Right back passed the century mark in win over Loxwood
Popular right back Harvey Blake made his entry into the Hassocks 100 Club after passing a century of games in the 2-0 win over Loxwood at the Beacon.
Blake marked the occasion with the sort of typical swashbuckling performance which has delighted Robins fans in his three seasons at the club and tormented opposition left backs.
It was Blake’s good work in skipping around Shane Saunders and whipping in a dangerous low cross from the right which teed up Phil Johnson at the back post for the second goal against the Magpies.
Blake might have even scored himself, coming close on two opportunities to adding to the four goals he has netted over his two spells with Hassocks.
Mark Dalgleish first brought Blake to the Beacon in the summer of 2018 from Mid Sussex League side Sporting Lindfield.
Blake made the step up to senior football look easy and had soon established himself as one of the first names on Dalgleish’s team sheet as Hassocks finished 12th in the 2018-19 campaign, their highest placing of the past eight years.
With 40 appearances that season, Blake’s game time was only bettered by Liam Benson. It was a superb first year at Southern Combination level.
Blake would go onto be one of the few bright spots in a dismal 2019-20 season. He played 27 times and scored twice before the first Covid lockdown brought the campaign to an early conclusion.
The second of those goals was one of the best strikes the Beacon had seen for many years in a surprise 2-0 win over Pagham.
Blake picked the ball up deep inside his own half, charged 30 yards up the pitch and picked out the top corner from 25 yards out.
He departed for Crawley Down Gatwick along with Johnson in the summer of 2020. Blake turned out 54 times for the Anvils over the course of two seasons before returning to Hassocks as James Westlake’s fifth signing of last summer.
Of the Robins’ 36 matches to date, Blake has started 34 and come off the bench in one, underlining his importance to the Robins.
It is not just Blake’s contribution on-the-pitch which makes him a fan favourite, either. He has been known to help out around the Beacon in other roles, including running the Robins Bar when injured and doing an excellent job in drawing the half time raffle to ensure Dave John won every prize.
Blake and Johnson will no doubt celebrate the milestone with one pint or 10 in the Hassocks Hotel – if they haven’t already.
Congratulations, Harvey – here is to the next 100.
