Wonderful week for Under 18s capped off by convincing win over Lancing
What a week this has turned out to be for Hassocks Under 18s. First team debuts, Under 23 debuts, Under 23 goals and to cap it all off, a return to winning ways by beating Lancing 4-0 at the Beacon.
On Wednesday night, Sam Fernley made his senior bow from the bench in the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup second round win away at Forest Row.
Having only been on the pitch five minutes, Fernley played a part in the fifth Hassocks goal. It was his low cross that found its way to Danny Reid via Liam Benson – a Robins Under 18s player nearly a decade ago now – as Reid completed the rout over Frow.
24 hours later and seven Under 18s were involved as the Under 23s progressed in the League Cup via a 5-1 victory away at Chessington & Hook United.
Four of those were debutants; Alex Wintle and George Gladding in the starting XI being joined by Oliver Steel and Sam Dean from the bench.
Archie Hill made his full debut after being involved on the bench last season, Jack Thomas continued to deputise in goal for the injured Callum Thompson and Fernley was also started having established himself as a regular.
Fernley scored twice to take his Under 23s tally to three goals in six appearances. Wintle also grabbed a brace, making his a debut to remember.
Confidence was understandably high coming into the meeting with Southern Combination League Under 18 Central Division newcomers Lancing, with the Robins looking to extend their unbeaten run to four matches following wins over Mile Oak and AFC Varndeanians and last week’s draw at Shoreham.
For the first time this season, Hassocks named an unchanged starting XI from the side who came away from Middle Road with a point from their 1-1 stalemate.
Keeping faith in those same players proved to be wise as the Robins eased to victory in what was at times an ill-tempered game. Gladding, Steel and substitute Ben Foster were all booked for Hassocks.
Lancing fared even worse in the disciplinary stakes. George Hemming was shown a red card which did little to help the visitor’s cause.
Michael Macdonald, Rory Marashi and Herbie Evans also had their names taken by referee Harvey Ransome, who had a busy morning of it.
Wintle continued his fine week by getting on the scoresheet again to go with that double on Thursday night.
Will Varley scored twice to move onto four goals in five games whilst Alex Brewer maintained his outstanding form, netting his 11th of the campaign to keep his place at the top of the Central Division scoring charts.
Victory lifted Hassocks into third place in the table as the Robins continue to recover strongly from losing three of their opening four games.
Next week sees a break from Central Division action, Hassocks making the longest trip possible in the Southern Combination League to Selsey in the Under 18s League Cup – a draw which was met with many happy faces in the Robins camp, as we are sure you can imagine.
Hassocks: Jack Thomas, Sam Dean, George Gladding, Ed Tobias, Sam Fernley, Alex Wintle, Will Varley, Toby Munt, Harry Goatcher, Oliver Steel, Alex Brewer.
Subs: Oliver Parker-Williams, Ewan Edwards, Ben Foster (used).
