Routine win over Roffey routes Robins into round three
At the fourth time of asking, Hassocks and Roffey finally got their Southern Combination League Under 18 Cup second round tie completed.
It proved to be worth the wait for the Robins at least, as they eased to a 5-0 victory at the Beacon over their North Division visitors.
The Boars have won two and drawn one of their seven league games so far, occupying sixth spot in the table but with plenty of scope for improvement with games in hand on the sides above.
Only three of those matches have been played at Bartholomew Way. Roffey had been due to host Hassocks, but with the Beacon more likely to be playable, the Boars opted to surrender home advantage to the Robins.
Not that it had made much difference initially. Two attempts to get the game played in Mid Sussex fell by the wayside before this one went ahead on a pristine surface despite all the heavy rain of the week leading up to it.
Roffey had played since the second weekend of December, so they could be excused any rustiness following a three week break.
Hassocks in contrast had not been in action for a fortnight. They looked relatively sharp throughout, even taking the opportunity of giving starts to some players whose game time has been limited so far this season.
George Lythgoe made his full debut in goal, taking over from Theo Bradley. Will Hartley came in for a third start of the campaign and Toby Munt a fifth as Hassocks made a total of three changes from the side who beat St Francis Rangers 3-0 to secure Mid Sussex bragging rights a week before Christmas.
Evan China and Josh Nandhra were the two players joining Bradley in missing out. Hartley pressed his claims for more regular football, scoring twice to take his total for the campaign to five.
From the starting XI, Kian Nandhra was the other scorer. Nandhra now has six goals in his past seven appearances across both Under 18s and Under 23s.
The rout was completed by debutant Freddy Searle, whose two goals as a substitute made for a very impressive first appearance in Robins colours.
With further minutes from the bench given to Will Varley, Marko Gabric and Ben Foster along with Searle, it proved to be an excellent morning in terms of Hassocks flexing their powerful squad.
The Robins will now face fellow Central Division outfit Lancing in round four of the competition, the Lancers having seen off Worthing United 3-1 at the Robert Albon Memorial Ground.
That game is scheduled to take place on Sunday 4th February at the Beacon. Lancing sit third in the Central Division, six points behind Hassocks.
The sides are yet to meet so far this season, although they will face off before their cup date with the Lancers heading to Mid Sussex for league action in two weeks.
Hassocks: George Lythgoe, Charlie Fogden, Toby Munt, Ed Tobias, Sam Fernley, Kian Nandhra, Oliver Goswamy, Sam Dean, George Gladding, Will Hartley, Cavan Chedzey.
Subs: Will Varley, Freddy Searle, Ben Foster, Marko Gabric (used).
