Hassocks hammer Varndeanians and get busy on the transfer front to try and turn their season around
With just five Premier Division points on the board by the time October began, Hassocks knew that they needed to turn their season around and fast if they were not to face a long, hard winter.
To that end, head coach Brad Sweetman went on a recruitment drive as he sought to bring in proven Southern Combination League performers with the experience that his young squad was desperately needing for the battle ahead.
Five new faces arrived over the course of October. Or to be more precise, four old faces returning to the Beacon and one new signing from Peacehaven & Telscombe.
Lucas Tyrrell was the player with no previous links to Hassocks. Joining him through the door were Spencer Slaughter, James Westlake and Josh Hawkes from Loxwood and Lewis Westlake from Steyning Town.
Those four combined brought with them nearly 600 Hassocks appearances from previous spells at the club. Slaughter and Westlake meanwhile brought leadership, having managed Loxwood to the final of the Supplementary Shield as just five months earlier where they were beaten by Isthmian League bound Lancing.
Slaughter was the first of the fivesome to sign, making his fourth debut for Hassocks from the bench away at Bexhill United.
The game took place in the midst of the petrol crisis which saw pumps across Sussex ran dry, but those Robins fans who used their precious fuel to make the longest trip of the season were rewarded with an excellent 1-1 draw from the high-flying Pirates.
Conditions were woeful at the Polegrove and Hassocks owed their point largely to the excellence of Alex Harris. In driving rain and wind of up to 45 miles an hour, Harris’ handling was impeccable and he was a deserved winner of the Robins’ man-of-the-match award.
Hassocks took a shock lead with only seven minutes on the clock through Alfie Loversidge, slamming into the top corner from 12 yards out after a driving run and pull back from Joe Bull.
Unfortunately, they were ahead for only 13 minutes. Bexhill goalkeeper Alexander Zamani claimed a Robins corner to start a blistering counter attack ended when Evan Archibald tapped home a Jack Shonk cross.
The Pirates were the better side in the second half and Hassocks needed all hands on deck to prevent their point disappearing to Davy Jones’ locker.
They had to survive one shivering moment late on when Bexhill put the ball in the back of the net, only for the goal to be correctly chalked off for offside after a lengthy discussion between referee Chris Stobard and his assistant.
A first ever meeting in senior football between Hassocks and AFC Varndeanians followed a week later. The visitors arrived at the Beacon rock bottom of the table, one of only four sides below the Robins, making this a game that Hassocks simply had to get three points from.
That they did win 4-1 was largely down to Loversidge, who became the first teenager to score a hat-trick since Matt Amos some 15 years earlier.
Bull opened the scoring with a superb individual effort on 10 minutes, cutting inside the Varndeanians left back and firing a shot into the top corner from 25 yards.
Hassocks doubled their advantage on 29 through a classic route one approach. Goalkeeper Charlie Pugh launched a punt forward, Andy Whittingham flicked on and that sent Bull scampering clear.
Bull could have gone for goal himself but he selflessly opted to square to Loversidge who was left with the simple task of tapping home.
The 18-year-old added his second when finishing clinically from a tight angle after a Josh Short effort had been blocked before Loversidge earned and then converted a penalty with 13 minutes remaining to complete his treble.
James Westlake and Hawkes both came close to adding to the score on their returns but it was Varndeanians who grabbed the last goal of the game, substitute Constantin Cornel Ducia powering home a free header to deny Pugh and his defence a clean sheet.
Eastbourne United provided the midweek opposition at the Beacon three days later. United had been in suoerb form since Anthony Storey’s appointment to the Oval hotseat and they continued that mean streak by making it four wins from five matches under the new manager with a comfortable 3-0 success.
Festos Kamara scored either side of half time with Max Thompson rounding things off in the 89th minute. Hassocks looked a little tired following their exertions against Varndeanians and the defeat would have been even heavier had Pugh not made a string of first class saves.
Horsham YMCA were next to visit Mid Sussex, sitting just two places and three points above the Robins in the table. Hassocks never got going against opponents the Beacon faithful would have reasonably expected to take three points from with YM running out 2-1 winners.
Mark Pritchard-Cave put the visitors ahead after only five minutes. It took until the hour mark for the Robins to register a shot on target, although that did at least spark them into life and Loversidge earned his side a penalty three minutes later.
Taking duties fell to Phil Gault. The veteran made no mistake from the spot, scoring his first Hassocks goal since a 2-1 Sussex Senior Cup win over Mile Oak four years earlier.
It was against the run of play when Tom Tolfrey found a winner for YM with 10 minutes remaining. Tolfrey had been the best player on the pitch and so his goal was richly deserved, as was three points for Dean Carden’s side on the balance of play.
The Robins’ interest in the Sussex Senior Cup was ended at the earliest opportunity as Crawley Down Gatwick secured safe passage to round two via a 2-0 win at the Beacon.
Oli Leslie got both the goals with Sweetman making wholesale changes with one eye firmly on the final game of October, a huge six pointer at Loxwood.
A 1-0 victory for the Magpies allowed them to leapfrog Hassocks in the table, plunging the Robins into the bottom three in the process.
Hassocks had plenty of opportunities over the course of the 90 minutes but were unable to take one of them. That was in stark contrast to Loxwood.
Alfie Edmeads struck with one of the hosts’ only shots on target as late as the 86th minute to send Hassocks home with nothing to show for their efforts and ending the third month of the season in a very precarious position.
The Under 23s benefitted from the new arrivals – and in particular Slaughter – for their first two games of October, both of which ended in victory.
A rare win in the Sussex Under 23 Challenge Cup started the month as Hassocks progressed beyond the first round of the competition for only the second ever time thanks to a 3-2 success over Saltdean United.
Short scored twice with a Slaughter strike sandwiched in the middle. The Tigers were on target through Sean Roddy and an own goal.
Slaughter followed that up with a brace in a 3-0 win over Alfold a week later. Tyrrell netted his first goal in Hassocks colours as the Robins had the three points in the bag before the hour mark.
Victory against Alfold set things up nicely for a top of the table clash against Broadbridge Heath. Both sides came into the game at High Wood Hill Sports Ground unbeaten and for 70 minutes, nothing could separate them.
That was until Tyler Symonds struck to give the Bears the lead. Hassocks had no chance but to pour forward in search of an equaliser, leaving themselves exposed at the back. Heath took ruthless advantage of the situation, doubling their advantage through Harry Williams to win 2-0.
Having not lost any of their opening seven games, the Robins ended October with back-to-back defeats as they followed the Heath loss up with a 4-2 reversal at Crowborough Athletic.
Entertainment was in high supply as the Crows took the lead after only five minutes before being reduced to 10 men on 17.
Oscar Steward was the scorer and Ollie Hyland the player dismissed. Arthur Rawlingson equalised just before the break from the penalty spot but parity was short lived, Kyle Anson putting Crowborough back ahead five minutes after the restart.
Substitute Marshall Smith levelled the tie for the second time on the hour mark and it looked like the spoils would be shared until the 10-man Crows found two goals in the final five minutes from Bayley Colbran and Tom Anstee.
A certain Glenn Murray was in the crowd for Hassocks Under 18s first game of October, a Mid Sussex Derby with St Francis Rangers.
Unfortunately, Dave John’s attempts to lure Murray out of retirement failed. Murray was sadly not interested in paying £5 a week for training and entering a matchday raffle where he would be expected to leave the bottle of wine behind as a prize for next time if he won.
The young Robins did at least fare a little more successfully on the pitch, drawing 1-1 with their local rivals. James Lyon-Monk gave Rangers the lead with Oliver Parker-Williams equalising from the bench for Hassocks.
National League South opponents Eastbourne Borough proved too strong in the first round of the Dennis Probee Sussex Under 18 Challenge Cup, eliminating the Robins from the competition 5-0 at Priory Lane.
That was Hassocks’ first defeat in six games. Remarkably after such a strong start to the campaign which had led them to first place in the early Central Division table, the Robins would win only one more game in the entire season.
Eventual champions Montpelier Villa were Hassocks’ third and final opponents of October. Beau Howard notched a brace but he was outgunned by Villa’s hat-trick hero Jack Smart who fired the visitors to a 4-2 win. Olly Harrison claimed the other.
The Veterans hit seven goals for the second consecutive game, beating Charlwood Sports 7-2 away from home. What made the result so pleasing for Hassocks was that many of their players had suffered defeat against Charlwood last season – one of only two defeats all year – when representing Haywards Heath Town Veterans.
Steve Spies led the way with a hat-trick (all at the right end for the avoidance of doubt) with Chris Maynard, Jonathan Bundy, Paul Armstrong and Anthony Hibbert completing the hammering.
The Ladies were still left waiting for that elusive first win after two more defeats in October. Pagham edged a nine-goal thriller 5-4 at the Beacon with the Hassocks goals coming from Jodie Johanson, Kirsten Mair and a Katherine Chappell double. Less entertaining was 1-0 home defeat to Saltdean United.
