Robins saunter to success in front of shocked Saffrons
You wait 17 years for Hassocks to win at the Saffrons, and then two victories come along in the space of nine months.
Having triumphed 1-0 at Eastbourne Town on Valentine’s Day, the Robins were even more impressive on the slightly-less romantic date of November 18th in running out 3-0 winners.
Two of the goals admittedly arrived in second half injury time, adding a fair amount of gloss to the scoreline.
But even so, this was the perfect way for Hassocks to bounce back from suffering only their second league defeat of the campaign last time out at Premier Division leaders Crowborough Athletic.
Good chances arrived for both the Robins and Town inside the opening 10 minutes. Alfie Loversidge did brilliantly to bamboozle Harvey Greig and get a cross into the box headed over from close range by Liam Benson.
60 seconds later and James Stone put an even more glorious opportunity with the head straight at Fraser Trigwell.
It was a busy start to proceedings for Stone, who achieved the impressive feat of getting booked within three minutes of kick off.
Stone and James Hull were not far away with distance drives, followed by Mike Williamson crossing for Sean Stephenson to head off target after drifting in from his left flank.
That Stephenson chance began a spell of dominance for the Robins. Home captain Frankie Chappell almost kneed a left footed cross from Harvey Blake beyond his own stranded goalkeeper Josh Barnett. Luckily for the Town, the ball brushed the outside of the post.
The half hour mark saw Barnett called into action twice in quick succession. He comfortably saved a Stephenson effort from 25 yards and a header from Jamie Wilkes after the tall striker got free to meet another fine Loversidge delivery.
Evan Archibald has scored his fair share of goals against Hassocks in the past and the veteran forward had two good chances in the space of five minutes prior to the break.
There was not quite enough contact on a glancing far post header followed by a curling effort which had Trigwell looking worried, only for the wind to carry it a little too high over the bar.
The second half proved a much cagier affair compared to the way the first had ebbed and flowed until Benson broke the deadlock on 63 minutes.
Some industrious play by the rangy Wilkes won possession for Hassocks on the edge of the Town box. The loose ball fell to Benson with his back to goal.
From there, the Robins top scorer produced a textbook Cruyff turn to escape Jack Murphy. Now facing the right way, Benson took another touch before drilling left footed into the bottom corner with aplomb.
Town almost responded immediately, Ollie Davies hitting a cross-shot from the right flank which almost dipped beyond Trigwell and in at the back post. Hassocks were relieved to see it drop behind for a goal kick.
Suddenly, the game became as end-to-end and entertaining as the first half had been. Alex Bygraves headed a pinpoint Josh Mundy free kick off target after escaping his marker and Wilkes put a shot wide.
That Wilkes chance came from a typically probing run from Leon Turner, introduced as a substitute on the hour mark for his first appearance since re-joining the Robins from Littlehampton Town.
Town came on strong in the final 10 with Stone inches too high from 12 yards on the angle and Archibald seeing a close-range volley kept out by Trigwell spreading himself superbly.
Archibald did have the ball in the back of the net with two minutes of the 90 remaining, only for it to be ruled out for… well, nobody seemed to know.
Not that Hassocks were complaining as they took ruthless advantage of the decision by killing the game off pretty much as late in the day as possible.
The 93rd minute saw Turner lead a counter, switching to fellow sub Pat Harding. When Super Pat’s shot was parried by Barnett, Mundy was in the right place at the right time to claim his first senior goal.
Wilkes then added the third in the 95th. Julian Durand had been on the pitch less than 60 seconds when he intercepted an attempted pass from Barnett to Harry Simmons, made ground towards goal before laying the ball into the middle.
A couple of Town defenders were on the scene but they could not stop Wilkes acting like the absolute fox in the box he is, firing low and hard beyond Barnett to complete a stunning victory.
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell; Harvey Blake, Alex Bygraves Matt Gunn, Joe Bull; Alfie Loversidge, Josh Mundy, Mike Williamson, Sean Stephenson; Jamie Wilkes; Liam Benson.
Subs: Leon Turner (Loversidge 60), Pat Harding (Stephenson 76), Julian Durand (Benson 90+4), Micael Fatela (Wilkes 90+5).
Starman: Jamie Wilkes.
