China hat-trick hands Hassocks round two place on a plate
A rare Friday night outing took Hassocks Under 23s to Palatine Park to face Worthing Town for the first time ever in the first round of the Sussex Under 23s Challenge Cup.
It proved to be a good evening for the Robins, who ran out 8-0 winners down on the south coast to secure a home tie with fellow Southern Combination North Division side Oakwood in round two of the competition.
Town are newcomers to the West Division for this season. They are yet to win a game but Hassocks were not taking anything for granted, starting with whether the game was actually going ahead or not.
On arrival at Town’s impressive home ground, the Clubhouse was locked up and in darkness. Whilst the players got changed, the travelling Robins support decamped to a nearby pub.
This proved to be both a good and bad move. Whilst a lovely dinner was had, it meant missing the first 60 seconds of the game.
60 seconds in which Kian Nandhra managed to score, setting Hassocks on the way to their biggest win since Mid Sussex Derby success over St Francis Rangers in February 2023 by the same scoreline.
Nandhra was one of five changes the Robins made from their 4-2 win over Roffey eight days earlier. Will Mizon returned in goal, taking over from Fraser Trigwell and Evan China made his first appearance of the season.
There was also a debut for Sam Quickfall, a new signing from Haywards Heath Town. George Adlington completed the changes.
Dan Turner was in the first team squad for the FA Vase trip to Horley Town the following day with the other absentees being George Gladding, Oscar Kemp and Alex Wintle.
The goals flowed regularly after Nandhra gave Hassocks their first start with China in particular enjoying himself.
Having scored three times in the entirety of last season for the Under 18s, the winger helped himself to a hat-trick here on what was his full debut for the Under 23s. Talk about making the most of the opportunity.
The Robins were so dominant that it felt like they would score every time they went forward. Noah McHale added two with the final two goals coming from the bench via Ben Foster and Will Hartley.
Both Foster and Hartley were making their Under 23s debuts, rounding off an excellent evening for the newcomers. Under 18s midfielder Scott Smith also made his bow as a substitute.
Hassocks probably could have racked up an even bigger win had the Robins not had one eye on the first team’s trip to the New Defence the following day.
Top scorer Cavan Chedzey and Nandhra saw their game time limited via early withdrawals as they travelled with the senior side to the New Defence.
Hassocks: Will Mizon, George Adlington, Ben Hicks, Sam Quickfall, Sam Fernley, Tom Frankland, Noah McHale, Kian Nandhra, Evan China, Liam Deere, Cavan Chedzey.
Subs: Will Hartley, Ben Foster, Jack Smith, Scott Smith, Max Ward (used).
