After three months of inaction through lockdown, football returned with the easing of restrictions at the beginning of April and the Southern Combination League Supplementary Shield competition.
Hassocks opted to partake, although every game would take place away from the Beacon. The club decided to take advantage of the curtailment of the regular season by starting maintenance work to improve the pitch’s drainage early, allowing a full pre-season schedule to take place once supporters were able to attend matches again.
The Robins were drawn in Group C of the new tournament, pitting them against three clubs who had all been higher in the Premier Division table when the campaign was halted. Horley Town had sat second and with leaders Saltdean United opting not to take part, that made them the favourites for the competition.
Crawley Down Gatwick were sixth and Lingfield ninth. Hassocks looked to have their work cut out with only one team progressing from each group, although they were given a boost by the availability of Pat Harding.
Every season, Harding dual-signs from Burgess Hill Town and with the Isthmian League not opting to run an end-of-season tournament of their own, the Robins were able to call upon the services of their former striker.
Hassocks began the Supplementary Shield away at Crawley Down Gatwick. As is so often the case whenever Robins meet Anvils, it was a 90 minutes packed with goals and entertainment, albeit sadly played out in front of an empty Haven.
James Littlejohn hit the post with a free kick inside of the first five minutes and Josh Short and Harvey Enticknap both went close before Down took the lead against the run of play. There seemed to be little danger from a hopeful through pass which appeared to be going straight to Dan Turner.
Somehow though, the ball whizzed under Turner’s foot and that left Ollie Moore in on goal. He made no mistake, beating Dave Carruthers in the Hassocks goal to give the Anvils the advantage with 12 minutes of the first half remaining.
Turner made amends for his part in the Down opener by levelling the tie four minutes into the second half. A free kick out wide resulted in Alfie Loversidge whipping over an excellent cross for Turner to meet with a towering header past Tony Jenner.
Hassocks took the lead 19 minutes later with Short the architect, breaking through the home defence with a driving run to slip in Harding who finished with aplomb. It was Harding’s 132nd goal for the Robins and came 15 years after his 131st arrived in a 5-2 win over Eastbourne Town on the final day of the 2005-06 season.
Both teams began to tire in the closing stages which suited Hassocks as they attempted to see the game out. Unfortunately, they could not quite do that as an own goal from Bradley Tighe ensured it ended 2-2.
Down substitute Tiago Andrade hit a hopeful shot towards goal which Tighe – making his first appearance back in Hassocks colours after re-signing from Seaford Town – managed to slash in off his shin at the near post.
Three days later and the Robins faced the daunting prospect of a trip to Horley. The last time these two sides met had been in October when the Clarets inflicted an 8-0 defeat on nine-man Hassocks, the heaviest home reversal in Hassocks history.
Perhaps the manner of their victory at the Beacon seven months and two lockdowns ago led Horley to expect another easy evening. If that were the case then the hosts were in for a rude awakening. Hassocks stormed into a two goal lead inside of the first five minutes, paving the way for a shock 3-1 victory.
Charlie Pitcher scored all three of the Robins’ goals. The first came when Short seized on a loose pass, draw home goalkeeper George Hyde and then unselfishly squared to Pitcher who was left with the simple task of rolling into an empty yet.
90 seconds later and Jack Troak’s clever quick throw caught the Horley defence unawares, leaving Harding to collect and race through. Harding pulled back to Pitcher who applied the finish via a deflection to double Hassocks’ advantage.
Horley recovered well from that shock start, forcing Carruthers into a string of fine stops. The Hassocks goalkeeper denied Kerran Boylan and then had to produce an outstanding double save from a Lewis Pearch effort and Boylan’s follow up.
There was little Carruthers could do when Russell Harvey pulled one back nine minutes before half time. Hassocks managed to make it to the break without conceding again before repeating their trick from an hour earlier by catching Horley cold with a quick-fire goal only minutes into the second half.
Littlejohn made it, playing a clever ball over the top of the home defence after Hassocks had broken down a Horley attack. A burst of speed from Pitcher took him clear and he finished past Hyde with aplomb to complete his hat-trick and secure an unexpected three points.
The halfway point of the competition was brought up with a 3-2 defeat at Lingfield, leaving the Lingers top of Group C and Hassocks second. The Robins’ management were left infuriated by a controversial second half penalty decision when the sides were locked at 1-1, paving the way for the Lingers to score twice in as many minutes.
Lingfield seized the initiative through Rhys White with 19 minutes played. They looked like they were going to make it to the interval with the advantage until a brilliant strike from distance from Jack Troak levelled things up five minutes before the break.
It was just past the hour mark when the spot kick which so riled the Robins arrived. A shot from point blank range crashed into a Hassocks shoulder. Superhuman reactions would have been needed to get out of the way and yet much to the surprise of the visitors, referee Mark Gidman pointed to the spot.
Substitute Josh Biddlecombe duly converted having only been on the pitch for nine minutes and Lingfield’s third arrived through Stephend Hodge less than 120 seconds after Biddlecombe’s successful spot kick.
Hassocks rallied to set up a tense final 10 minutes when a flurry of attacks lead to a loose ball spilling to Harding, lurking at the back post. Harding made no mistake, tidily placing an effort into the bottom corner out of the reach of Thurbin. The Robins though could not quite force an equaliser.
The second game against Crawley Down was even more fun-filled than the first as Hassocks scored twice after the clock hit 89 minutes to come away with a 4-2 victory, a score line which was harsh on a Down side who dominated for large parts.
Just like at Horley a week earlier, Hassocks made a fast start by taking the lead after only six minutes. Some neat triangles down the right flank between Littlejohn and Harding opened up a gap to slide in Loversidge and the teenager made no mistake, beating Jenner to make it 1-0.
Loversidge turned provider next, playing a big part in the goal which doubled the Robins’ advantage eight minutes before half time. Short released Loversidge down the right and his cross was glanced home by Troak ghosting in from the left flank.
Midway through the second half and Hassocks’ 2-0 lead was wiped out in less than 90 seconds. Andrade was left with a simple finish on 68 minutes after a superb run and cross from Lewis Croal. Down regained possession straight from kick off and Michael Belli levelled things up
Down were very much in the ascendency after that and they poured forward looking for a winner. That left plenty of space for Hassocks to exploit on the break, something the Robins did in the final minute of normal time when Pitcher rounded off a lightning quick counter.
The Anvils now had little choice but to become even more attacking in the search for an equaliser, opening the game up even more. Troak was the man to take advantage, beating former Hassocks right back Harvey Blake before chipping to the back post where Harding arrived to slam home.
Hassocks’ penultimate game saw them travel to Lingfield, a fixture which looked pivotal in deciding who out of Lingers or Robins topped the group. Nothing could separate the sides on this occasion as it finished 2-2, leaving Lingfield two points clear ahead of the final round of matches.
A tense affair did not spark into life until the final 20 minutes. Harding opened the scoring on his 200th appearance in Hassocks colours when Troak did well down the left to find Pitcher who slid in his strike partner.
Although home goalkeeper Thurbin kept out the initial effort, the rebound fell straight to Harding and he made no mistake with a side footed finish.
Hassocks had been undone by those two goals in the space of a minute against Lingfield last time out and history repeated itself as again the hosts notched twice in quick succession. Sami Bakhit got the first from the bench on 77 minutes and his fellow replacement Biddlecombe made it 2-1 to Lingfield on 79.
Unlike last time though, Hassocks found a way back just three minutes after the Lingers went ahead. Troak was involved once more, playing a lovely cross into the box which initially looked like it was going beyond Harding.
That was until the striker stretched to produce a magical first touch to bring the ball down before placing a cool side footed volley out of reach of Thurbin.
To reach the semi finals, Hassocks now needed to win against Horley in their final group game and hope Crawley Down could do them a favour by beating Lingfield.
Neither of those things happened as just two weeks after their magnificent win at the New Defence, Hassocks returned to the scene of the triumph and were hammered 8-2.
Even if they had managed to upset the Clarets for the second time in a fortnight, it would not have mattered as Lingfield got the job done with a 2-1 victory over Down.
Hassocks probably suspected that this was not going to be their evening when Littlejohn picked up an injury in the warm up and had to subsequently drop down to the bench.
In some circumstances, such late disruption could be blamed for Horley taking the lead with just 10 minutes played but on this occasion, it was a strike of pure and simple brilliance from Ryan Smith which gave the hosts the early advantage. He spotted Charlie Pugh off his line and beat the Hassocks goalkeeper from a full 60 yards.
That proved to be the opening of the floodgates. Ryan Brackpool and Kevin Moreno-Gomez made it 3-1 before 24 minutes, after which Pitcher pulled one back with a sweet effort from the edge of the area for his 16th of the season from only 20 appearances.
Mario Quiassaca made it 4-1 on 33 minutes, the final goal before half time. With perfect symmetry, the second half also finished 4-1. Quiassaca hit his second and the Clarets’ fifth seven minutes after the restart with a side footed effort from an Adam Pullin pull back.
Horley introduced Adam Grant from their bench, not exactly a good sign for Hassocks given he had scored a hat-trick in that 8-0 earlier in the season.
It did not take Grant long to start tormenting the Robins again as he calmly beat Pugh with a one-on-one opportunity after being played in within nine minutes of his introduction.
There were still 20 minutes to play when goal number seven arrived, Grant laying off to Moreno-Gomez to notch his second of the evening. Grant then completed his own brace to make it 8-1 to the hosts with 15 minutes left to play.
Hassocks were suddenly facing the very real prospect of conceding double figures for the first time in senior football. Given how clinical Horley had been, it almost felt like an achievement that the Robins managed to get through the final quarter of an hour without another shot beating Pugh.
Instead, it was Pugh’s opposite number who was the last goalkeeper to pick the ball out of the net. Harding rounded off a highly successful time back in Hassocks red with his sixth goal from six matches, producing a clean finish after pouncing on a loose ball.
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