Heath edge five goal thriller in Mid Sussex Derby which did not disappoint
Hassocks and Haywards Heath Town did not disappoint with the Boxing Day show they put on in the first Southern Combination Premier Division Mid Sussex Derby since 2018.
And despite the large gap in budget between the clubs – a sensitive subject for some Heath fans, seemingly – only an own goal separated the teams as 90 enthralling minutes ended 3-2 to the Bluebells.
You had to feel sorry that the scorer of said own goal was Hassocks stalwart Bradley Tighe.
When Tighe put through his net to make it 3-1 to the visitors with 20 minutes to play, the Bluebells looked to be on easy street.
Alas, the Robins were not done. Substitute Sean Stephenson pulled one back just two minutes after coming off the bench – and when Josh Spinks ended the game in the sin bin after complaining about a tackle on Tom Gilbert, Hassocks had six minutes plus injury time to try and find an equaliser against 10 men.
Relief amongst the large travelling contingent was obvious come full time, part of a crowd of more than 500 – easily the biggest at the Beacon since Burgess Hill Town were a Southern Combination club and provided the Boxing Day opposition.
During the first half, it was Heath who had the better chances. The first of those went to Hayden Skerry, who saw a low shot turned around the post by Fraser Trigwell.
Skerry was a real livewire down the right flank and it was he who opened the scoring with 24 minutes on the clock.
Heath worked the ball out from the back, finding captain Lewis Finney in a pocket of midfield space just inside the Hassocks half.
Excellently, Finney swept the ball across the field to Skerry, who now had a free run at Joe Bull.
Although there was a lot of ground to make up, Skerry charged towards the edge of the Hassocks box and picked out the opposite corner for a fine individual goal.
That was on 24 minutes. Not long after and Heath almost doubled their advantage via more good wing play from the opposite side of the pitch.
Having ghosted in from the left, Finney took on Harvey Blake after being found by a lovely outside of the boot switch from Skerry.
A quick swivel of the hips and Finney had cleverly cut onto his right foot, only to see his final effort headed over the bar via a brilliant piece of defending from Tighe.
Returning to the Beacon a month after swapping Hassocks for the Bluebells, Liam Benson had his first sight of goal just past half hour.
Enterprising play from another ex-Hassocks man in Sam Geard won possession for Heath with the ball then worked forward to Benson.
After driving from left to right, Benson created just enough space away from Tighe to get a shot off easily dealt with by Trigwell.
Benson and footballers of his ability leaving Hassocks is always a risk all the while the Robins stick to their long-held ethos of not paying players.
Unearthing new replacement talent from their youth setup has, however, been something Hassocks have thrived at – and the Robins are certainly hot on the prospects of youth team striker Josh Nandhra.
Nandhra levelled the tie with his second goal in his second senior start at a crucial time just two minutes before half time.
Collecting possession in midfield through Josh Mundy, Hassocks worked the ball via Alfie Loversidge and Jamie Wilkes to release Nandhra through a gap in the Bluebells defence.
Heading towards goal, the 17-year-old subsequently beat Alfie Jones on-on-one via a clinical finish to send the sides into the break level.
Onto the second half and Hassocks did more as an attacking force then they had through the first.
From a one-two between tall striker Wilkes and Pat Harding, Nandhra got on the end of a cross with a low effort too close to Jones.
Compounding that opportunity being missed was the fact Heath retook the lead a few minutes later.
Unmarked at the far post from a corner, Spinks was able to head home a pinpoint delivery.
Next saw lovely link up between Loversidge and Bull create a chance which Mundy flashed just wide before that unfortunate own goal from Tighe on 71.
The architect was unsurprisingly Skerry. He beautifully brought a down a raking Spinks free kick from 60 yards away, beat Bull and pulled back a low cross into the box which bobbled onto the shin of Tighe and beyond Trigwell.
Stephenson pulled one back five minutes later after being teed up by fellow sub Alex Fair, a low shot slipping through the hands of Jones to set up a tense finale which Heath saw out to move to within four points of Hassocks in the Premier Division standings with a game in hand.
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell; Harvey Blake, Bradley Tighe, Matt Gunn, Joe Bull; Alfie Loversidge, Josh Mundy, Mike Williamson, Pat Harding; Jamie Wilkes; Josh Nandhra.
Subs: Alex Fair (Wilkes 64), Sean Stephenson (Loversidge 74), Jack Troak (Nandhra 74), Leon Turner (Harding 74), Tom Frankland (Blake 85).
Starman: Mike Williamson.
