Fast start not enough for Young Robins who are vanquished by Villa
Despite scoring twice inside the opening 20 minutes, Hassocks Under 18s suffered their first defeat of the season as they went down 3-2 away against Montpelier Villa.
The Young Robins had netted12 goals and conceded only one through their two previous games, one in the Southern Combination Under 18 Central Division and the other in the Sussex Dennis Probee Youth Cup.
This therefore represented a bit of a reality check for a side who had also gone through pre-season racking up impressive results against Isthmian Youth League teams.
Hassocks made three changes from the starting XI who had seen off Ringmer in the County Cup last Sunday.
One of those came in goal, where George Lythgoe returned in place of Theo Bradley. The Robins have now rotated their two talented goalkeepers every week so far.
Leo Charman was available again and so took over from Harry Hammond. Captain Oscar Kemp meanwhile replaced George Drake, who came on from the bench at half time.
Hassocks knew from their experience last season that travelling to face Villa is never an easy task. The Robins dropped only 10 points in their entire campaign with two of those coming at Culver Road in a 3-3 draw against Villa.
That was the first meeting between the clubs at Under 18s level since 2021-22, when Villa ended up as Central Division champions – a sign they always produce good youth teams.
Hassocks were admittedly guilty of missing a lot of chances that morning. Initially at least, it looked like it would be a different story at the Falmer Sports Complex.
Villa Under 18s have returned to their club’s traditional home from Lancing for the season before being set to take up residence in renovated Old Barn Way, Southwick, in the not-too-distant future.
Only 11 minutes had elapsed when Nye Sim struck to put Hassocks ahead. He was joined on the scoresheet nine later by Fletcher Fane; so far, so good for the Robins.
But Villa rallied to find three goals of their own – one of them provided by the unfortunate Sim, who found himself in the wrong place and the wrong time to beat Lythgoe for an own goal.
It meant the three points stayed with Villa. Hassocks will look to bounce back next weekend when making another trip to the south coast, this time to take on Saltdean United.
Kick off at Hill Park is the slightly earlier time of 10.30am for anyone headed down to support the Young Robins,
Hassocks: George Lythgoe, Ben Foster, Leo Charman, Scott Smith, Kai Birchley, Charlie Bonwick-Adams, Fletcher Fane, Wilf Jenkins, Ethan Brasier, Oscar Kemp, Nye Sim.
Subs: Evan China, Liam Deere, George Drake, George Adlington, Will Hartley (used).
