Much changed Robins suffer second half Senior Cup sting by Wasps
When Hassocks were paired with Isthmian League South East side East Grinstead Town in the Sussex Transport Senior Cup, James Westlake said it was a good opportunity for the Robins to test themselves against opponents from a division above.
Even though the Robins were beaten 3-1 at the OHOB Community Stadium, Westlake will have been encouraged by what he saw.
With three big games to come against Bedfont Sports in the FA Vase, Newhaven in the league and Haywards Heath Town in the Peter Bentley League Cup, Hassocks rested several key players.
Yet despite making seven changes, they proved more than a match for an experienced East Grinstead outfit in the first half before the Wasps quality ultimately told late on.
Amongst the more eye catching selection decisions taken by Westlake were Dan Turner and Nathan Miles coming in for their first starts of the season.
Turner was last seen in the XI back in April 2022, at the end of a campaign in which he won both Players’ Player and Supporters’ Player of the Season awards.
He has since spent a year the other side of the world playing cricket. Miles meanwhile was starting for Hassocks for the first time since his retirement in the autumn of 2017.
In the absence of Alex Bygraves, Lewis Westlake, Jack Troak and Bradley Tighe, Mike Williamson captained the Robins for the first time.
East Grinstead had a clear game plan involving working the ball down the flanks to their dangerous wide men Max Walsh and Chris Alhassan.
Yet in many ways, this suited Hassocks. Turner and his centre back partner Matt Gunn used their height to easily deal with any crosses into the box.
At the other end, it was Alex Fair who looked most likely to make something happen for the Robins. Twice early on he went for speculative efforts from over 40 yards in an attempt to catch out Wasps goalkeeper Matte Pierson, who was taking sweeper-keeper to a new extreme.
It was once Fair got much closer to the Pierson that he managed to give Hassocks the lead. 27 minutes had elapsed when Fair dispossessed Matt Weaire on the edge of the Wasps’ box as the hosts attempted to play out from the back.
Fair duly bore down on goal and slotted the ball calmly underneath the onrushing Pierson to stun the home crowd.
The goal seemed to help the Robins grow in confidence and they played some delightful football to be the more dangerous side in what remained of the first half.
That meant whilst East Grinstead had plenty of possession, it was Hassocks who looked the more likely to score.
The best chance the Robins had of doubling their lead came five minutes before the break. A long throw landed at the feet of Miles but he could not quite get a good enough connection to his shot on the turn, allowing Pierson to save.
A moment of luck gave the Wasps their equaliser on 67 minutes. A corner was swung over and in amongst a mass of bodies trying to clear, the unfortunate Fair got the final touch to head past Fraser Trigwell for an own goal.
The next four minutes were pretty chaotic, to say the least. Kyle Woolven went through one-on-one, only to see his effort kept out superbly by Pierson.
Then on 71, East Grinstead took the lead. The dangerous Walsh cut in from his flank and drilled a shot through a crowd of bodies from outside the box.
With Trigwell unsighted, the ball nestled into the bottom corner to complete a quickfire turnaround for the Wasps.
Undeterred, Hassocks kept coming forward and the final 20 minutes resembled a proper blood-and-thunder cup tie.
Westlake threw on three attackers from the bench, introducing top scorer Liam Benson, tall striker Jamie Wilkes and Sean Stephenson.
The latter came within millimetres of sending the tie to penalties with only 60 seconds of the 90 remaining.
A cross came in which Stephenson got a good connection onto with a glancing header, only to see it drift agonisingly wide of the post.
East Grinstead made the most of the reprieve by putting the game beyond doubt in injury time to book their spot in the third round.
Walsh was again the scorer, latching onto a perfectly weighted through ball which he slotted beyond Trigwell.
Hassocks: Fraser Trigwell; Tom Frankland, Dan Turner, Matt Gunn, Joe Bull; Alfie Loversidge, Josh Mundy, Mike Williamson, Kyle Woolven; Alex Fair, Nathan Miles.
Subs: Liam Benson, Jamie Wilkes, Sean Stephenson (used), Pat Harding, Harvey Blake (unused).
Starman: Alex Fair.
