Second award in a row for That Man Johnson
That Man Phil Johnson enjoyed himself in March. Four goals in five appearances took him onto 100 in Hassocks colours and earned him a second Player of the Month award in succession.
Johnson won the accolade in February for his free scoring form and it showed no sign of abating in the penultimate month of the campaign before an untimely injury struck.
He notched the important second goal in March’s opening fixture, a 2-0 win over struggling Loxwood when converting a Harvey Blake cross helped on by Alfie Loversidge and James Westlake.
A week later and Johnson claimed a brace in a convincing 3-0 win at AFC Varndeanians, moving onto 99 goals in the process.
The first was a clinical one-on-one rifled into the top corner after being played through by Leon Turner. The second was a penalty earned by the impressive Turner which Johnson duly converted with aplomb.
Johnson did not have to wait long to hit his century. Three days later and Hassocks went to Eastbourne United, where he struck after just 11 minutes.
Playing with the wind in their favour, the Robins hit a long ball over the top which caught out the home defence.
Johnson showed great pace and tenacity to power his way through United centre backs Sam Cole and George Olulode before firing low and hard past former Hassocks goalkeeper James Broadbent.
The goal was wildly celebrated and made Johnson just the sixth man to score 100 for the Robins in senior football after Phil Gault, James Laing, Pat Harding, Anthony Hibbert and Robbie Kitchen.
Johnson was not the only player making history for Hassocks in March. Second place in Player of the Month went to goalkeeper James Shaw, who set a club record by keeping five consecutive clean sheets.
The run started against Peacehaven & Telscombe in February with further shutouts following last month against Saltdean United and Horsham YMCA.
In March, Shaw extended the mean streak to more than 270 minutes against Loxwood and then Horsham YMCA.
Agonisingly, he was just four minutes away from a sixth clean sheet in a row when Eastbourne United plundered their late equaliser as the Robins had to settle for a point from a 1-1 draw at the Oval.
Shaw added another shutout to his collection a week later in the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup third round against Steyning Town, which finished 0-0 after 90 minutes.
That was his hardest earned since joining Hassocks from Tooting & Mitcham in February, requiring a string of important stops to take the game to penalties.
In the resulting shootout, Shaw scored the Robins’ fifth penalty and then saved Steyning’s ninth from Charlie Robinson to send Hassocks into the quarter finals of the competition.
Third place for March Player of the Month was Turner, looking very much over the long-term injury which kept him out through most of the autumn.
He picked up two Bedlam Brewery Starman awards for his performances in the win at Varndeanians and the useful 2-2 draw against title chasing Newhaven on Non-League Day 2023.
Turner scored in both those matches, as well as claiming two assists for Johnson’s brace in the Varndeanians victory.
