In-form striker hit three goals from four starts to take the award
Three goals from four starts was enough to see the in-form Liam Benson named as Hassocks September Player of the Month.
The importance of the striker’s hot streak is underlined by the fact the Robins failed to score in their opening three games of September before Benson found his shooting boots.
Blanks were drawn away at Little Common and Crawley Down Gatwick in the Premier Division with a 2-0 Peter Bentley League Cup elimination at the hands of AFC Varndeanians sandwiched in between.
Benson notched in the 2-1 FA Vase exit at Chessington & Hook United with a clinical finish on 50 minutes to give Hassocks the lead. Unfortunately, the hosts came back to win a roller coaster tie.
He then scored a brace as the Robins held second-place Broadbridge Heath to a 3-3 draw in a hugely entertaining game under the Beacon lights.
Benson showed a poacher’s instinct for his first, following in a Jack Troak strike from the edge of the box. When it proved too hot for Heath goalkeeper Liam Matthews to hold, Benson was on hand to gobble up the rebound and make the score 1-1.
His second goal arrived with seven minutes remaining, just 60 seconds after the Bears had moved 3-2 ahead. Leon Turner won possession and produced the perfect cross for Benson to meet with a powerful header. It gave Matthews no chance and earned the Robins a deserved share of the spoils.
Second place in Player of the Month went to Raging Joe Bull, who underwent something of a reinvention during September after taking over from the injured Sam Cash at left back.
Bull passed a century of appearances for Hassocks at the end of August, the majority of which had seen him play as a forward.
He took to his new role to a duck like water however, making himself undroppable from the AFC Varndenians cup game onwards.
It has been quite the sight watching Bull charging forward from full back down one flank in tandem with the equally attack-minded Harvey Blake down the other.
In third place was Mike Williamson, who showed the sort of form that made him one of the first names on the team sheet in one of the most successful sides in Lancing history prior to his move to the Beacon.
Williamson’s best game of September came in the 4-2 win at Horsham YMCA. He was an easy choice for Bedlam Brewery Starman with a midfield performance full of industry, helping the Robins to put four goals past a side who came into the clash at the Herbert Direct Stadium with seven clean sheets in 10 matches to their name.
