Whilst Hassocks’ senior squad were busy pulling off upsets in their post-lockdown Supplementary Shield, they were not the only Robins in action throughout April and May as the Under 23s, the Under 18s and the Ladies all had end-of-season competitions of their own to take part in.
The final part of our 2020-21 Season Review kicks off with the Under 23s, who enjoyed their best run of the campaign once football was allowed to resume.
They were drawn in Group B of the Southern Combination League Under 23 Supplementary Shield, facing a tough set of fixtures against Broadbridhe Heath, Horley Town, Horsham YMCA, Mile Oak and St Francis Rangers.
First up was the short hop over the South Downs to face an Oak side who had sat second in the West Division prior to curtailment, behind only Chichester City.
A tense affair was decided late on, Marshall Smith choosing a timely moment to score his first goal for the Robins by coming off the bench to hit an 80th minute winner to give Hassocks all three points.
Six days later and it was derby day against St Francis Rangers at Colwell Road. Nothing could separate the sides as an entertaining encounter finished 1-1, Joe Bull scoring one of the goals of the season when hitting an unstoppable long range effort from 30 yards which gave Rangers goalkeeper Jacob Campbell no chance.
The hosts had taken the lead three minutes before Bull’s stunning intervention with two ex-Robins players involved. Former Robins Under 23 captain Ellis Common started the move, hitting a perfect diagonal ball to Sam Wright. Wright crossed and Will Glenn, also once of Hassocks’ parish, powered a header past Charlie Pugh.
A young Hassocks side then went to Horsham YMCA, the North Division’s outstanding team for much of the past three seasons. The last time the Under 23 League was played to a finish in 2018-19, they pipped Hassocks to the title thanks to an excellent end-of-year run of form which saw them overhaul Nigel Pearce’s side at the head of the table.
In 2019-20 they had been top of the table before the campaign was curtailed. It was the same story again in 2020-21 with their ascent to the summit including a 2-0 December victory at the Beacon in what turned out to be Hassocks’ last game of the regular season.
You would have got long odds then on Hassocks leaving Gorings Mead with a 5-2 success. All the goals came from members of the Under 18s squad too, Lewis Beebee and Sam Geard notching braces alongside one for Luke Marshall. YM’s goals came from Aden Radojevic and substitute Leon Eales.
The shock win over YM put Hassocks in a strong position with two games of the competition left to play. Their penultimate match came away at Broadbridge Heath and although Beebee had the Robins in a half time lead, Heath’s stronger bench allowed them to come from behind to win 2-1.
Ben Whiteley equalised on 61 minutes, just four minutes after the Bears had made a double substitution to introduce fresh legs. Nine minutes later and Cameron Watts hit the winner, three minutes after the Bears had made another change as the new faces provided fresh impetus for the hosts to wrap up the victory.
That left a final game decided between Horley and Hassocks; whoever won at the New Defence would progress to the semi finals. The Robins though were never really in the tie as they were defeated 5-1 by an excellent Clarets side.
All six goals were in fact scored by Horley, the hosts having the good grace to put through their own net five minutes before half time. Sam Cranfield had put Horley 1-0 ahead 15 minutes earlier and they retook the lead before the break via Josh Rapson.
Rapson made it 3-1 four minutes after the interval with George Branton and Mario Quiassaca rounding off the scoring. The result meant that Horley progressed to the final four whilst Hassocks finished third in Group B, dropping below St Francis right at the death.
Having gone through the first half of the season undefeated and dropping only two points, the Under 18s were confident of making an impression on their Supplementary Shield.
They certainly did that, going all the way to the semi finals where they were outdone by a Steyning Town outfit who were one of the best youth sides in Sussex in 2020-21.
A tough start lay in wait in Group C with the trip to face Alfold who possessed an even better pre-lockdown record than Hassocks having not dropped a single point.
To win 3-1 at the Elliott Scott Group Stadium was therefore an excellent result for the young Robins. Two of the goals came from debutant George Mitchell-Phillips who signed on at the Beacon for the Supplementary Shield.
The other was a stunner from defender Marshall from a free kick taken from inside his own half. Alfold’s consolation came from Ayo-Oluwa Oke.
Two weeks later and Hassocks played their second game of the Shield away at Horsham YMCA. Beebee was enjoying his April trips to Gorings Mead and he grabbed another brace to go with his double there for the Under 23s.
On this occasion though it was not enough to help the Robins to victory as they were held 2-2, Callum Chesworth scoring two of his own to ensure the spoils were shared.
With only the group winner progressing to the semi finals, Brad Sweetman and his players knew they could ill afford any more dropped points. A brutal 6-1 win at St Francis Rangers ensured they got back on track and did their goal difference a world of good.
That was important as YM were busy turning over Alfold 5-0 at the same time. Mitchell-Phillips helped himself to another brace at Colwell Road with Beebee, Geard and Archie Messent also on target.
Hassocks’ final group game took them to Hill Park to face Saltdean United. Victory would secure top spot and a place in the final four and it was relatively comfortable in the end, Archie Russell and Mitchell-Phillips grabbing two apiece and Beebee one in a 5-0 success.
Steyning were the Robins’ opponents at the Shooting Field in the semi final and it was here that Hassocks’ journey came to an end in a 7-1 defeat.
Mitchell-Phillips got the consolation but the Robins had no answer to Steyning. A hat-trick from Thomas Charlwood, two from Toby Bloomfield and singles from Ben Neale and Ben Spano took the Barrowmen into the final, where they beat Bexhill United to lift the trophy.
The Ladies ended their 2020-21 campaign in the London & South East Regional League Spring Round Robin competition, suffering three defeats and picking up a draw from their four matches.
Newhaven provided the first opponents and the trip to Fort Road ended in a 5-0 defeat. Mia Pordage was on target in a game number two, a 3-1 defeat at Crawley Wasps before an excellent point was earned at Parkwood Rangers.
Katherine Chappell, Jess Craig and Claire Stevens all scored in a 3-3 draw, a result made all the more impressive by the fact that Hassocks went with only one sub whilst Rangers had six sets of fresh legs to use from the bench. The Robins rounded off their season with a 7-0 defeat away at Lewes.
