Goalkeepers on top in goalless stalemate between playoff hopefuls
Goalkeepers came out on top at the Beacon where fourth placed Hassocks and fifth placed Eastbourne United shared the spoils in a 0-0 stalemate.
Really, the outcome should not have come as a surprise. United are the Southern Combination Premier Division’s draw specialists with 11 now to their name from 29 matches.
Having lost just three games, Anthony Storey’s side would be well in the title race if they had managed to convert just a couple of those one-pointers into three.
Why United have proven so hard to beat is thanks to their mean defence, providing another reason for a goalless encounter coming as no shock.
Ex-Robins number one James Broadbent has conceded only 29 goals for United, the second-lowest total after Eastbourne Town.
Broadbent both reminded the Hassocks faithful of his talents and showcased why his current club have such an impressive defensive record with two outstanding second half saves to secure clean sheet number 10 of the campaign.
At the other end, Fraser Trigwell proved equally important as the Robins shutout a United frontline including the Premier Division’s leading scorer, Callum Barlow.
Dan Turner in particular did a fine job in keeping Barlow quiet, meaning that United’s most dangerous player through the first half was lively midfielder Ed Ratcliffe.
Twice Ratcliffe went close to giving the visitors the lead in the opening 15 minutes. Trigwell denied him first when narrowing the angle from a one-on-one and saving with a cricket-style long barrier.
Ratcliffe next glided past Bradley Tighe and Mike Williamson, only to bend his shot harmlessly wide of the post with only Trigwell to beat.
When Barlow then timed his run to perfection to spring the offside trap, Hassocks were somewhat fortunate to see his attempted lob over the advancing Trigwell drop onto the roof of the net.
A slow start for the Robins was reminiscent of their previous outing when Steyning Town left the Beacon with a 4-0 victory.
Unlike against the Barrowmen, however, Hassocks grew into the game and soon began to create opportunities of their own.
Harvey Blake chose the wrong option on the half hour mark when attempting to dink Broadbent after good link up between Jack Troak and Sean Stephenson.
The ball sailed harmlessly wide. Broadbent would surely have been more troubled by power over attempted precision.
Regardless of that miss, Blake seemed to very much enjoy himself in a more advanced role than his normal right back berth.
He soon popped up in the middle, releasing Troak with a superb defence-splitting pass. Troak looked to be offside but no flag was forthcoming though.
It therefore required an excellent sliding block from Alfie Headland to turn the subsequent cross away for a corner when Stephenson was ready for a far post tap in.
More good link up between Blake and Troak saw the former release the latter down the left with a fine volleyed pass.
Troak crossed first time and Stephenson improvised a clever outside the boot finish which just lacked the required power to seriously trouble Broadbent.
The second half was something of a slow burner. Tighe cleared away a low Barlow cross in similar fashion to Headland earlier, preventing United forward Ollie Hull from having his own tap in.
But from the 75th minute onwards, the game suddenly came back to life – starting with Broadbent’s first outrageous stop.
Troak laid off to tall striker Jamie Wilkes, whose powerful drive from six yards seemed destined for the top corner until Broadbent somehow reacted with a strong enough hand to turn it around the post.
Broadbent next used his legs to save from Stephenson one-on-one after a Tighe through ball sprung the offside trap.
Quite where referee Paddy O’Reilly got 10 minutes of injury time nobody seemed to know. The action though ebbed and flowed through the additional with neither side wanting to settle for a point.
Ratcliffe was millimetres wide with a low drive, followed by Trigwell matching Broadbent’s efforts by going full stretch to tip a Harvey Madstone 35 yarder over the bar just as it looked to be dipping in.
There was still time for Broadbent to have one more say as Hassocks countered from the resulting corner. Pat Harding picked out Troak, leaving the Robins forward to gallop from inside his own half 55 yards into the United box.
But when Troak pulled the trigger on a fierce near post drive, Broadbent flung himself to his left and turned the ball over the bar for his second stunning save of the day.
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell; Bradley Tighe, Matt Gunn, Dan Turner, Joe Bull; Harvey Blake, Jamie Wilkes, Mike Williamson, Faris Khalloqui; Sean Stephenson; Jack Troak.
Subs: Alex Fair (Stephenson 81), Pat Harding (Khalloqui 88), Alfie Loversidge (Wilkes 91), Tom Frankland (Blake 98).
Starman: Mike Williamson.
