Hassocks head coach speaks to Steve Bone at the Mid Sussex Times about the Robins’ strong start to the campaign
Hassocks have made a positive start to the new Southern Combination League season – despite being one of the sides in the premier division who do not pay players.
James Westlake’s Robins have been punching above their weight in the early weeks of 2023-24 and sit proudly in top spot with four games of the season completed.
Westlake is content with the Robins’ fast start, which continued with a 3-1 win over Midhurst & Easebourne on Saturday in which Liam Benson scored a hat-trick. with
“It ended up being a fairly good pre-season,” Westlake said. “We were disappointed to lose a number of key players from last season’s squad but bringing in the likes of Kyle Woolven, Matt Gunn and Ben Bacon has strengthened us.”
“On top of that, the signings of Josh Mundy and Elliott Hanslow on loan from Three Bridges and the recent addition of Alex Fair from Shoreham at the start of the season has given us more depth.”
“We played some tough games through pre-season and gave a really good account of ourselves, especially against a really strong Whitehawk side.”
Hassocks started their Southern Combination League campaign with a 1-1 draw at home against Eastbourne Town.
Since then, they have won 3-0 at Loxwood, 2-1 at Pagham and beaten Lingfield 4-1 before the weekend victory over Midhurst.
Benson leads the scoring charts with five from seven appearances in all competitions. But goals have in general been spread around the team.
Tom Frankland, Pat Harding and Woolven all have two apiece with Sam Geard and Joe Bull on one. At the other end, Fraser Trigwell has seamlessly taken over from James Shaw in goal.
The Robins have also coped admirably so far with losing Jack Troak to a fractured collarbone in only their third game of the campaign.
“We are pleased with our start to the season but there is a long way to go,” said Westlake. “Looking back at last season, we had some difficult results to start our campaign before we really got going, so this season, we really wanted to make sure we hit the ground running.”
“We have our own targets internally. Being one of the only clubs in the league not to have a playing budget means we have to work hard, with player recruitment blended with giving young players opportunities.”
“The management team and players will give it everything we have got.”
