Pay day is good in parts

by Chris Francis

It was a bit like the curate’s egg as Hassocks earned themselves a £1500 pay out for Saturday’s extra preliminary round win at Gorings Mead.

No doubt YM will still be wondering how they missed out on pocketing the cheque after a game that ebbed a flowed, especially as quite a lot of the flowing was towards the visitors’ goal.

But such is football in general and this magical competition in particular that you can never really tell what is going to happen next.

In the opening stages the hosts played some delightful passing football and looked particularly dangerous going forward. In Brad Curtis, Martin Smith and Dave Brown they had a potent mix although it was skipper Ashley Dugadale who put them in front after only four minutes when Hassocks woefully defended an inswinging Dan Sullivan corner.

That set-piece was the result of an excellent save by young keeper Ashley Harris who continued to deputise for the holidaying Jack Simpson. He is on loan from Woking with the intention of gaining experience in the senior game.

Home centre half Kevin Burgess almost scored from another Sullivan corner delivery on eight minutes and one sensed the hosts needed to capitalise while they were in the ascendancy. When they failed to do that the inevitable happened as Hassocks struck twice in five minutes.

It was only 15 minutes in when a Chris Maynard free kick broke to centre half Nick Pitcher, who finished as well as any striker, and then soon after there was a superbly crafted goal to put the visitors ahead. Pitcher started it with a great pass down the line to Anthony Hibbert and when he pulled the ball back, Nathan Miles arrived at speed to convert at the near post.

A shoulder injury finally forced Hassocks’ influential skipper Nathan Cooper to call it a day after 34 minutes but they were well served by his replacement Jamie Ingham.

The Robins could have wrapped up the tie two minutes after the break when Phil Gault’s header came back to him and some fancy footwork enabled him to tee up a great chance for Jamie Hillwood. But with the goal gaping, he opted for power and the ball cannoned off the underside of the bar before being cleared.

Generally, however, Hassocks were very much playing second fiddle and that was not helped when Mark Price was forced off by injury 17 minutes into his league debut for the club.

It was no surprise at all when the quick feet of Brown enabled him to equalise on 68 minutes but some frantic defending denied YM any more and it was Hassocks who had the last word when Hillwood made amends for his earlier miss by finishing well when released by Ingham after 75 minutes.

It was perhaps more than the visitors deserved on a day when they gave the ball away far too cheaply but they could do with a little luck in the cups, especially as they have never won a senior trophy in their 111-year history. Needless to say, it will not be in this competition that they belatedly break their duck but there are some rich pickings to be had even at this fledgling stage of proceedings for 2013-14.

Hassocks: Harris; South, Marsh, Pitcher, Maynard; Hibbert, Cooper, Price, Hillwood; Gault, Miles. Subs: Ingham (Cooper, 34), Jacques (Price, 62), Davess (Maynard, 76). Middy Starman: It goes jointly to Nicky Pitcher and Jamie Ingham. Pitcher produced some great last-gasp challenges, scored the first goal and played a part in the second, while Ingham was a major influence upon his belated arrival.