THOMAS HEADS HASSOCKS TO FIRST EVER FINAL
Richard Thomas was the hero for Hassocks Reserves as his header with three minutes remaining of a tense Sussex County League Reserve Section Cup Semi Final saw the Robins through to a final encounter with either Eastbourne Town or Shoreham.
It was a blessing in disguise for a sizeable crowd at Worthing United’s Robert Albon Memorial Ground who were probably fearing the possibility of an extra half hour of a scrappy affair.
Moments of quality were few and far between as both sides seemed to be gripped by a fear of losing with neither brace enough to try and force the matter.
With regular goalkeeper Jack Simpson injured, Phil Wickwar and Mickey Jewell drafted in Joel Harding but he had little to do having had a similarly quiet evening 24 hours earlier in the first team’s 6-0 win over Sidley United.
Harding’s opposite number James Leahy wasn’t overly troubled either, save for Thomas’ scrappy winner late in the day.
Hassocks had the better opportunities in the first half. Thomas had a shot blocked and his strike partner Dan Jacques was wasteful on two occasions in quick succession.
The first of those was a particularly glaring miss, Jacques firing over the bar when played in one-one-one with only Leahy to beat.
Jacques to his credit didn’t let those two misses effect him and he gave Pagham captain Michael Palmer a torrid time, which eventually led to Palmer picking up a yellow card which had long seemed inevitable after one too many late tackles.
The Lions’ thuggery wasn’t restricted to just their skipper and Doug Peach was lucky to escape with only a yellow after a wild lunge on Richard Thompson which left the Hassocks bench incensed.
That riled up Tom Stripp and he somehow got away without a caution after deliberately hauling back Matt Robb on the halfway line. Robb meanwhile was booked after seeming to strike Stripp in retaliation.
The game did at least calm down slightly in the second half as the flow of cards stopped. Pagham enjoyed far more possession, stroking the ball around with assurance but never really able to find a way through the impressive Robins back five of Ian Dawson, Brian Husbands, Ian Simpson, Stripp and Thompson.
The Robins made a bold change with 13 minutes remaining which was far from in keeping with the otherwise conservative tone of the game.
Youth team striker Laurence Robinson replaced midfielder Ian Church, giving Hassocks three up front although Jacques did drop in a little deeper.
From the moment Robinson entered proceedings, there was more purpose about the Robins as the rangy centre forward displayed some nice touches and clever runs with his pace looking to have Pagham worried.
Robinson played his part in the winner, an ugly goal that ultimately decided an ugly contest. It came from a long Husband’s throw which Robinson flicked on at the near post.
Thomas just about managed to beat Leahy to the ball, producing a flicked back header over the Pagham goalkeeper which managed to escape the attention of a couple of defenders on the line.
Hassocks were expecting the Lions to throw the kitchen sink at them in final few minutes but the Lions didn’t manage to foster one attack of any note, leaving the Robins to celebrate reaching the final of the competition for the first time in the club’s history.
Hassocks: Joel Harding; Ian Dawson, Brian Husbands, Tom Stripp, Ian Simpson, Richard Thompson; Ian Church, Andy Wilson, Michael Bates; Richard Thomas, Dan Jacques.
Subs: Laurence Robinson (Church 77), Nathan Harvey, Mark Darbyshire, Sam Franks, Phil Wickwar (unused).
