Hassocks exorcise their EP ghosts to move a step closer to safety
Three precious points and the ghost of their worst performance of the season exorcised represented a good afternoon for Hassocks as they ran out 5-2 winners over East Preston.
The last time these sides met in November had been ghastly beyond belief from a Robins point of view. Brad Sweetman’s side were hammered 4-1 at the Lashmar in what remains EP’s only Southern Combination League win of the season. A long, hard winter looked ahead with the spectre of relegation from the Premier Division looming large.
Not so much now. Victory over EP lifted Hassocks above Steyning Town and into 16th place in the table. The Robins are 13 points clear of second-bottom AFC Varndeanians, who have eight games left to play. A 28th consecutive season of top flight football is within touching distance.
Hassocks were far from their best against an East Preston outfit who named only manager Chris Pettitt and backup goalkeeper Kurt Jenner-Swayne on the bench.
The Robins gave away a couple of cheap goals but that did at least up the entertainment for neutrals who were treated to a game which ebbed and flowed.
Dave Haider was the first EP player to take advantage, handing the visitors a 21st minute lead which shocked home fans. Were EP on their way to their second win of the season, both over Hassocks?
Jack Troak was unwilling to let that be the case. His absence during the opening few months of the campaign through injury was a real blow to the Robins and goes part of the way towards explaining why they looked in so much trouble come full time of the corresponding fixture four months ago.
It was the Hassocks captain who pulled his side level 11 minutes after Haider’s opener. Gentjan Poda in the EP goal was undone by a combination of hesitation from a back pass and underestimating the speed of Troak, who closed down and tackled the visiting custodian before rolling into the empty goal.
Parity lasted for all of one minute. Dan Turner decided that the best way to celebrate his winning of the Hassocks Player of the Month Award for February was by scoring an own goal to put EP 2-1 ahead, sliding in to turn a low Carl Brown cross past Alex Harris.
The Robins equalised for the second time five minutes before the break. Captain Jack was again the man on the scoresheet, beating Poda to a Lewis Westlake corner from out on the left to head home.
Sweetman made a tactical adjustment at the interval, pushing players further forward to support Alfie Loversidge who had ploughed a lonely furrow as a single striker in the first half.
The change did not take long to bear fruit as Hassocks went ahead for the first time on 57 minutes. Troak broke down the left and his pull back fell to Loversidge to squeeze the ball past Poda, ending a run of nine games without a goal for the Robins’ top scorer.
10 minutes later and Hassocks won a free kick in a promising position some 25 yards out. With Poda having been less than convincing up to this point, Lewis Westlake clearly fancied his chances from the set play.
In came a right footed effort which just cleared the wall and ended up in the back of the net, despite Poda manoeuvring himself across his goal line to get relatively close to it.
Often, a two-goal lead is the most difficult to defend. Hassocks though had no problems and once Westlake made it 4-2, the three points were as good as in the bag.
Sweetman took full advantage, throwing on Charlie Broad, Joe Bull and Lucas Tyrrell for Loversidge, Bradley Bant and Lewis Westlake with one eye firmly on Tuesday night’s Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup quarter final away at Seaford Town.
There were a flurry of cards for Hassocks in the final 15 minutes as Bradley Tighe, Jack Baden, Troak and Bull all managed to enter the book of referee James Kerten. It all seemed a little unnecessary given the game was up.
Bull found the time to get a goal to go alongside his yellow, rounding off the scoring in the final minute of the 90 after more enterprising wing play on the left.
Baden was the provider this time, overlapping with Troak to drive a pass across goal which Bull rampaged to convert from two yards ahead of EP defender Joel Parsons.
Hassocks: Alex Harris; Arthur Rawlingson, Dan Turner, Bradley Tighe, Jack Baden; Bradley Bant, James Westlake, Lewis Westlake, Jack Troak; Josh Short, Alfie Loversidge.
Subs: Charlie Broad (Loversidge), Joe Bull (Bant), Lucas Tyrrell (L Westlake), Luke Marshall, Alfie Edmeads (unused).
