Veterans whack Woodingdean for six to progress in County Cup
If the Sussex Veterans Challenge Cup is the piece of silverware Hassocks Veterans are eyeing up most this season, then they got their campaign off to a perfect start against Woodingdean United.
Six goals scored, none conceded and some very peculiar names sticking the ball in the back of the net made for a good Sunday’s work for the Robins.
The winners of this competition will be crowned as the best veterans team in the county. If Hassocks are to lift the trophy for the first time in the club’s history, then they will need to overcome some outstanding opponents, including Mile Oak who they could face in round three if both sides get that far.
This victory assured the Robins of their spot in the second round, where they will face fellow Mid Sussex Veterans League side Furnace Green Rovers at the Beacon on a date to be decided.
Manager Nick Newman had a very strong side available to him, featuring several changes from the line up who had beaten Charlwood 7-2 in the league four weeks earlier.
Lee Da La Rue Browne, Che Williams and Pat Harding replaced Paul Armstrong, Mitch Broadstock and Chris Maynard.
A veterans game was a rare treat for Pat, who is now no longer allowed to turn out for the Robins in Mid Sussex League fixtures on account of the fact that he has played too many Isthmian League games for Burgess Hill Town.
Pat may find himself banned from playing County Cup games as well in the not-too-distant future. Burgess Hill manager Jay Lovett is said to have concerns not about injuries or burnout, but of the impact on Pat of playing alongside Steve Spies.
“We can’t have Pat scoring two own goals, giving away a penalty, getting sent off and then going drinking with the opposition on a pub crawl around Haywards Heath afterwards,” Lovett is reported to have told the Mid Sussex Times.
Clearly, Spiesy’s infamous afternoon for Hassocks IIIs against Wisdom Sports over 14 years ago still reverberates around the footballing world, even with a man like Lovett who possesses a CV with clubs such as Brentford and Crawley Town on it.
Enough about Spiesy as he did politely ask that he was not mentioned quite so much in these reports, often written by someone who was not even at the game.
Focussing on the football and Pat helped himself to a hat-trick, taking his total to five goals in two Veterans matches so far.
Combined with the six he managed for the first team in April’s Southern Combination League Supplementary Shield, he is now the leading Hassocks scorer across all teams in the calendar year of 2021 with 11 goals. Not bad for a bloke who isn’t even our player.
At the other end of the scoring scale, brother Joel Harding popped up with what must surely be his first ever goal in Hassocks colours, what with him having played 340 games as a goalkeeper and everything.
The closest the club’s anoraks could recall Joel coming to scoring in the past is when he managed to hit the Chichester City cross bar wind-assisted kick from his own area in the 2007-08 season.
Laurence Robinson picked up the pieces, smashing home the rebound in one of the most ridiculous goals that the Beacon has ever seen.
Nearly as an unusual a presence on the score sheet as Joel was Brendan Leahy. Leahy does have an eye for goal but rarely manages to make the most of it as he is normally in a physio’s room somewhere.
Back-to-back starts and a first of the campaign made for a happy Leahy coming home from Woodingdean, with Hassocks’ other goal delivered by the in-form Jonathan Bundy who was scoring for the second game running.
Hassocks: Joel Harding; Che Williams, Nick Newman, Ant Humphries, Brendan Leahy; Adam Waller, Anthony Hibbert, Lee De La Rue Browne; Pat Harding, Steve Spies, Jonathan Bundy.
Subs: Matthew Hughes (used).
