Goalkeeper and midfielder come in to bolster Hassocks squad
Hassocks have bolstered their squad with two new additions arriving at the Beacon in goalkeeper Joe Southam and midfielder Tom Tennant.
19-year-old Southam has been dual-signed from Burgess Hill Town after Robins number one Alex Harris was struck down with illness in the week leading up to the visit of Lingfield to Mid Sussex.
When Harris failed to recover, Southam was handed his senior debut. It was his first competitive 90 minutes in six months but he showed no sign of rustiness, impressing in helping Hassocks to a 2-2 draw.
Lingfield came flying out of the traps and took the lead inside of three minutes with a clinical goal scored on the counter.
Southam then had to make two important saves in quick succession, without which the Robins could easily have been three goals behind and with the game potentially over before the 10 minute mark.
The teenager is highly thought of at the More Than Tyres Stadium, where he was named Players’ Player of the Season for Hill’s Under 18s in 2021-22.
That form was rewarded with Jay Lovett including Southam in several Isthmian League squads towards the end of the campaign.
Southam is the second young player to move to the Beacon from Hill in the past month. Winger JJ Minty made the switch at the end of October, also dual-signed having started the campaign with a similar agreement to gain experience of senior football at Eastbourne Town. Minty has looked lively in his four Hassocks appearances to date with more to come.
Tennant meanwhile arrives from the Robins’ Southern Combination League Premier Division rivals Loxwood. He has played eight times this season for the Magpies having switched to the Nest from Copthorne after four appearances in the current campaign for the Division Two outfit.
Tennant was a regular for Copthorne last season, playing 25 games and scoring three goals. In the 2020-21 campaign, he represented another Division Two side in Charlwood.
Tennant’s arrival increases the ex-Loxwood contingent at the Beacon, although he was not a Magpies player when any of Lewis Westlake, Sam Smith, Leon Turner, Charlie Broad, Tom Frankland or head coach James Westlake were at the Nest.
There has been one recent departure from the Beacon, Sam Geard having joined Montpelier Villa in search of first team football.
Geard came through the Under 18s and played five times for the Under 23s this season, scoring once. He made three senior appearances in 2021-22.
