Veterans football comes back to the Beacon with a County Cup bang
The Beacon hosted Veterans football for the first time since the 2017-18 season as Hassocks Veterans welcomed Furnace Green Rovers in the second round of the Sussex Veterans Challenge Cup.
A healthy Monday night crowd turned out to watch some of the stars and legends of yesteryear (plus Steve Spies) pulling on the red shirt once again.
It turned out to be a good evening for the Robins too as they ran out 5-2 victors to progress to a meeting with a Mile Oak outfit considered one of the best vets teams in Sussex who frequently make the final of the County Cup.
A real test lies in wait then for Hassocks if they are to win this competition for the first time in the club’s history.
Furnace Green play in the same Mid Sussex Veterans division as Hassocks and like the Robins, they came into the tie having won two league matches out of two.
The Monday night kick off time meant a lot of changes from the starting XI who had defeated Woodingdean United in the previous round of the competition three weeks earlier.
Most damaging to Hassocks appeared to be the absence of Pat Harding, who seems to have finally decided as a well-paid Isthmian League player with Burgess Hill Town that he does not need to spent his Monday nights pratting around with Hassocks Veterans.
Also missing were brother Joel Harding, still suffering from shock at scoring his first ever Hassocks goal in the Woodingdean victory after 340 games as the first team’s goalkeeper up until 2010.
Lee De La Rue Browne, Anthony Hibbert, Brendan Leahy and Adam Waller were the other players absent, taking the total number of changes forced upon Nick Newman to six.
Coming into the side were former Brighton and Republic of Ireland Under 21 international Paul Armstrong, Mitch Broadstock, Dave Juniper, Robert Sayers, Simon Shivnarain and Mr 7/10 Richard Thompson.
Hassocks also named Phil Gault on the bench which means that yes, we are at the stage whereby a man who scored a last minute winner for the first team against Alfold 17 days earlier is picking splinters whilst sat in the dugout for the veterans team.
Lord Gault being Lord Gault of course climbed off the bench to score two of Hassocks’ five goals. Also netting for the Robins were Broadstock, Juniper and Jonathan Bundy, meaning that four of the goals were provided by players who did not feature against Woodingdean.
Newman – who led by example in picking up the game’s only yellow card – knows that he is working with a very good squad.
He will need to eke every bit out of it for that next match with Mile Oak, currently scheduled for Sunday 19th December.
Hassocks: Robert Sayers, Che Williams, Nick Newman, Ant Humphries, Mitch Broadstock, Paul Armstrong, Richard Thompson, Simon Shivnarain, Dave Juniper, Steve Spies, Jonathan Bundy.
Subs: Phil Gault, Paul Gurr (used).
