KING STRIKES LATE AS HASSOCKS STING WASPS
Despite missing several key players through injury, Hassocks Ladies got their first three points of the South East Counties Women’s League Premier Division season on the board.
They left it late, Liz King’s 88th minute strike proving to be just about enough to see off a spirited Crawley Wasps Development Squad 3-2 at the Beacon.
It was a strange afternoon of football from the Robins’ point of view. They were completely dominant for the opening half hour and stormed into a 2-0 lead in that time through Kelly Rushworth and Claire Stevens.
After that though they took their foot off the gas and that allowed a young Wasps side to come back into the tie with Gina Johnson’s brace looking like it would rescue a point for the visitors until King’s late intervention.
There was little sign of the struggles that were to come for Hassocks as they were on the front foot from the first whistle.
Two good chances came the hosts way inside the opening 10 minutes, Rushworth hitting a shot on the turn after a Chloe John cross straight at the goalkeeper before turning provider for Kirsten Mair whose effort rose just over the bar.
Gemma Craig saw an effort parried by the Wasps custodian and Mair couldn’t quite slot the rebound home from a tight angle.
Wasps responded to that by making a rare foray forward, King clearing well at the expense of a corner. The resulting set piece was headed away by Stevens but only as far as the edge of the box from where a clever lobbed effort dropped just over the top of the Hassocks goal.
Rushworth had two more good chances, volleying a snap shot wide and then firing in an excellent free kick following a foul on Chloe John which drew an equally impressive save from the Wasps goalkeeper.
Rushworth wouldn’t be denied for much longer and on 27 minutes she had a deserved goal, latching onto Jess Craig’s through ball to slow home for 1-0.
Wasps responded well and Sarah Chappell was forced into her first save of the day at full stretch shortly after Rushworth’s opener. From there, Hassocks went up the other end and Gemma Craig rattled the bar.
You sensed a second goal was coming and it duly arrived when Mair sent in a brilliant whipped cross which Stevens applied the finishing touch too although the suspicion was that it would have gone in without the intervention of the midfielder.
Disappointingly from a Hassocks point of view, they allowed the visitors a relatively simple route back into the game when Johnson turned home a low cross for 2-1.
Wasps did get the ball in the back of the net again before the half was up but the goal was quite rightly ruled out for offside while Mair saw a shot saved in the final action of the half.
Hassocks were dealt a blow when Chappell was unable to continue in goal after the break following injury. Ellie Moquet took her place and was instantly into the action, saving a one-on-one and then producing a fine stop on the stretch.
Wasps were well on top and as a result, Martin Lee turned to his bench to try and shift the momentum back in his favour with Ria Banitas and Tallie Bright replacing John and Sam Newman in a double swap.
But those changes failed to disrupt Wasps’ momentum and they levelled things up on 70 minutes with
a high lob from Johnson giving her a second of the game and leaving Moquet with no chance.
At that stage, there only looked like there would be one winner as Wasps turned the screw. Moquet made another excellent diving save as the game entered the final 10 minutes and Hassocks would almost certainly have taken the point if you’d offered it to them there and then.
The Robins winner really did come out of nowhere, Rushworth playing in King who fired home low and hard with the outside of her right boot for an exquisite finish.
Wasps poured forward after that in search of what would have been a deserved leveller and they nearly got one, smashing the post and then seeing Stevens somehow head clear from virtually under the cross bar.
Hassocks though somehow held on and while the result may have been hard on the visitors, to find a way to win when they haven’t played particularly well augurs well for the season ahead for the Robins.
Hassocks: Sarah Chappell, Chloe John, Sam Newman, Claire Stevens, Emma Flin, Liz King, Rose Jump, Kirsten Mair, Gemma Craig, Jess Craig, Kelly Rushworth.
Subs: Ria Banitas, Ellie Moquet, Tallie Bright (used).
