Second half goals and another clean sheet give Robins victory in battle of the birds
Another win and a fourth clean sheet in a row means Hassocks are moving almost unnoticed into the ever tightening battle for a Southern Combination League Premier Division top six finish.
Second half goals from Alex Bygraves and the in-form Phil Johnson secured a rare 2-0 success over Loxwood at the Beacon, opponents who they had only defeated at home once before.
The Robins remain 10th in the table but are now just four points behind Steyning Town in fifth and with a game in hand on most of the six teams separating them from the Barrowmen.
And Hassocks should expect to make progress up the standards all the while they keep recording shutouts. You have to go back more than 20 years to find the last time the Robins went on such a mean streak of not conceding.
The difference James Shaw has made since his arrival from Tooting & Mitcham last month cannot be understated, especially in terms of the organisation he has brought to the Hassocks backline.
To secure this latest clean sheet, Hassocks had to withstand a lot of Loxwood pressure during a first half in which the visitors were the better team.
Kieron Joseph should have done better with a back post header from a free kick early on which he needed to get on target at the very least.
There was precious little else to report from the opening 20 minutes until opportunities at either end came almost from nowhere in the same passage of play.
Jack Troak’s attempted back header to Shaw lacked the required power and when ex-Robin Jake Lindsey got their first to round the Hassocks goalkeeper, Loxwood looked certain to score.
That was until a remarkable piece of defending from Sam Smith, coming from nowhere to get back and produce a stretching block which kept out Lindsey’s effort.
From there, Troak collected the loose ball and hit a long pass forwards. Liam Benson beat Brendan Millborrow in the air with a flick on which sent Leon Turner racing into the box.
Millborrow showed a decent turn of foot to catch up with the speedy Turner before using both hands to push the winger in the back and to the ground.
With no official close enough to the action, Hassocks found themselves missing out on one of the most blatant penalties you will see.
Chances began to come after that. Alfie Loversidge placed a weak effort straight at Loxwood goalkeeper Jordan Brown and Magpies left back Shane Saunders joined an attack to bend a high shot just wide of Shaw’s post.
Harvey Blake had a couple of opportunities to mark his 100th Hassocks appearance with a goal, being denied twice by Brown.
A crunching Benson tackle then turned over possession, James Westlake fed Johnson but again Brown stayed big and made the save.
Loxwood started the second half strongly. Callum Dowdell tried his luck from 30 yards with the ball last seen hurtling towards the 16.02 Southern service to Brighton.
Jay Popham was much closer with a free kick which skimmed the top of the net with Shaw scrambling before the Magpies had strong penalty appeals of their own turned down.
A miscommunication between Troak and Westlake allowed Lindsey to nip between the two and take the ball. In his attempts to retrieve the situation, Troak appeared to trip Lindsey.
Unlike with Hassocks’ first half spot kick claims, referee Paul Ransome had a perfect view of this one and waved played on.
That proved to be a crucial moment in the course of the game as the Robins took the lead shortly after. Westlake swung a corner into a dangerous area at the back post where Bygraves arrived to power a towering header past Brown.
Loxwood almost equalised immediately from a corner of their own. Lindsey delivered and substitute Terrell Joseph did everything right with his header, only to see Mike Williamson clear off the line.
The second Hassocks goal arrived eight minutes after the first and was well crafted. Blake skipped around Saunders after a throw was returned to him by Pat Harding and crossed low and hard.
Loversidge got a deft touch at the front post, Westlake in the middle of the box dummied and it was left for Johnson to tap in his seventh goal from his past seven appearances to double the advantage.
Loxwood seemed deflated after that and the final 20 minutes was dominated by the Robins searching for a third.
Westlake was too high from a Troak cross and Brown produced further good saves from a Turner one-on-one, a close range Johnson header meeting a lovely delivery from Joe Bull and a Josh Bradley piledriver.
Hassocks: James Shaw; Harvey Blake, Sam Smith, Alex Bygraves, Jack Troak; Alfie Loversidge, Mike Williamson, James Westlake, Leon Turner; Phil Johnson, Liam Benson.
Subs: Pat Harding (Benson 57), Josh Bradley (Loversidge 64), Joe Bull (Turner 78), Jamie Wilkes (Johnson 87), Bradley Tighe (unused).
Bedlam Brewery Starman: Mike Williamson.
