Robins bounce back in style by putting 11 unanswered past Town
Having gone down 6-0 away from home against overwhelming Sussex County Women’s Premier Division title favourites Eastbourne Borough last time out, Hassocks Ladies bounced back in some style.
Eastbourne Town were the visitors to the Hassocks Hotel Beacon Ground, where the Robins ran out 11-0 winners.
The last time Hassocks were victorious by such a margin was in the 2018-19 season, one of the most successful in the club’s history.
It ended with the Robins being crowned South East Counties Division One West champions and winning the Sussex Women’s Challenge Trophy.
Bexhill United were vanquished 17-0 at the Polegrove on that day back in November 2018; a result Hassocks warmed up for by being Victorie Development 11-0 away from home a week earlier.
What made this latest 11-0 success impressive was it came off the back of that heavy defeat at Borough – although the final score at the ReachTV Stadium only told half the story.
The Robins had to overcome a head injury to Emma Flin serious enough to hold the game up for 20 minutes and see her leave on a stretcher.
They only trailed 2-0 going into the final five minutes of the first half two and were starting to ask more questions of Borough than any other side have managed this season.
But two goals just before the break gave the hosts an unassailable 4-0 lead and meant any hopes of a famous Hassocks comeback were dashed.
Flin was ruled out for the visit of Town, one of four changes Mark Dalgleish made. Sarah Chappell and Katie Read were both missing whilst Lola Moon dropped down to the bench.
Sofia Harding was promoted into the starting XI after doing well when relacing Flin against Borough. There were also returns for stalwarts Tallie Bright, Jodie Johanson and Claire Stevens.
Katherine Chappell scored goals for fun last time Hassocks played in this division two seasons ago. Her hat-trick here moved her onto six in four appearances for the campaign so far.
Stevens popped up with a rare goal from defence and was joined on the scoresheet by three attack-minded players who consistently found space and tried to get the Robins on the front foot – Johanson, Kirsten Mair and Mia Pordage.
The other three goals came from Mandy Morgan, notching a sensational hat-trick from the bench. Morgan had not scored for Hassocks before, so this was quite a dramatic way for her to get off the mark in her second season as a Robin.
Hassocks: Elsa Cultlack, Tallie Bright, Claire Stevens, Xanthe Ganpatsingh, Mia Pordage, Jess Craig, Sofia Harding, Milly Dalgleish, Jodie Johanson, Kirsten Mair, Katherine Chappell.
Subs: Mandy Morgan, Lola Moon, Katie Lawson, Poppy Snelling, Anya Taylor (used).
