Hassocks played just twice in December but that was still enough for Will Broomfield to mark his return from two months out injured by winning his second Player of the Month award of the season.
The midfielder hadn’t been seen in first team action since mid-October before his inclusion in the starting line up for the Robins’ 2-1 win away at East Preston on December 7th, the club’s first Premier Division victory since September.
He was voted Man-of-the-Match in his comeback game and followed that up with another solid performance a week later in the 1-0 home defeat against Horley Town.
Broomfield was also voted as September’s best player, the last full month he played before injury struck which just goes to show what an impressive season he is having when fit.
He was pushed close for December’s award though with teenage defender Dan Turner beaten into second by just 3.7%. Turner started both games for the Robins with the victory at the Lashmar being particularly memorable for the 19-year-old as he scored his first senior goal.
The management at Hassocks have long known of the threat that he poses from set pieces; before his goal at EP, he’d notched three times in 10 games for the Under 23s from centre back this season, adding to the five goals he scored in 19 appearances in the Under 18s 2017-18 treble winning season.
This is the first time that Turner has finished in the top three and given the assuredness that he has shown in his short first team career so far, it shouldn’t be the last either.
Third place with 24.1% of the vote went to striker Liam Benson who enjoyed his best month so far for Hassocks after returning to the Beacon from Steyning Town a few weeks into the campaign.
Benson has struggled a little for form and fitness since he re-joined the Robins for a third spell but the departure of Ben Bacon to Three Bridges gave him an opportunity to get a run of games under his belt which he duly took.
Although Benson didn’t score in December, he was a real menace in the win over EP and didn’t give Horley’s defence a moments rest in the Clarets’ win at the Beacon.
Benson finally opened his account for the season in January’s opening fixture as Pagham were beaten 2-0 in Mid Sussex, which could make him one of the favourites to finish in the top three again in our next poll, which you’ll find on our Twitter account in the first few days of January.
