No sting in the tail for Robins in convincing win at the Nest
There was no sting in the tail for Hassocks from their rearranged trip to Loxwood where the Robins ran out easy 3-0 winners.
The original meeting between these two sides had to be postponed back in September when a wasp nest appeared overnight in one of the goals at the home of the Magpies, somewhat ironically called the Nest.
But the delay ended up working out quite well for Hassocks, who were buzzing to get back to winning ways after their weekend FA Vase exit on penalties to Tunbridge Well.
Loxwood sat sixth back then and were being touted as potential dark horses for the playoffs after an impressive start to the campaign.
However, the intervening six weeks have seen the Magpies part way with their management team, a huge turnover of players and a drop to 15th after winning just one of their past eight Premier Division matches.
The margin of this defeat would have been far greater than three were it not for a stunning display of goalkeeping from Andy Barr.
This was Barr’s first appearance since rejoining Loxwood after a couple of years out of football. He produced save after save which, coupled with some lax finishing from the Robins, kept the score down. It is no exaggeration to say it could have been eight or nine otherwise.
Hassocks put their first three efforts off target across the opening 20 minutes. Jack Troak swarmed forward to keep a ball in play through sheer bloody mindedness. Ruari Farrell subsequently laid off to Noah Hoffmann, who dragged wide.
The lively Farrell then won a downwards header which Big Alex Fair volleyed into a tree. 120 seconds later and Fair sliced another volley wide from a Harvey Enticknap cross.
Not to say that Fair was frustrated, but his scream of “Oh my God” could be heard in neighbouring Alfold.
Fair’s frustration soon dissipated though when he broke the deadlock on 21 minutes, beating Barr from front and centre 15 yards out.
Barr made the first of his many saves with 31 on the clock, beating away a powerful Josh Mundy effort after the young midfielder disposed a Loxwood counterpart.
The Magpies goalkeeper then got behind a Fair shot, tipped a Mundy corner onto the bar and kept out an Ollie Thompson own goal attempt from point blank range.
A Hassocks miss which defied belief rounded off the opening 45. Liam Hendy headed a Mundy delivery down across the face of goal straight to the feet of Troak.
Not only did Troak somehow fail to convert from two yards, but he also managed to scoop the ball away from Farrell and Fair waiting one yard out. It dropped beyond the far post and out for a goal kick.
The Robins were almost made to pay for their prolificacy four minutes after the break when Loxwood left back Lucas Sewell drilled a shot from halfway. It was an outrageous effort near-perfectly executed, the ball crashing into Jordan Brown’s crossbar.
That wake up call was immediately heeded by Hassocks, who won a penalty two minutes later. Troak was clever in drawing a clip from Barr when it initially looked like the Robins winger had lost control of the ball.
Thoughts amongst the travelling contingent immediately turned to Saturday at Culverden Stadium, when Hassocks put three consecutive penalties into the car park.
The shootout against Wells did not go far enough for Farrell to take. Which was a shame as he showed how it should be done, firing a perfect penalty into the bottom corner.
Hassocks rattled through their subs after that, including a first appearance for Charlie Pitcher since his return from Crawley Down.
How James Westlake keeps three quality strikers like Farrell, Pitcher and Morgan Vale happy is an interesting question going forward.
Perhaps we got a glimpse of the answer with Vale coming off the bench as a number 10. He needed just five minutes in a deeper role to round off the scoring, intercepting a pass on halfway before driving forward and picking out the bottom corner from 25 yards.
Barr meanwhile denied Dan Turner a hat-trick with three reaction saves from powerful headers. He also nicked a ball off Alfie Loversidge with the trigger about to be pulled, used an extended leg to deny Pitcher and saved twice in the same goalmouth scramble from Farrell and Will Berry.
Hassocks: Jordan Brown; Harvey Blake, Dan Turner, Liam Hendy, Joe Bull; Alex Fair, Josh Mundy, Harvey Enticknap, Jack Troak; Noah Hoffmann; Ruari Farrell.
Subs: Will Berry, Morgan Vale, Alfie Loversidge, Bradley Tighe, Charlie Pitcher (used).
Starman: Ruari Farrell.
