Late drama sees Hassocks fall to 10 men Crows in a six goal thriller
Having negotiated their opening seven matches of the season in all competitions without defeat, Hassocks Under 23s have now suffered back-to-back losses after a difficult evening at Crowborough Athletic.
The hosts overcame having to play for over an hour with only 10 men, running out 4-2 winners in a dramatic encounter decided by two goals in the final five minutes.
Hassocks made six changes from the side beaten for the first time in the current campaign a week earlier at league leaders Broadbridge Heath.
The headline selection was Lewis Westlake making his first appearance in Hassocks colours since re-joining the club from Steyning Town.
Westlake had played three times for the Barrowmen in a brief spell after leaving Loxwood, where he served as Spencer Slaughter’s captain as the Magpies reached the final of the Premier Division Supplementary Shield last season.
After Slaughter, Josh Hawkes and brother James, Westlake becomes the fourth player to follow his former manager from Plaistow Road and back to the Beacon.
Another new signing lined up in goal for Hassocks with Ryan West making his debut in place of the absent Harvey Parker.
The other four changes made by the Robins saw Wes Tighe replace Jack Gardner, Louis Thwaites come in for Jude Wallis, Jacob Kilkelly replace Luke Marshall and last season’s top scorer Lewis Beebee return for Phil Gault.
Having changed over half their starting line up, it was perhaps not a surprise to see Hassocks go 1-0 down inside of five minutes due to the unfamiliarity in the ranks.
Oscar Steward got the goal but Crowborough joy was short lived as just 12 minutes later, Ollie Hyland was show a straight red card by referee Ryan Calver. That left the hosts with 73 minutes to negotiate with a man disadvantage.
Westlake came close to marking his return with the equaliser but he volleyed over from a promising position.
Hassocks continued to dominate as the first half wore on, levelling on 40 minutes as Arthur Rawlingson converted a penalty for his first goal in Robins colours.
Crowborough made it to half time with the scores locked at 1-1 and put the interval to good use, reorganising so that they could better cope with negotiating the next 45 minutes playing shorthanded.
It took the hosts only five minutes of the second half before they retook the lead. Kyle Anson scored the goal of the evening as he weaved his way past a couple of Hassocks challenges before smashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner from the edge of the box.
The Robins responded well to that, grabbing their second equaliser of the evening nine minutes later. Marshall Smith had not long been introduced as a substitute when his snapshot from outside of the area caught the Crowborough defence by surprise to make it 2-2.
Both sides had chances to win it in the final 30 minutes, but it was the hosts who took theirs as the game made its way into the last five.
Crowborough had made the most of their rolling substitutes following Hyland’s red card, resting Bayley Colbran for half an hour between the 30th and 60th minutes. His relatively fresh legs punished a mistake in the Hassocks defence to put Crowborough 3-2 ahead on 85.
The Robins now had no choice but to pour forward in the search of their third equaliser of the evening and that left spaces at the other end for an energetic Crows outfit to punish on the counter.
They duly did so with one minute of normal time remaining, a quick break finished off by substitute Tom Anstee who produced a clinical finish despite the best efforts of Rawlingson and Harvey Ransome to block.
Hassocks: Ryan West, Wes Tighe, Jacob Kilkelly, Arthur Rawlingson, Jack Baden, Josh Hawkes, Lewis Westlake, Louis Thwaites, Ben Hicks, Jay Hudson, Lewis Beebee.
Subs: Marshall Smith, Harvey Ransome, Archie Russell, George Mercer, Sean McSwiney (used).
