Six goal defeat doesn’t tell the whole story at leaders Borough
The task Hassocks Ladies faced heading to the ReachTV Stadium was underlined by a quick glance at the Sussex County Women’s Premier Division table.
Eastbourne Borough sat top of the pile, three wins from three with 29 goals scored at an average of almost 10 per game.
Given the quality of the opposition and losing Emma Flin after 23 minutes to a nasty head injury, the Robins did reasonably well to lose only 6-0 against an outstanding Borough side.
There was no easing back into the starting XI for Sarah Chappell on her first appearance of the campaign as Borough forced the Hassocks number one into three saves inside the opening three minutes.
Chappell denied Izzy Payne from a one-on-one and made an excellent double stop from Charlotte Gurr.
It proved third time lucky for Gurr against Chappell when giving Borough the lead on 11 minutes. Sian Heather threaded a through ball to Gurr, whose composed finish slotted the ball between Chappell and the near post.
Borough doubled their advantage on 20 despite valiant defending from the Robins. Rebecca Simmons went around Chappell, only to be denied by a last ditch tackle from Katie Read.
Payne picked up the pieces, crossing to Gurr. Read was not quite able to repeat her heroics for the second time in the same phase as Gurr finished despite the best efforts of the Hassocks defender.
Next came that horrible incident involving Flin, which saw the game held up for 20 minutes and the Robins player leave the field on a stretcher. Sofia Harding came on.
Hassocks initially used what had happened to Flin as motivation, putting some pressure on the Borough goal.
Katherine Chappell, Mia Pordage and Harding all had half-chances as the game became much more end-to-end.
Payne had Borough’s two best chances during that ding-dong period, having a shot saved by Chappell and then hitting the post.
An intriguing second half looked in store until two Borough goals in five minutes before the break killed the game off.
Simmons finished at the second attempt, collecting the rebound after her powerful close-range strike rattled the bar. Heather then made it 4-0 with a deflected effort from a Megan Rose-Griffiths through ball.
The second half now became a case of damage limitation for Hassocks, who could be reasonably pleased with their efforts in conceding just two more.
A magical run from Abigal Tucker set up Borough captain Kellie Larkin for the fifth on 54 minutes. Larkin then beat Chappell with a lob for the sixth in injury time.
Hassocks: Sarah Chappell, Xanthe Ganpatsingh, Elsa Cutlack, Katie Read, Emma Flin, Mia Pordage, Jess Craig, Milly Dalgleish, Lola Moon, Kirsten Mair, Katherine Chappell.
Subs: Sofia Harding, Matilda Lane, Mandy Morgan, Layla Robson (used).
