Robins knocked off the Vase carousel in roller coaster tie at Chessington & Hook
It was another one of those days for Hassocks. Despite being the better side, the Robins were booted off the Isuzu FA Vase carousel following a roller coaster 90 minutes away at Chessington & Hook United.
The hosts were down to 10 men and seemed to be happily holding on for the lottery of penalties with 60 seconds of normal time remaining and the scores locked at 1-1.
Two United substitutes however had other ideas. Ayden Richards led a break down the left which caught Hassocks by surprise.
When he managed to slip a low pass beyond Harvey Blake and into 18-year-old Bailey Ellis, the teenager produced the sort of clinical finish which had defied Hassocks all afternoon to ensure that Chessington’s ride continues into the first round proper of the competition.
The Robins should have been out of sight by that point. Just like in recent defeats to Little Common, AFC Varndeanians and Crawley Down Gatwick, Hassocks missed a succession of gilt-edged opportunities.
Credit though to a very youthful United side. Their equalising goal came on 66 minutes from a player even younger than Ellis, 16-year-old Ellis Dunn having cancelled out Liam Benson’s opener.
Chessington spent much of the 90 having to weather a sea-storm, picking their moment to strike like a vampire late on to spark scenes of jubilation amongst the Chalky Lane faithful at knocking out opponents from one division higher.
The opening 15 minutes was one-way traffic, other than a Chessington corner nearly creeping directly in when Alex Harris appeared to be impeded.
Leon Turner drew a good stop from Andrew Osei inside of 180 seconds before firing the follow up over the bar. That was the start of a busy afternoon for Osei.
His next intervention was to make a strong save low down to his right from Jack Troak collecting Pat Harding’s flick on of a Harris goal kick.
Chessington could have been reduced in number as early as the 13th minute. Turner capitalised on a loose pass and was haring in on goal when Aaron Cole-Bolt brought down the Robins speedster just outside the box.
Hassocks wanted a red as they felt Cole-Bolt had been the last man. The referee did not agree and Cole-Bolt was relieved to get away with a booking, leaving him to walk a disciplinary tightrope.
The Robins made a circus of the free kick but were given a second bite of the cherry when Chessington committed another foul when attempting to clear. Troak stepped up this time, his low effort comfortably held by Osei.
Turner was causing real problems with just his decision making letting him down on occasions. In one instance, he picked the pocket of the Chessington right back and should have squared to Benson who was queuing in the middle. Instead, Turner went for goal himself with a weak left footed shot easy to repel for Osei.
Troak learned from Turner’s mistake when released by Harris, cutting the ball back to Benson. The striker did well to shift around Cole-Bolt, only to fire into orbit.
Two more chances came from Troak before the break. A free kick was straight at Osei and then Benson turned provider, crossing to Troak who headed straight down the throat of the United number one.
The second half began exactly where the first had left off. Blake delivered a free kick into the box which Troak volleyed over when he should have at least hit the target.
Hassocks finally broke the deadlock with a well-worked goal on 50 minutes. Turner robbed Cole-Bolt, James Westlake worked the ball to Harding who delivered a perfect low cross to leave Benson with a tap in from on the goal line.
“Surprised we didn’t find a way to miss that,” quipped one relieved travelling fan. The joke wore thin quite quickly when Benson scuffed wide twice in quick succession from Troak crosses, followed by Chessington punishing all those previous Hassocks misses by finding an equaliser out of nothing.
Dunn took a corner which Blake on the front post and Harris got in a right mess from. The ball somehow sailed between the pair and into the back of the net.
Another driving run from Turner saw him beat three men before firing over when again there were better options for the pass.
Then came the red card. George Fry let the referee know in no uncertain terms that he felt he had been fouled in the middle of the park.
Those protests saw Fry talk himself into a sin bin, then upgraded to a dismissal following a quite spectacular piece of continued ranting and raving.
Unfortunately, Hassocks seemed to find it harder playing against 10. They created only one chance of note in the final 20 minutes when substitute Phil Johnson glanced a header wide from a free kick.
That left the spectre of spot kicks looming large until Ellis struck on 89 minutes, Hassocks seeing their FA Vase adventure ended by Chessington at the earliest hurdle.
Hassocks: Alex Harris; Harvey Blake, Alex Bygraves, Bradley Tighe, Joe Bull; Leon Turner, James Westlake, Jamie Wilkes, Jack Troak; Pat Harding, Liam Benson.
Subs: Phil Johnson (Harding 75), Danny Reid (Turner 86), Will Broomfield, Sam Cash, Charlie Broad, Charlie Tuck (unused).
Bedlam Brewery Starman: Jamie Wilkes.
