Great eight for Hassocks in hammering of local rivals Rangers
Mid Sussex Derby Day in the Southern Combination League Under 23 North Division went the way of Hassocks and in some style.
The Robins racked up their biggest win of the season, hammering St Francis Rangers 8-0 at Colwell Road.
And with closest pursuers Horley Town only drawing 2-2 away against Lingfield, Hassocks ended the evening nine points clear at the top of the table and with a game in hand on the Clarets.
Hassocks may yet be challenged by Alfold, 10 points behind but with a game in hand. Fold beat the Robins at the Elliott Scott Group Stadium earlier in the season and are yet to visit the Beacon.
With March’s schedule now confirmed and that game not included, a potentially pivotal match in the title race will now be one of Hassocks’ final two fixtures.
Hassocks had beaten Rangers 6-0 back in September but form and league tables can go out of the window when it comes to local rivalries and this therefore represented a possible banana skin for Neil Parker’s squad.
The Robins head coach went with as close to the starting XI who had recovered from 1-0 down to beat Horley 3-1 at the New Defence in last week’s top-of-the-table clash as possible.
There were only two changes, both enforced. Joe Southam has returned to Burgess Hill Town after three months with the Robins and Callum Thompson completed a move to Roffey last week, leaving Hassocks light in the goalkeeper department.
In response, the Robins swooped to sign Fraser Trigwell from Loxwood. Trigwell had started 23 times for the Magpies at first team level this signing, making his capture quite the coup. He made his debut here and was relatively untroubled on his way to keeping a clean sheet.
The other change saw young prospect Phil Gault come in for Tom Frankland. Gault underlined why he is a name Hassocks fans should keep an eye on with a brace, moving onto three for the season from only two appearances.
Gault’s first goal came in a fast start for the Robins in which they took the game away from Rangers to eliminate any worries that the hosts might be able to cause an upset.
Hassocks led 3-0 inside of half an hour with Will Broomfield joining Gault on the scoresheet during that blistering opening spell.
The rest of the Robins goals came from more seasoned Under 23s players. Jude Wallis notched his third of the campaign, Sam Geard his second in five matches since returning to Hassocks from Montpelier Villa with Rangers contributing through an own goal.
JJ Minty scored the other two Hassocks goals. Minty’s presence as he continues to build up match fitness after a spell out injued continues to be a real bonus for Parker.
Hassocks were able to reward Ed Tobias for an impressive run of form in the Under 18s with his Under 23s debut, one of the three youth team players to come off the bench along with Sam Fernley and Alex Wintle.
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell, Jude Wallis, Jack Smith, Will Broomfield, Wes Tighe, JJ Minty, Sam Rogers, Sam Geard, Ben Hicks, Phil Gault, Marshall Smith.
Subs: Sam Fernley, Alex Wintle, Ed Tobias (used).
