Captain Kemp at the treble to send Young Robins into County Cup final
Oscar Kemp hit a sensational hat-trick for Hassocks Under 18s as they beat Shoreham 3-1 to advance to the Sussex Dennis Probee Youth Cup final.
It is only the second time the Young Robins have ever gone beyond the semi final of the competition.
The other occasion being when they were crowned best team in the County back in the 2001-02 with a side packed with future club stalwarts like Joel Harding, Anthony Hibbert, Stuart Faith and of course current chairman Pat Harding.
Hassocks will now face one of Burgess Hill Town, Whitehawk or Eastbourne Borough at Culver Road on Wednesday 2nd April 2025.
Local rivals Hill are still yet to play their quarter final against Whitehawk. The winners will then face Borough to decide who advances to the final.
The Robins had eliminated Isthmian League sides Hastings United and Worthing in the previous two rounds.
But the players were reminded before kick off that counted for very little facing a Shoreham outfit whose best results this season have come in the County Cup.
The Musselmen had claimed the scalps of Bognor Regis Town and Horsham. And whilst they might have arrived at the Hassocks Hotel Beacon Ground below the Robins in the Southern Combination Under 18 Central Division table, they recently drew with leaders Montpelier Villa.
Villa completed a league double against Hassocks earlier in the season. Shoreham also pushed second-placed Hill all the way in a 3-2 defeat.
What gave Hassocks an advantage was the sparkling form of Kemp. The Robins captain made it five goals in three Under 18s appearances since the start of 2025 with his treble as the Musselmen struggled to contain him.
Kemp opened the scoring on 38 minutes of what had been a tight, tense game up until that point. The timing was almost perfect, giving Hassocks a big boost going into the break whilst forcing Shoreham to have a tactical rethink at half time.
If the Musselmen wanted a place in the final for themselves, they knew they would now have to go on the attack and find at least one goal.
This suited the Robins and Kemp in particular as the match opened up. Fletcher Fane was introduced on the hour mark in place of Oliver Goswamy as Hassocks threw on another forward player to try and make the game safe by taking advantage of the spaces appearing.
Kemp duly did that, doubling the lead five minutes after the change. He then added the third for Hassocks with 15 minutes remaining, after which the Robins showed excellent game management to ease through.
Hassocks: George Lythgoe, Scott Smith, Evan China, Wilf Jenkins, Leo Charman, Kai Birchley, Charlie Bonwick-Adams, Oliver Goswamy, Harry Hammond, Oscar Kemp, Ethan Brasier.
Subs: Will Hartley, Liam Deere, Fletcher Fane, Nye Sim, George Drake (used).
