Hassocks left to wonder what might have been following Senior Cup exit to Town
As the final game to be played in the second round of the Sussex Senior Cup, Hassocks and Eastbourne Town knew that a home tie with Bexhill United awaited the winners of their clash at the Beacon.
Both had beaten the Pirates in the past month – Hassocks in the league, Town in the FA Vase – and would therefore have viewed a meeting with Bexhill as a winnable tie to book quarter final place.
Hassocks have only ever gone that far in the competition three times in their history. Chances such as this to advance to the last eight have been few and far between since the Robins first entered the Senior Cup in 1982.
For that reason – as well as missing out on a potentially lucrative tie with one of the big clubs of Sussex football at the quarter final stage – their exit via a 1-0 defeat has to go down as a missed opportunity.
Hassocks sit above both Bexhill and Town in the current Southern Combination League standings, although not by much in the case of their Senior Cup vanquishers.
Town are four points and four places below Hassocks with a game in hand. That closeness in the table was reflected in a tight game, one which the Robins lost as much as the visitors won.
The only goal arrived on 13 minutes and was a poor one for Hassocks to concede. A corner was flicked on far too easily by one free man at the front post towards the back post, where Town captain Frankie Chappell had also been left completely free to head home.
Chappell’s goal came against the run of play. The Robins had started strongly and could have gone ahead twice in the opening five minutes.
Harvey Greig attempted to clear a Jack Troak cross, only to slice the ball up into the air and against his own crossbar.
Troak then delivered a whipped ball to Liam Benson who outjumped Chappell but put a powerful header just a little too high.
Town enjoyed their best spell after taking the lead. They encamped in the Hassocks half with lots of possession without ever really threatening to double their advantage.
The closest the visitors came was on 35 minutes. Anesu Sisimayi got away down the right and his low pull back found James Waters well placed front and centre of the goal around 15 yards out.
Luckily for the Robins, Waters lent back as he struck and the ball was last seen flying through the cold night sky towards Hurstpierpoint.
Hassocks raised their game back to the levels they had shown at the start after that let off. Troak came close to marking his 100th appearance in a Robins shirt with something special, cracking a strike from a full 30 yards which cannoned off the bar with Chris Winterton beaten.
The Robins hit the woodwork for a third time 10 minutes after the restart, this time through Phil Johnson. Tom Frankland and Harvey Blake linked up nicely down the right, the latter fed a pass to Johnson who stepped inside his man and smashed one from outside the area. It clipped the bar and went out for a goal kick.
Hassocks’ next chance also came to Johnson. Troak delivered a cross after scampering down the left but Johnson did not get the connection he was looking for and his headed effort dribbled meekly wide of the post.
Most of the Beacon thought Town had a second on 70 minutes when a Blake clearance unfortunately hit Bradley Tighe, falling kindly to Leon Greig.
Greig hit a powerful volley that seemed destined for the bottom corner until Joe Southam somehow turned the ball around the post at full stretch.
It was an extraordinary save from the teenager, who impressed again deputising for Alex Harris. And it really should have provided a platform for Hassocks to go on and find an equaliser as they created a series of decent opportunities in the last 20 minutes.
Pat Harding had not long been introduced as the Robins went three up front when he found himself in a foot race to a ball over the top with Winterton. The Town goalkeeper just got there first to snatch the ball ahead of the stretching Harding.
Raging Bull started a particularly dramatic final five minutes with a quickly taken free kick which released Blake into acres of space down the right.
Blake opted for a high and hard cross from a decent angle which nobody was able to connect with. A low ball drilled in with the potential to hit any of the plethora of Hassocks and Town legs in the box appeared the better option.
Johnson then saw a goalbound effort blocked by some heroic, desperate defending from Jack Murphy, who got a little carried away by hacking down Blake seconds later.
Bull sent in a dangerous delivery from the set piece which represented the last kick of the game. Not for the first time, no Hassocks play could get a touch to turn it towards goal and so the Robins’ Senior Cup adventure was at an end. Who knows what might have been?
Hassocks: Joe Southam; Harvey Blake, Bradley Tighe, Alex Bygraves, Joe Bull; Tom Frankland, Sam Rogers, Jamie Wilkes, Jack Troak; Phil Johnson, Liam Benson.
Subs: Mike Williamson (Wilkes 43), Pat Harding (Frankland 73), Sam Smith (Benson 85).
Bedlam Brewery Starman: Sam Rogers.
