League points and RUR Cup progress spark a turnaround at Hassocks
Having spent the first three months of the 2021-22 Southern Combination League season barely keeping their heads above water, November proved to be the turning point for Hassocks.
New signings like the Westlake brothers began to gel. Key players like Jack Troak and Dan Turner returned from injury. Brad Sweetman found himself able to name a settled XI and all of a sudden, results took a turn for the better in both league and cup.
Before all of that though, the Robins had to hit rock bottom. A trip to the Lashmar kicked off the month to face an East Preston side yet to win a game and who had scored only 10 times.
Come 5pm on Saturday 6th November, EP were celebrating a 4-1 victory which brought them to within two points of Hassocks in the table and left the Robins looking shell shocked.
The game was over inside of 30 minutes. Matt Storm, Harry Russell and Matt Woodward had EP cruising and although Josh Short pulled one back from the penalty spot before half time, Will Breedon added a fourth for the hosts on the hour mark on what was one of the most disappointing afternoons in recent years for Hassocks.
As far as bouncing back goes, a 5-0 Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup win over Division One side Montpelier Villa was not a bad way to star righting the wrongs of Lashmar-gate.
Villa arrived at the Beacon seventh in the table and fresh from hammering Storrington 4-0 at the weekend. They were no slouches and yet Hassocks blew them away with one of their best performances of the campaign to date.
Short opened the scoring with a heavily deflected effort after 12 minutes. Five minutes later and Short slalomed his way into the Villa area where he was wiped out, allowing Phil Gault to double the advantage from the penalty spot.
Lewis Westlake scored the goal of the night with 25 played, spotting the visitors’ stand-in goalkeeper Ryan Walton off his line and hitting a beautiful effort from 36 yards out and slightly to the right.
Gault added his second of the night and Hassocks’ fourth on the hour mark. The evergreen striker was not playing like a man who had only returned 24 hours earlier from a four-day vodka-fuelled trip to Poland as he rounded off a slick passing move.
Youth teamer Louis Thwaites completed the scoring with his first senior goal 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute, firing home clinically in the midst of a goalmouth scramble.
Alfold were the next visitors to the Beacon as Hassocks returned to Premier Division action looking to build on their confidence-boosting cup exploits.
A 2-1 victory was duly secured on an afternoon of high drama featuring two Alfold red cards, three Robins lost to injury and a 94th minute Gault penalty taken, missed, retaken and scored.
Hassocks lost Alfie Loversidge in the warm up. Lewis Westlake departed with a broken nose early in the first half and Lucas Tyrrell had to be helped from the field before the 20 minute mark after a nasty collision.
Westlake still found time to put the Robins into the lead before taking a whack in the face, chipping Alfold goalkeeper Andrew Osei from 24 yards for a second spectacular goal from distance in as many matches.
Hassocks did well to cope with all the disruption caused by those injuries, although they were thankful for Alex Harris pulling off two unbelievable stops on his way to claiming the man-of-the-match award.
There was nothing Harris could do when Alfold equalised on 63 minutes through Sam Lemon, bending a sweet effort into the top corner after cutting in from the left flank.
Mitch Clark saw red for the visitors for a lazy trip on Short in midfield. It was Short who then won Hassocks their 94th minute penalty after being wiped out in the box by Osei.
The Alfold goalkeeper redeemed himself though with a superb full length save to keep out Gault’s penalty – only for the eagle-eyed linesman to decree Osei had left his line in making the stop.
Gault had a second bite of the cherry and with literally the last kick of the game, showed remarkable composure to send Osei the wrong way and give Sweetman his first back-to-back wins as Hassocks head coach.
To complete the fun, Osei was then shown a red card after the final whistle for protesting a little too loudly about the retake.
Unsurprisingly, the visit of Pagham to the Beacon three days later could not match the entertainment of the Alfold clash.
The high-flying Lions ran out 2-1 winners with Hassocks gifting Pagham both their goals. They were scored in the first half from Joe Clarke and Dylan Jelley before Hassocks recovered well from their wobble, giving their opponents a fright after the break and claiming a deserved consolation in injury time through Short.
Evidence of the progress being made by Hassocks was there for all to see in November’s penultimate game away at Broadbridge Heath.
The Bears had won 5-1 at the Beacon back in August but on this occasion, they were unable to find any way through as it finished 0-0 at High Wood Hill Sports Ground.
What made this result even more impressive is that it was achieved despite Harris departing with a head injury when there was still 30 minutes left to play.
His place in goal was taken by 47-year-old physio Phil Wickwar, rolling back the years to 1992 to help Hassocks to a clean sheet and a huge point against a Heath side who began the day fifth in the table.
Wickwar tipped over a free kick from Charlie Parmiter at full stretch thanks to some WD40. He followed that up by getting down to his left to keep out a Mason Doughty drive, which took Wickwar only five minutes to get up from.
Peacehaven & Telscombe provided the final opposition in November. The Tye had plundered 30 goals in six games before arriving at the Beacon and so everyone at Hassocks was relieved to have Harris recovered and available – none more so than Wickwar, who would possibly have needed a hip replacement in the Clubhouse had he been required to play.
To draw 2-2 with such free-scoring opponents represented another good point for the Robins which they came from behind twice to earn.
A lightning quick break after Lewis Beebee was caught in possession by former Hassocks captain Alex Spinks was finished by Tyler Scrafton with 21 minutes played.
Short equalised eight minutes later, popping up on the right flank to hit a cross-shot which Tye goalkeeper Lawrence Sanded misjudged as it dropped over his head and in at the back post.
Peacehaven retook the lead on 35 after Turner and Luke Marshall got in a bit of a mess, allowing Charlie Morley to pick up the pieces and cross to Scrafton who finished.
Sweetman took the bold decision to withdraw Beebee with only 40 minutes played. Joe Bull came on and Marshall then made way for young Jude Wallis at the break as a quick-fire double change of personnel and tactics sought to get Hassocks back into the game.
The adjustments paid off and the Robins were the better side in the second half. Chances came and went until Lewis Westlake continued his rich run of scoring form via a belting free kick from 30 yards out.
Everyone had been expecting Westlake to deliver a ball into the area – including Sanded – only for the midfielder to catch all unawares by going for goal to add another spectacular strike to his growing collection.
The Tye were left hanging on in the final 10 minutes. Rampaging Bull was manhandled in the box which was somehow not deemed a penalty. He then hit the post before Loversidge rattled the bar as Hassocks had to settle for a point.
November for the Under 23s began with elimination from the Sussex Under 23 Challenge Cup at the hands of Eastbourne Town.
Goals in either half for Tom McDonald and Leke Ademola secured the hosts’ safe passage through to the second round, whilst a disappointing evening for Hassocks was rounded off when Jay Hudson saw red. Archie Russell got the Robins consolation.
Defeat at the Saffrons made it three losses in a row for Hassocks but they bounced back in style a week later, hammering Oakwood 4-1 at the Beacon.
Russell was on target again along with a brace from Jordan Badger and a goal from the bench from Marshall Smith. Timi Kalejaiye had given Oakwood the lead inside the opening five minutes.
The Southern Combination Under 23 League Cup kicked off with Steyning Town visiting Hassocks. The Robins would go onto reach the semi finals of the competition, starting with a convincing 4-1 win over the Barrowmen.
A Steyning own goal got the party started, followed by strikes from Beebee, Marshall and Charlie Tuck. An 87th minute effort from Marley Heath provided the Barrowmen with their goal.
Hassocks faced a strong Roffey side in their final game of the month, going down 2-0 at Bartholomew Way. Josh Maher and Solomon Relleen did the damage in what would prove to be the Robins’ last North Division defeat of the campaign.
In contrast, the Under 18s season was heading in the opposite direction. A 4-0 win over Burgess Hill Town got November off to a good start but the Young Robins would not win another game.
Russell was in a rich vein of form and he scored twice against the Hillains to go with his blistering run for the Under 23s. Max Beston and Sam Geard completed the rout.
Geard was again on target a week later in a 2-1 defeat at Worthing United for whom Nathan Williams scored twice.
A Tom Bond hat-trick for Shoreham sent Hassocks to a 4-3 defeat in a seven-goal thriller at the Beacon. Joe Dixon was the Musselmen’s other scorer with Hassocks replying through Geard, Russell and Harry Carter.
With no Geard for the trip to Colwell Road, the Robins ended up drawing a blank in a 2-0 Mid Sussex Derby defeat to St Francis Rangers. Samuel-Elie David N’Cho and Luke O’Neil secured local bragging rights for Rangers.
The Veterans were allowed to call upon the services of a certain Pat Harding as they got their Sussex Veteran Challenge Cup campaign up and running against Woodingdean Wanderers.
Pat duly helped himself to a hat-trick and was joined on the scoresheet by brother Joel, surely the first time that both Hardings had netted in the same game. Brendan Leahy and Jonathan Bundy completed the half-dozen.
Thanks to his November scoring heroics in the first team, Gault found himself promoted to the Vets for their other November fixture.
It was against Furnace Green Rovers in the following round of the County Cup and Gault was at the double as Hassocks ran out 5-2 winners in front of an intrigued home Monday night crowd under the Beacon lights.
Bundy, Mitch Broadstock and Dave Juniper also netted to send the Robins through to a quarter final against one of the strongest vets teams in Sussex, Mile Oak.
The Ladies played only once in November, picking up their first win of the campaign at the fifth time of asking. They did it in some style too, hammering Woodingdean Wanderers 7-0.
Kirstin Mair took the headlines with a hat-trick and the other four goals were spread between Mia Pordage, Jess Craig, Katherine Chappell and Jodie Johanson.
