Mid Sussex Derby success leaves Hassocks top of tree at Christmas
Two consecutive Sundays washed out by the weather meant that Hassocks Under 18s rounded off their 2023 with back-to-back Mid Sussex Derbies against St Francis Rangers.
The Robins made the most of the opportunity, following up their 4-1 win at Colwell Road on the last weekend of November by taking local bragging rights again with a 3-0 win as Rangers visited the Beacon.
There was little sign of rustiness caused by the postponement of those matches with Saltdean United and Roffey as Hassocks gave a professional performance to earn what was in the end a comfortable three points.
In the process, the Robins guaranteed themselves top spot in the Southern Combination League Under 18 Central Division going into Christmas with a four-point gap over other local rivals Burgess Hill Town.
The Hillians do have three games in hand however, and have won 10 matches out of 10 in all competitions.
Hassocks have pushed them closer than anyone when going down to an agonising 4-3 defeat at the Beacon in September.
The return game in the new year is likely to prove pivotal in the title race and well worth getting into the diary once the fixtures are announced.
Unchanged teams tend to be a rarity at Under 18s level but that is exactly what the Robins went with against Rangers.
Despite the lack of changes, Hassocks had three different players on the scoresheet from those who netted last time out against Rangers.
At the Hospital, Cavan Chedzey hit a hat-trick and Josh Nandhra provided the other goal. It proved to be a good couple of days for Nandhra, who marked his full first team debut a little over 48 hours earlier with a goal in the excellent 3-2 win at Steyning Town.
There was still a Nandhra on target this time, but it was brother Kian scoring his fifth of the campaign. Sam Fernley popped up with a goal and Evan China provided the third.
At the other end, Theo Bradley enjoyed a routine morning as the Hassocks goalkeeper and his back four kept their third clean sheet of the season.
Rangers ended the match with only 10 players after Teddy Ballard picked up two yellow cards. It was somewhat hard going for the visitors, who had no substitutes to call upon either.
With the final whistle came the end of a memorable 12 months for Hassocks in which this very young Robins team have grown and developed at an impressive rate.
Hassocks will be hoping to continue that into 2024 in both the bread and butter of Central Division football and as they look to go better than last season’s run to the semi finals of the League Cup.
And it is in the League Cup where the Robins will resume their season after Christmas, the rearranged second round tie with Roffey taking place at the Beacon on Sunday 7th January with an 11am kick off.
Hassocks: Theo Bradley, Charlie Fogden, Evan China, Ed Tobias, Sam Fernley, Kian Nandhra, Oliver Goswamy, Sam Dean, George Gladding, Josh Nandhra, Cavan Chedzey.
Subs: Will Hartley, Toby Munt, Ben Murray (used).
