Another County Cup final awaits after Under 23s win their big semi
Culver Road is going to become a very familiar venue for the Robins in April. The Under 23s have followed the Under 18s in making it to the County Cup Final after beating Eastbourne Town 2-0 at the Hassocks Hotel Beacon Ground.
It is the first time Hassocks have ever gone this far in the Sussex Under 23 Challenge Cup. A meeting with fellow Southern Combination North Division outfit Horsham YMCA awaits in Lancing on Monday 7th April.
Town made a strong start and were not far away from taking an early lead. A jinking run took the visiting captain past two Hassocks players followed by a shot just wide of the post.
Evan China was first to go close for the Robins. Oscar Kemp made an excellent defence splitting pass which sent China clear but his effort from a tight angle was turned behind by the Town goalkeeper.
It was from the resulting corner that Hassocks took the lead. Dan Allen rose tallest front and centre of the box to power home a header which gave neither the goalkeeper nor the two defenders stationed on the line a hope of keeping it out.
Lively Town top scorer Elliot Poole almost had a quickfire equaliser as Hassocks got into a mess playing out from the back. Luckily Poole could only fire wide when the ball came to him.
A similar story unfolded when the Robins’ attempts to move possession across their defensive line again went awry. On this occasion, Poole shot a long way over
Having opened the scoring from a set piece, Hassocks continued to look most dangerous from aerial balls into the box.
One such instance led to Kemp drilling wide and another saw China fail to get enough power on a back post effort easily gathered by the goalkeeper.
Quick distribution from the second of those chances caught the Robins out. Within 20 seconds, Town were one-on-one with Will Mizon but their finishing let them down once more with another shot placed wide.
Hassocks could clearly play better than they had through the opening 45 minutes. Whatever words were said to that effect during the break had the desired impact as the Robins took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half.
A gilt edged opportunity was sidefooted wide from four yards out and Kemp hit a volley deflected behind before the advantage was doubled from another set piece.
Kemp delivered a free kick which the unmarked Leo Charman steered home via a brilliant flicked header with his back to goal.
Town were left visibly deflated and Hassocks saw things out comfortably from that point, meaning a double date at County HQ awaits.
Hassocks: Will Mizon, Sam Fernley, Dan Allen, Leo Charman, Ben Hicks, Wilf Jenkins, Alex Wintle, George Gladding, Evan China, Kian Nandhra, Oscar Kemp.
Subs: Jack Duckett, Liam Deere, Will Hartley, Scott Smith (used).
