Robins earn deserved point to kick off the new campaign
The opening game of the 2023-24 Southern Combination League season took some time to get going, but once it did a big crowd at the Beacon were treated to some high-quality entertainment by Hassocks and Eastbourne Town.
It finished 1-1, a result which Robins head coach James Westlake said he felt fair afterwards. Most of those watching agreed with that assessment.
Both sides though could feasibly have walked away with all three points; Hassocks had they been a little more clinical and Town were it not for an extraordinary save from Fraser Trigwell right at the death.
Evan Archibald thought he had won it with his traditional goal against Hassocks, only for Trigwell to somehow keep out the forward’s header one-handed at full stretch.
The Robins had created the better second half opportunities before that, including when hitting a post as they mounted wave upon wave of attacks towards the west end of the ground.
In contrast, the first half was pretty turgid. It felt at times more like a pre-season friendly rather than the start of the competitive action.
There were appeals from the Town bench for a third minute penalty when George Cook went to ground under a Joe Bull challenge.
Cook’s lack of protest was evidence that referee Perry Hart had made the correct call in awarding a corner rather than a spot kick.
Mr Hart had a fine game overall. The only major decision he got wrong was to award Hassocks a free kick on the edge of the box following a well-timed Delwin Duah sliding tackle, from which Jack Troak drove a powerful effort through the wall repelled by a strong Taylor Seymour wrist.
Seymour was in the midst of a busy weekend having been man-of-the-match for Burgess Hill in their 1-0 friendly win at Whitehawk the previous evening.
Further chances before the break were limited. Town left winger Max Hollobone blasted into the children’s playground from a good position 18 yards out and Troak flashed a ball across the face of goal which neither Westlake nor Tom Frankland could quite latch onto.
Hassocks debutant centre back Matt Gunn made a good block on the stroke of half time after a lovely 40 yard switch from Hollobone created a shooting opportunity for Ollie Davies cutting in from the right.
The Robins hitting the upright gave an early indication that the second 45 was going to be far more watchable than the first.
Jamie Wilkes crossed, Benson’s glancing header came back off the post and Troak could not quite sort his body out in time as the rebound hit him from point blank range and diverted wide.
A few minutes later and Town took the lead. An attempted back pass to Trigwell from 30 yards away ended going out for a corner nowhere near the goalkeeper.
Laughter at that comedic moment soon turned to despair. Hollobone whipped in a dangerous delivery turned in by the stretching Nathan Hover at the back post.
Town left back Harry Simmons almost diverted a Bull cross beyond Seymour, the relief on Simmons’ face being palpable when the ball flew inches wide.
That relief would prove to be short lived, however, as Simmons would go onto provide Hassocks with their equaliser on 67 minutes.
Frankland nearly levelled before Simmons’ own goal arrived. Gunn picked out Troak, who produced an outrageous piece of skill to lift the ball over the head of Leon Greig and escape down the left flank.
From there, Troak hung up a cross to the back post. Frankland saw his initial header blocked by Simmons and then put the rebound into the side netting from a tight angle.
Frankland made way after that for new loan signing from Three Bridges, Elliott Hanslow. It did not take long for Hanslow to make an impression, his pressure on Simmons leading the Town defender to turn a Bull cross into the back of his own net.
The final 20 minutes brought a flurry of action at both ends. For Hassocks, Westlake saw an effort saved by Seymour and then fired high, wide and handsome from a Pat Harding layoff.
Harding himself saw a snap volley on the turn blocked. Harding’s fellow substitute Ben Bacon crossed for Hanslow to head too high and Bacon then sent an effort into neighbouring Hurstpierpoint when he had far more time to advance closer to goal than he realised.
For Town, Archibald saw a goal correctly ruled out for offside and Trigwell saved bravely at the feet of Charlie Gibson.
Town retained possession from Trigwell’s intervention, patiently working the ball back towards Greig. It was from here that Greig picked out the run of Archibald with a 50 yard aerial ball into the box, resulting in that brilliant save from Trigwell plunging to his left to preserve a point for the Robins
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell; Bradley Tighe, Matt Gunn, Alex Bygraves, Joe Bull; Tom Frankland, James Westlake, Jamie Wilkes, Jack Troak; Kyle Woolven, Liam Benson.
Subs: Pat Harding (Woolven 64), Elliott Hanslow (Frankland 64), Ben Bacon (Benson 81), Sam Smith, Alex Brewer (unused).
Starman: Jack Troak.
