Turner takes home the big prizes for his Robins performances in 2021-22
The 2021-22 Hassocks Football Club Presentation Evening took place on Friday 27th May, with Dan Turner taking the headlines as the double winner of the Players’ Player and Supporters’ Player of the Season Awards.
Turner enjoyed an outstanding campaign at the heart of the Robins defence, winning Player of the Month in both February and April. He made 27 appearances over the course of the season, having struggled with injury during the opening two months.
After picking up only five points across August and September and exiting the FA Cup, FA Vase and Peter Bentley League Cup, Turner’s return led to the Robins having a much improved defensive record.
That fed into the upturn in results from November onwards, which eventually saw Hassocks finish nine points clear of the bottom two and reach the semi finals of the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup.
Second place in Supporters’ Player went to Jack Troak. He ended the season as top scorer with 10 goals from 24 appearances once returning from a hernia problem in the autumn.
Josh Short was voted into third. Short had a fine first full campaign at the Beacon, missing only three matches to lead the appearances chart with 43 starts.
His versatility proved an important asset to Hassocks, being deployed as both a midfielder and a forward throughout the season and weighing in with nine goals.
Further highlighting the importance of the Robins’ defence in 2021-22 was Bradley Tighe winning Managers’ Player of the Season for his performances alongside Turner.
Tighe played 36 times and captained the side when Troak and Andy Whittingham were unavailable. Tighe is no stranger to Hassocks awards, having been voted Players’ Player of the Season as a 19-year-old in the 2015-16 campaign.
Special presentations were made to those who have achieved appearance milestones over the past two seasons. James Westlake was rewarded for passing 200 games for the club and Tighe, Andy Whittingham and Lewis Westlake all had reaching a century of matches marked.
Brad Sweetman and Jordan Wilson were presented with tankards as a thank you for their efforts in managing both the first team and Under 23s.
Luke Marshall won Player’s Player of the Season for the Under 23s, who also collected their medals for finishing as runners up in the North Division. Harry Bundy meanwhile won the Under 18s Players’ Player award.
Off-the-pitch, Troak handed out a mini-keg of Bedlam Brewery SMaSH on behalf of the playing squad to Dave John, Alan John, Owen John, Scott McCarthy and Matt Hicks for their hard work behind the scenes.
Millie Wickwar and Mia Pordage were thanked for helping on the gate and in the T-Bar and Keith Low for his cleaning around the ground.
Chairman of Hassocks Juniors Jason Roberts had small gifts for Dave, Alan and Owen for helping to host the Juniors’ End of Season Awards at the Beacon earlier in May, whilst Chris Low recieved a large bouquet of flowers for her time and effort in the T Bar that day.
Chris was also the recipient of Club Person of the Year for her brilliant work in running the T Bar all season. The award was shared with Alan John for his maintenance of the pitch and the improvements made to the South Field and behind the Railway End goal.
The club would like to thank Pap John’s for providing free pizza for the evening, which was finished by Dave John thanking everyone for their efforts and support over the course of the season.
Rumours that pre-season training will start this coming Saturday morning with a 16 minute Parkrun around Tilgate remain unconfirmed.
