Hassocks find no way through in Easter Monday scoreless stalemate
When Hassocks and Crawley Down Gatwick normally meet, goals are guaranteed. Not so this Easter Monday clash between the sides at the Beacon, which finished scoreless.
Both teams seemed to cancel each other out, which perhaps should not have come as a surprise given the familiarity between them.
Not only was this their fourth meeting in the space of seven months, but Down named four ex-Robins in their starting XI and one more on the bench. It would have been even more had the Anvils’ top scorer Charlie Pitcher not had to settle for watching from the sidelines.
Even in the absence of the 32-goal Pitcher, Down could still call upon Oli Leslie and former Hassocks favourite Phil Johnson, who have found the back of the net over 40 times between them this season.
The Robins deserved a lot of credit for their defensive performance in ensuring that Alex Harris did not have a meaningful save to make all morning despite the potent attacking threat posed by the visitors.
At the other end, Alex Bellingham made a succession of fine stops to frustrate Hassocks. The Robins have been unfortunate to come up against two goalkeepers in fine form in the space of 48 hours, having been kept similarly at bay by Steyning Town’s Stefanos Akras in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at the Shooting Field.
Without the performances of Akras and Bellingham – or with slightly more clinical finishing – Hassocks might well have taken six points out of six over the weekend rather than just two.
The first half under the Mid Sussex sun took some time to get going, not helped by there being breaks in play every couple of minutes for niggly little fouls.
Lewis Westlake had an intriguing battle with former teammate Harvey Enticknap, and Johnson and Bradley Tighe also caused referee Harry Wood to halt proceedings on more than one occasion.
It was another of the former Hassocks contingent in Harvey Blake though who was the recipient of the first yellow card on 25 minutes.
He put Alfie Loversidge in a chicken wing chokehold when the young Robins forward attempted to break clear of the Down defence.
That was not the first time Loversidge found himself in the wars. He also took a boot to the head prior to his tangle with Blake when attempting to get on the end of a Bradley Bant header down in a half-chance for Hassocks with eight on the clock.
Blake’s booking did at least seem to calm things down, leading to a bit more action in both boxes. Alfie Edmeads made a superbly timed last ditch tackle on Michael Wood who was about to deliver a dangerous cross towards a lurking Johnson. Down defender Shaun Finlay then blocked a crisp Loversidge volley following an aerial Jack Troak pass.
A crunching Dan Turner tackle on Johnson led to Tighe playing a 60 yard ball into the path of Josh Short down the left channel to create Hassocks’ next chance.
Short found himself one-on-one with Bellingham but the angle was a little too tight and the effort drifted wide of the far post.
The Robins best opportunity of the game came three minutes before half time. A heavy deflection off a Down defender looked like it would help a Short effort from outside the box defy Bellingham, until the visiting goalkeeper showed great reactions to keep the ball out.
Better was to come from Bellingham with the follow up. James Westlake seemed certain to put the loose ball into the unguarded net until Bellingham appeared from nowhere to complete a remarkable double save.
The second half was even slower to come to life than the first. Short was wiped out on the edge of the box on 68 minutes and Lewis Westlake nearly marked his 100th Hassocks appearance with a goal, only to see his free kick curled around the wall clawed out of the bottom corner by the sprawling Bellingham.
A series of substitutions livened things up for the final quarter of an hour. Down replacement Luke Donaldson looked like he was going to trouble Harris with a well-hit effort after the Robins failed to deal with a cross, only for Tighe to make a fine block.
Troak was then able to take advantage of the tie opening up to scamper clear on two occasions. He nearly caught Bellingham by surprise by opting to take an early shot from 25 yards with space still to run into. The Down keeper just about got down in time, scooping the ball away.
When a towering Turner header from the resulting corner was blocked on the line by the fourth member of Down’s ex-Hassocks club Will Broomfield, you sensed that this was not going to be the Robins’ day in front of goal.
That was confirmed the second time Troak ran clear, released in the third minute of injury time by substitute Charlie Broad, only to be denied by the legs of Bellingham.
Hassocks: Alex Harris; Arthur Rawlingson, Dan Turner, Bradley Tighe, Alfie Edmeads; Bradley Bant, James Westlake, Lewis Westlake, Jack Troak; Alfie Loversidge, Josh Short.
Subs: Joe Bull (Bant 72), Charlie Broad (Loversidge 81), Wes Tighe, Luke Marshall, Jayden Dunkley (unused).
