Peacehaven homecoming ends with Hassocks hitting Westlake target
Had James Westlake publicly revealed 10 days ago he had set his Hassocks players a target of nine points from three tough away games in the space of a week, a lot of people probably would have thought him mad.
But with their 3-1 win at Peacehaven & Telscombe, nine points is what the Robins have delivered from trips to Petersfield Town, Horsham YMCA and now the new-look Window Workshop Sports Park.
Petersfield had lost only twice at home all season before Hassocks rocked up and beat them 1-0. YM were buoyed by surprising second-place Roffey 2-1 three days earlier yet the Robins easily swatted them aside.
Peacehaven looked the toughest game of the lot. Hassocks rarely win in this part of the world and the Tye had added motivation with this being the first game on their new 3G pitch.
The process of installing artificial grass has not been smooth, most notably when Roman artefacts were found during excavation work.
Peacehaven have therefore spent eight months playing ‘home’ fixtures at venues including Steyning Town, Eastbourne Town and Shoreham.
A huge crowd of nearly 600 turned out for the Tye’s homecoming. Peacehaven pulled out all the stops, even having a popup bar selling Silver Rocket’s Hazy Robin beer – normally only available at the Hassocks Hotel Beacon Ground.
Hassocks though proved unobliging party guests. In-form Charlie Pitcher being the main spoilsport as his two first half goals sent the Robins into the break in a commanding position.
Peacehaven predictably came out fired up, looking to make a fast start. Fraser Trigwell was the first goalkeeper asked to find out how the new surface bounced.
The Hassocks number one did well to turn away a low effort from distance after Alexandros Angelis cut in from the left flank.
A less pleasant experience awaited Peacehaven goalkeeper Ryan Hammond with his opening piece of work on 20 minutes.
Jack Troak hit a powerful shot which Hammond could only parry straight to Pitcher, who tucked home the rebound.
That moment ended the Tye’s decent start and made up for Pitcher skewing a good chance wide of the post with only Hammond to beat a couple of minutes earlier.
Pitcher doubled the Hassocks lead on the half hour mark with a stunning effort. Josh Mundy clipped a pass over the Peacehaven defence with Pitcher springing the offside trap expertly and cutting inside.
The angle initially appeared impossibly tight but Pitcher somehow managed to pick out the far corner after firing across Hammond.
Pitcher almost had his hat-trick from a similar break and position five minutes before the interval. Another Mundy pass saw Pitcher outmuscle Tye captain Jake Bradley to get in one-on-one. This time, Hammond made an excellent save.
Peacehaven repeated their strong start to the first half at the beginning of the second, leading to the hosts pulling one back on 50 minutes.
Bradley sent over a right wing cross met with a textbook looping header from Max Mesquita with his first touch after coming off the bench at half time.
With the home fans finding their voice and Peacehaven enjoying a visible confidence boost from pulling one back, things suddenly seemed a little tricky for Hassocks.
But after another spell of Tye pressure was weathered, the Robins restored the two-goal advantage on 63 minutes.
Raging Joe Bull delivered a corner met by a powerful Bradley Tighe header forcing Hammond into a superb reaction save.
Reacting quickest, tall striker Jamie Wilkes managed to get one of his giraffe-like legs onto the loose ball, sending it over two Peacehaven players on the line and into the back of the net.
Four minutes later and Trigwell made a good double save when Mesquita got in thanks to an unfortunate slip from Harvey Blake.
Other than that, it was relatively comfortable for Hassocks through the final 30. There was even a league debut for Oscar Kemp off the bench.
A deserved reward after the Under 18s captain scored a hat-trick last Sunday in a 3-0 win over Shoreham which sent the youth team into their first County Cup Final in 23 years.
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell; Harvey Blake, Dan Turner, Bradley Tighe, Joe Bull; Harry Furnell, Josh Mundy, Harvey Enticknap, Jack Troak; Jamie Wilkes; Charlie Pitcher.
Subs: Alfie Loversidge (Furnell), Morgan Vale (Pitcher) Oscar Kemp (Enticknap), Liam Hendy, Ruari Farrell (unused).
Starman: Jack Troak.
