Miles to the four in Robins crushing of Crowborough
The Robins ran riot against Crowborough Athletic at the Beacon and at the heart of it was the four-midable Nathan Miles.
Miles provided four of the goals in a 6-1 win for Hassocks. The game was done and dusted as early as the 24th minute, by which point the Robins led 3-0.
Hassocks showed no signs of letting up against a Crows defence whose nervousness increased each time they conceded, going into half time 5-0 to the good.
The talk around the Clubhouse at half time was of record wins and how many goals the Robins could rack up in the remaining 45 minutes of football.
Full credit to this young Crowborough side then, who came out after the break surprisingly rejuvenated and able to make much more of a game of it.
Two things made the final score particularly impressive from a Hassocks point of view. The first was that the Robins had not won for five matches coming into the game, going back to another 6-1 win at the Beacon four weeks ago against AFC Uckfield. Talk about an emphatic way to break a barren run.
And the second was that Hassocks did it missing stalwarts like Anthony Hibbert and Ashley Marsh – going to show what a Jekyl and Hyde outfit they have been in recent weeks.
Mickey Jewell overcame the absentees by engaging in a shuffling of positions. Lee Bryant shifted to centre half to partner Stuart Faith, Elliott Butler dropped in at left back and James Westlake was given a central midfield role instead his usual wide berth.
That opened up an opportunity for Stuart Brown to make another start on the right wing, having impressed for Roy Staughton’s all-conquering reserve side this season.
Miles set the tone for what was to come when opening the scoring with just four minutes played. Visiting player-manager Dave Adams attempted a clearing header, only to succeed in glancing the ball straight into the path of Miles.
No second invitation was needed, Miles hitting a sweet first-time half volley with confidence which caught Crowborough goalkeeper Ben Head by surprise.
In fairness, Head would have struggled to keep it out even had he been expecting Miles to shoot, such was the crispness of the strike.
Jamie Weston was another player back in the starting XI after having to settle for a place on the bench in the midweek defeat at Horsham YMCA.
He doubled the lead on 18 minutes with a free kick driven towards goal with his trusty left foot. It took a heavy deflection off a disjointed wall to defy Head.
Miles made it 3-0 in spectacular fashion on 24 minutes when he spotted Head off his line and lobbed the Crows number one from outside the area.
A much simpler finish provided Miles with his hat-trick goal 10 minutes later, tapping inside the far post from close range following a Weston cross.
Crowborough only seriously threatened Simon Lehkyj once in the first half. The Robins goalkeeper had to show good alertness to make a smart save denying Tom Saunders from a matter of yards.
Not wanting to hand the spotlight completely over to his strike partner Miles, Division One’s leading scorer Phil Gault struck his 30th of the season just before half time.
There was a certain amount of cheek mixed with a little bit of intelligence as Gault struck a free kick which took another cruel deflection before flying into the top corner.
The Crows were rewarded for their obvious improvement after the break by pulling one back on the hour mark.
Lehkyj denied Alex Rich but in doing so, only succeeded in pushing the ball to Harry Thompson who tucked away from a tight angle.
Given the outcome was already beyond doubt and Hassocks had not scored for over 30 minutes, it was somewhat bizarre that Crowborough lost their heads entering the final 15.
There were three unsavoury bookings in quick succession for Crows players, all for dissent towards the referee.
Hassocks responded by adding their sixth with 10 minutes left to play. It was of course that man Miles with his fourth, in the process moving onto 20 goals in a single season for the first time in his career.
Hassocks: Simon Lehkyj; Rob South, Lee Bryant, Stuart Faith, Elliott Butler; Stuart Brown, James Westlake, Kieran O’Callaghan, Jamie Weston; Nathan Miles, Phil Gault.
Subs: Phil Johnson, Ryan John (used), Phil Wickwar (unused).
