WICK WIN AS ROBINS END SEASON WITH WHIMPER
It was with a whimper rather than a bang that Hassocks finished their season as they fell to a 4-1 home defeat to Wick & Barnham United.
The Robins had gone into the break one goal to the good after Jonno Melia took his tally for the season into double figures but the visitors hit back with four unanswered second half goals as Hassocks totally fell apart after the break.
There was a sizeable crowd crammed into the Beacon thanks partly to Hassocks Falcons taking on Marle Place in an enjoyable Under 7s exhibition match before Hassocks and Wick locked horns in the final game of the campaign..
Those young players and their families who stayed on from the preceding action were rewarded with an entertaining first half.
Phil Gault in particular looked lively in the opening exchanges. The talismanic forward had a decent effort stopped by United goalkeeper Jordan Matthews, saw a good interception deny him the chance to latch onto a near-perfect ball from James Oliver and Matthews again blocked a one-on-one effort.
From the resulting corner, Rowan Wallis channelled his inner Jackie Chan with a left footed roundhouse volley that was just over.
The Jack and Jill Sniper was back with a vengeance as a Wick player hit the deck all too easily after a Tom Barnes challenge in the box.
Wick count among their squad the Premier Division’s second top goalscorer in Daniel Simmonds and he belatedly began to make an impression on the game once things calmed down after that breakneck start.
He started by rattling the Hassocks crossbar from a full 30 yards, lashing just wide and then beating Barnes only to see his effort comfortably saved by Alex Harris.
That was followed by Melia’s opener. The rapid winger played an absolutely delightful one-two with Michael Death before skipping away and firing past Matthews with aplomb for his 10th goal of an impressive first season at the club.
Straight up the other end and Wick had a great opportunity to level before the break but Harris showed great intelligence to stand up, remain big and force Morgan Forry to shoot high and wide.
Gault then somehow escaped without a booking for a typically articulate and well thought out rant to referee Ian Moore after he was penalised for a trip.
The Robins made it to the interval with their lead intact but they didn’t get far into the second half, Joseph Matthews firing home virtually straight from the resumption after nobody in a red shirt was able to convincingly clear a ball into the box.
Melia had a glorious chance to restore the lead after Liam Benson showed great strength to hold off a challenge and pull back but the eventual effort was high, wide and handsome.
That proved to be costly as two goals in the space of two minutes just before the hour mark from Andrew Chick and Simmonds put United firmly in command.
The second of those was straight out of the comedy book of defending as Wallis and Harris got themselves into a right miscommunication mess, allowing Simmonds to tap into an empty net.
Just over five minutes later and Simmonds would go onto complete the scoring from the penalty spot after Barnes was deemed to have handled.
Credit to Hassocks though, they didn’t give up despite the game being all but over. They could have pulled another back, a big penalty appeal after Melia was felled in the box being ignored by Mr Moore. Gault also did superbly to pull a cross back across goal which Melia could only succeed in toe poking wide.
A disappointing way to end the season perhaps, but there were smiles all round after when James Westlake was presented with the richly deserved award for Supporters Player of the Season.
It was the start of a good weekend for Westlake who would go onto run the London Marathon in a personal best of 2.29.19secs the following day, finishing a quite remarkable 60th overall.
Hassocks: Alex Harris; Tom Barnes, Ashley Marsh, Rowan Wallis, James Oliver; Liam Benson, Bradley Bant, Josh Hawkes, Jonno Melia; Michael Death, Phil Gault.
Subs: Jack Wilkins (Benson), Ryan John, Mark Price, Reece Wickwar (unused).
