualifying round of the FA Vase.
