Youthful Robins ease past Horley to make it two wins from two
How good a result this 4-2 victory for Hassocks over Horley Town was will only become clear once the Southern Combination League Under 23s North Division season is a little further along.
Horley had spent most of the previous campaign as the Robins’ nearest pursuers in the race for the title.
The 3-1 comeback win that Neil Parker’s side secured at the New Defence in February was one of the most important result in terms of seeing Hassocks be crowned champions for the first time.
Whether this Clarets side are quite as good as their predecessors remains to be seen. They had taken a 6-0 hammering at the hands of Broadbridge Heath on the opening day of the season, with the Bears backing that big win up by beating Oakwood 10-1 at the same time Horley were visiting the Beacon.
Hassocks host Heath this coming Thursday in what now looks like a mouth watering clash between the reigning champions of the Robins and their predecessors as title winners.
What made this win over Horley particularly pleasing was that Hassocks did it without several regulars ruled out for a variety of reasons.
These included early season injuries and the Reading Festival (music in the Berkshire town rather than a weekend spent reading books) which also seems to have an impact on the Robins.
That therefore meant three changes to the Hassocks starting XI who kicked off the campaign with a 3-1 win at Redhill the previous week.
Julian Durand was promoted from the bench. Kobe Dersley came in for a rare start before he returns to university and former Haywards Heath Town Under 18s player Will Lord made his first appearance in Robins colours.
Missing out were Dan Turner, Noah McHale and Josh Nandhra. Turner’s absence meant this was an even younger Hassocks side than had faced Redhill, when he had been the oldest player at a sprightly 23 years and three months.
Completing the youthful look, new Under 18s signing Evan China made his Under 23s debut from the bench whilst Sam Dean also got an opportunity as a substitute.
Two of the more experienced players provided three of the goals for the Robins. Sam Geard and Alfie Loversidge both started for the first team as James Westlake rotated his squad for the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup first round tie against AFC Varndeanians at the Beacon on Saturday.
Loversidge scored once here and Geard twice. Forward Geard has been in excellent form since re-joining Hassocks from Montpelier Villa last winter, including when netting his first senior goal in the 4-1 win over Lingfield a week before the clash with Varndeanians.
Durand was the other player on target, marking his full Robins debut by opening his account. The Horley consolations came via Rio Kanuga and Tommy McKenna.
Hassocks: Jack Thomas, Charlie Fogden, Kobe Dersley, Billy Dove, Ben Hicks, Alfie Loversidge, Sam Fernley, Will Lord, George Mercer, Sam Geard, Julian Durand.
Subs: Jay Hudson, Noah McHale, Jack Smith, Evan China, Sam Dean (used).
