Robins breeze past high-flying Eastbourne United and into League Cup quarter final
There was no hangover from last week’s Sussex Bluefin Dennis Probee Youth Cup semi final defeat to Whitehawk for Hassocks Under 18s as the Robins were instantly back to winning ways.
And this first victory in three keeps alive hopes of ending the season with some sort of silverware as Eastbourne United were easily seen off 3-0 at the Oval in the third round of the Southern Combination League Under 18 Cup.
The Robins had given a good account of themselves in their 3-0 defeat last Sunday, only being undone by a hat-trick from Whitehawk first team striker Toby Reeder.
But even so, Hassocks knew that they needed a result to match their performances having let a 3-1 lead slip away at Central Division leaders Burgess Hill Town the Sunday before falling to the Hawks.
They certainly got that result here. A quick look at the East Division table tells you what an excellent victory this was the Robins. United sit second in the standings with eight win, one draw and one defeat from their 10 matches so far.
That leaves them two points off leaders Bexhill United but with five games in hands on the Pirates. There is every chance that the East title will be heading to the Oval come the end of the campaign.
Despite United’s lofty position and their impressive record of only losing once in the league so far, they had no answer to a Hassocks side playing some of their best football of the season.
The manner of the victory was made all the more impressive given the Robins were without their two leading scorers. Will Varley was absent whilst Alex Brewer was only named amongst the substitutes.
Also unavailable was Oliver Gosway. The three players who came into the starting XI were Jack Duckett, Ben Foster and Oliver Parker-Williams.
Hassocks have not exactly shone on their longest trips this season. The previous round of this competition had seen the Robins need penalties to overcome Selsey at the Seal Bay Resort Stadium.
There was no repeat of that on this occasion. Parker-Williams notched twice to continue what has been a memorable couple of weeks, having made his Under 23s debut last Thursday in a 3-1 win against Horsham YMCA.
The other Robins goal came from substitute Ewan Edwards. It was the first goal young Edwards has scored in Hassocks colours from his seventh appearance as a substitute.
Hassocks will now face Seaford Town at the Crouch in the quarter finals on Sunday 2nd April after the Badgers pulled off a shock 1-0 win over Burgess Hill. The Hillians elimination opens the tournament up a little more.
Having been the last Southern Combination League club standing in the County Cup, the Robins will be hoping for further excitement in this competition.
Hassocks are without a fixture next Sunday before travelling to Saltdean United on March 25th.
Hassocks: Jack Thomas, Sam Dean, George Gladding, Ed Tobias, Sam Fernley, Alex Wintle, Toby Munt, Harry Goatcher, Ben Foster, Jack Duckett, Oliver Parker-Williams.
Subs: Alex Brewer, Matt Mongardini, Ewan Edwards (used).
