Harding horror injury overshadows heavy Hassocks defeat against Hawks
A horrible injury to Pat Harding completed a miserable afternoon for Hassocks as they took a hammering at the hands of Whitehawk in their penultimate pre-season friendly.
The Isthmian League South East visitors were already 7-1 ahead when the incident took place in the final minute. A long throw into the box saw the Hawks goalkeeper come flying through the back of Harding in an attempt to claim the ball.
Harding was sent to the ground after the clattering, where he remained far beyond the final whistle struggling to breathe. X-rays revealed three broken ribs and Harding spent an uncomfortable night on the accident and emergency trauma ward under observation.
Miraculously, no operation was needed. Pat being Pat, he remained happy and sprightly despite the incident, much to the amazement of the hospital staff. He was hoping to be discharged by Monday, after which the road to recovery can begin.
Losing Harding ahead of the Southern Combination League campaign kicking off in a week is a significant setback for Hassocks.
James Westlake’s first pre-season at the helm had been going relatively smoothly until Whitehawk arrived, including when giving Burgess Hill Town a real fright in the Ann John Trophy in midweek before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat.
Hill and Hawks will share a division next season. Based on what was seen at the Beacon, Whitehawk look well placed to challenge for honours under new boss Shaun Saunders.
They were a class above Hassocks all afternoon, even as the Robins were their own worst enemy at times. Every loose pass or mistake made by Hassocks was punished, especially in a first half which saw five of Whitehawk’s seven goals arrive.
Charlie Harris was the undoubted star. He needed just 80 seconds to open the scoring, clinically driving home into the bottom corner after Charlie Bennett had ghosted in from his wing, glided across the by-line and crossed to Javaun Splatt who laid off to Harris.
One became two on 11 minutes. Over came a corner, met by the towering head of Will Miles to give Alex Harris no chance.
Hassocks were struggling to pass the ball out from the back in the face of an aggressive Whitehawk press. The Robins’ insistence on persevering with playing around in defence led to the Hawks scoring number three on 22 minutes.
Harris in the Hassocks goal passed straight to Splatt. He worked the ball to Harris in the Whitehawk attack, who made no mistake by firing past his stranded namesake.
The Robins nearly made it to half time without conceding again, and yet still somehow managed to leak another two goals before the break arrived.
Two Hassocks defenders fell over each other with the game in the 45th minute, leaving Lambert to slam home from close range.
Straight from kick off and the Robins surrendered possession again, Harris bending an effort with his right foot in to complete his hat-trick.
Robins fans looking for positives could at least console themselves by their side competing more in the second half.
Harris departing the action certainly helped, although the power of Saunders’ squad is such that he could withdraw his treble scorer and still have quality like Splatt on the pitch.
Splatt was denied a 54th minute goal to go with his two assists by an outstanding block on the line from a home defender. There was nothing anyone could do to stop him netting four minutes later, a half cleared corner falling to Splatt on the edge of the box to pick out the top corner.
A flurry of substitutions arrived for Whitehawk on 74 minutes. Hassocks were able to take advantage of the relative confusion, pulling one back through Sam Smith.
Some nice play down the left saw Lewis Westlake released. He crossed and although Luke Glover got his fingers to Smith’s header, the power and direction meant the Hawks goalkeeper was unable to keep it out.
Could Hassocks now find five more goals to level the tie in the remaining 13 minutes? Unsurprisingly, no was the answer.
There was just one more goal in it and that went to Whitehawk. Lambert delivered a ball into the box which looked poorly placed behind a Hawks trialist, until said trialist produced an acrobatic moment of magic to score out of nowhere.
That would have been a memorable note for the game to end on. Instead, it finished amidst those concerning scenes involving Harding. Here is wishing Pat a speedy recovery.
