GALBRAITH-GIBBONS GRABS A BRACE AS ROBINS WIN AT LAST
It has been a while coming, but Hassocks Under 23s finally have their first victory of the 2020-21 season on the board.
Oakwood were the opponents who the Robins got the monkey off their back against, winning 2-1 at Tinsley Lane to get their campaign up and running. George Galbraith-Gibbons was the Hassocks hero, scoring a brace which ultimately decided this tie between two sides who came into the fixture winless.
Both had a solitary point to show for their efforts so far, Oakwood having drawn 4-4 against Loxwood a month earlier with Hassocks holding Horley Town 1-1 in their second match of the season.
Oakwood had however had an excellent result the previous week, eliminating Saltdean United from the Sussex Under 23 Challenge Cup with a 5-3 home win which made them slight favourites for this one.
The Robins meanwhile had exited the competition with a limp 2-0 defeat against East Preston on the same night. Despite that defeat, Hassocks kept faith with virtually the same side.
The Robins line up has altered dramatically week to week over the first five weeks of the campaign, so a little bit of consistency was much welcome even if it came off the back of a disappointing result.
There were three changes from that EP match. Under 18s top scorer Lewis Beebee was promoted from the substitutes bench in place of Phil Gault, who had been given a run out the previous week as he steps up his return from injury.
Brad Sweetman replaced Ben O’Leary and Harvey Ransome came in for Marshall Smith, who dropped down to what was a very young bench containing two youth team players in Alex Crawford and Charlie Jones.
Hassocks have good memories of Tinsley Lane. They were 5-1 winners on their only previous visit last November thanks to a Phil Johnson hat-trick and goals from Joe Bull and Galbraith-Gibbons.
It did not take Galbraith-Gibbons long to reacquaint himself with this particular part of Crawley. Within 10 minutes, the Robins’ top scorer had put his side into the lead and 25 minutes later, he doubled the advantage to move onto three for the season.
Oakwood’s consolation came from an own goal but the hosts were unable to find another way onto the score sheet as Hassocks held onto a vital three points.
The result sets the Robins up nicely for next Thursday when they are back at the Beacon against Southern Combination League Under 23 newcomers Jarvis Brook.
It will be the first ever meeting between the two sides at Under 23 level. The last time Hassocks played Brook with any sort of frequency was around 10 years ago, when the Robins’ third team were Mid Sussex Premier Division counterparts of Brook’s first team. Kick off at the Beacon is at 7:30pm.
Hassocks: Jayden Dunkley, Luke Marshall, Brad Sweetman, Thomas Jupp, Harvey Ransome, Connor Bradley, Ben Hicks, Jamie Wilkes, Joe Bull, George Galbraith-Gibbons, Lewis Beebee.
Subs: Alex Crawford, Charlie Jones, Marshall Smith, George Mercer (used).
