Robins hit Lingers for six without getting out of second gear
Six goals scored without ever getting out of second gear made for a comfortable afternoon at the Hassocks Hotel Beacon Ground as the Robins racked up a seventh successive league win.
Visitors Lingfield are one of only three teams to have taken Southern Combination Premier Division points off Hassocks so far this season, the sides having drawn 2-2 at Tinsley Road back in August.
The Lingers though are much changed since that day. A delay in carrying out drainage work at their Godstone Road home means Lingfield will spend the entire campaign living as nomads, rather than returning to base in the autumn as originally planned.
Hiring other club’s pitches and no gate or bar income has in turn eaten up their finances, leading a number of the players who caused Hassocks a fair few problems four months earlier to leave.
That meant there was a noticeable gulf in class between the teams here – and that this result was never really in doubt from the moment Jamie Wilkes opened the scoring with just four minutes on the clock.
Raging Joe Bull was the architect, carrying the ball 40 yards down the left flank and around three Lingfield players to reach the by-line.
From there, Bull pulled a cross back into the box which tall striker Wilkes fired into the roof of the net from close range.
Lingfield enjoyed their best spell of the afternoon in response and might have even equalised not long after.
Jack McDonell exchanged a one-two with Bradley Kauzeni and with Hassocks committing the sin of stopping to appeal for an offside rather than playing to the whistle, Jordan Brown was forced into a fine one-on-one save with his legs.
The next 30 minutes were pretty dull until Big Alex Fair started to become prominent. Fair’s first effort of the game lacked the power to trouble Lingers goalkeeper Sammie Saward. His second dribbled wide before it was a case of third time lucky.
Morgan Vale, Josh Mundy and the rangy Wilkes harried to win possession. The press eventually allowed Wilkes to break clear of the Lingfield defence and square to Fair, who picked out the bottom corner.
Fair was clearly delighted and celebrated with real gusto by standing on the spot, hands on hips, looking down at the ground.
That was on 39 minutes. Wilkes made it 3-0 just 120 seconds later when the Lingers – not for the first or last time – got in a mess trying to play out from the back.
Vale closed down Saward, meaning his attempted pass out to left back Jimmy Williams succeeded only in going straight to Fair. One touch later and Fair had played in Wilkes for a cool finish with aplomb.
Saward atoned for that moment with a superb save with his legs to deny Wilkes a hat-trick from a Vale headed flick early in the second half.
Other than that and a Hassocks debut for new signing from Lancing Shay Leahy – whose dad Kieron and uncle Brendan played for the Robins in the 2000s – there was precious little to report until the final 20 minutes, when three more goals arrived.
Bradley Tighe launched a low throw into the box which Jason Stripp did well to punch clear under pressure from Dan Turner.
The only problem with this being Stripp was not the goalkeeper, giving referee Pete Andrews what will surely be his easiest penalty decision of the season.
Substitute Charlie Pitcher duly converted for his first goal back in Hassocks colours since re-joining from Crawley Down Gatwick.
Pitcher did not have long to wait for his second. Four minutes later and Wilkes seized on a loose pass from Braiden Hall to play in Pitcher, who made no mistake with the finish.
A busy spell for Pitcher was rounded off when he was somewhat harshly sin binned 10 minutes later, denying him the chance of completing a quickfire hat-trick.
The sixth and final goal instead came from another substitute, Ruari Farrell. Before that, Brown denied Oliver Powers twice in quick succession as Lingfield kept plugging away.
Up the other end and Powers’ under hit pass back with two minutes of normal time remaining was latched onto by Farrell. He showed great strength to ride a tackle from Saward and fire into the back of the net.
Hassocks: Jordan Brown; Harvey Blake, Dan Turner, Liam Hendy, Joe Bull; Alex Fair, Josh Mundy, Harvey Enticknap, Harry Furnell; Jamie Wilkes; Morgan Vale.
Subs: Charlie Pitcher, Bradley Tighe, Jack Troak, Brendan Leahy, Ruari Farrell (used).
Starman: Jamie Wilkes.
