Win, win, win – how new league leaders Hassocks bounced back from FA Vase loss

After losing 3-0 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the Vase at Tunbridge Wells, they recovered to beat Loxwood 3-0 and Midhurst 2-1 to go level on points with SCFL premier leaders Haywards Heath.

And on Tuesday night they won 2-1 at Saltdean thanks to two Ruari Farrell goals to go three points clear at the top.

Westlake said the bounce-back after the Vase had been pleasing. "While it was disappointing to exit the FA Vase, it was the first time in 10 years since the club had reached that stage of the competition,” he said.

"It certainly shows the progression the club have made on the pitch in the past few seasons.

"In the game itself, we performed well on what was a terrible playing surface and scored a good goal.

"We should have held out for the win but conceded late on and then weren’t good enough from the spot to progress.”

Since then Hassocks have returned to winning ways, with wins at Loxwood last midweek, at home to Midhurst and at Saltdean.

“We didn’t feel we were at our best against Loxwood on Tuesday night and put it down to a big effort on the Saturday,” Westlake said.

“The players showed enough quality to win the game comfortably in the end.

“Credit to Midhurst who came and made it really difficult for us on Saturday.

"We knew it would be tough to break them down and we needed to be patient in our approach. The character showed after going 1-0 down just before half time to then go on and win the game late on was pleasing to see.”

Westlake said the squad were fit and healthy as the Robins headed into the run-in for Christmas.

Westlake said: “There’s no question that we want to remain where we are in the league but we are making sure that we take each game as it comes.

"Every game brings its own challenges that we need to find different ways to overcome.”