Rallying Robins recover from two down for remarkable win against Wick

It seems like every top five hopeful in the Southern Combination Premier Division has put a dramatic late win on the board already this season to underline their promotion credentials. Except Hassocks.

Well, now the Robins have entered the conversation and in some style. They trailed Wick 2-0 after 82 minutes at the Hassocks Hotel Beacon Ground and yet somehow escaped with a 3-2 victory which left the Dragons understandably spitting fire in anger.

Even the most rose tinted spectacled of Robins fans must surely must surely have felt a a little sympathy for Wick. The Dragons defended resolutely with 10 men after Ellis Collier was sent off four minutes before the break and in any case, should not have been playing shorthanded.

Aaron Tester brought down tall striker Jamie Wilkes right on the edge of the box yet in a case of mistaken identity, Collier was booked for the foul.

Collier subsequently lost his mind at being incorrectly carded, ranting and raving at both referee Christopher Findlay-Geer and the nearest assistant. After this had gone on for several minutes, Mr Findlay-Geer finally had enough and showed Collier a second yellow for dissent.

Whilst not wanting to make excuses for Collier, it was apparently the second time in four games he has been booked for an offence committed by a teammate.

“How has this happened again” Collier shouted as he stormed off before giving the door into the changing rooms a good kicking.

It was to the credit of the visiting bench that they must have been incredibly frustrated by history repeating itself but still admonished Collier on his way off the pitch for the way he spoke to the officials.

A classy reaction which is another reason why the home faithful felt a little sorry for how it all ended for the Dragons.

Making matters worse for Wick was the fact Collier had been enjoying a fine evening down the left flank, including opening the scoring on 26 minutes with an absolute wonder strike.

Picked out by a Tom Holland switch, Collier unleashed one from 30 yards which made the very satisfying noise of thwacking the woodwork as it bent its way in.

That goal came completely against the run of play. Hassocks dominated the opening exchanges, enjoying a lot of possession and playing some lovely passing football.

All that was missing was a cutting edge. The closest the Robins came to breaking the deadlock was a hopeful Jack Troak cross looped onto the bar and then when the rangy Wilkes drew a fantastic reaction save low down from Keelan Belcher.

Hassocks also responded reasonably well after falling behind. Dan Turner and Liam Hendy had volleys in quick succession blocked from a Devon Fender corner leading up to the Collier red card.

Wick made light work of going down to 10 as within five minutes they doubled their lead. The other assistant referee flagged either for a foul or the ball going out of play. Nobody was entirely sure.

Either way, Hassocks made the cardinal sin of stopping rather than playing to the whistle. Ethan Roberts was therefore left running through one-on-one when Mr Findlay-Geer did not halt the game in response to his assistant's flag.

Roberts was tripped by Ed Cooper as he attempted to round the Robins goalkeeper. Dragons captain George Bingham struck the resultant penalty into the bottom corner having spent most of the match up to that point making a series of fantastically fanciful appeals for handball.

Wick understandably stuck everyone behind the ball from the start of the second half to try and defend their 2-0 lead. They made a great fist of it as some heroic defending and goalkeeping frustrated the Robins.

Wilkes saw a close range volley deflected over for a corner. Devon Fender put one just wide. Lewis Croal had two headed opportunities; the first placed at Belcher from close range and the second too high after Big Alex Fair tricked and teased his way into enough space to whip over a delightful cross.

More shots rained in from Wilkes, Croal and Jack Troak. An own goal was almost thrown into the mix when a Bingham tackle on Fender shaved the outside of the post on its way out for what felt like the 27th Robins corner of the game.

The feeling amongst the crowd entering the final 15 was that "one of those days" would be the cliché permeating the night. Hassocks players though remained patient - with the introduction of Omar Abdsami and Liam Benson from the bench proving a turning point.

Abdsami was soon wiped out on the left-hand corner of the Wick penalty box. Darren Budd was substituted and made his way off chirping at the entire Dragons defence on his way. 

That helped cause enough disruption for Lewis Finney to bend the resulting free kick over the outstretched arm of Belcher and into the far corner on 82 minutes.

Four minutes later and the equaliser arrived. Abdsami sent over a cross from the right headed towards goal by Troak. Benson stole between Belcher and Bingham to get the ball over the like.

Hassocks could have settled for the draw at this point but instead they opted to force the issue. Force the issue so much that Cooper was involved in the build-up to the 96th minute winner, dribbling around a Wick player 10 yards into the opposition half like a Lewes-loaned version of Manuel Neuer.

After his risky outfield play miles from his goal, Cooper found Troak who quickly moved the ball onto Fair. Spotting the run of Abdsami, Fair dinked a delightful pass into the box.

Abdsami produced a stunning first touch taking him past Bingham and Charlie Robinson before he rifled a volley across Belcher to win it with virtually the last kick.

A crazy end to a crazy game. If character is what ends up defining this promotion race, Hassocks have now shown theirs.

Hassocks: Cooper; Hendy, Turner, Troak; Blake, Wilkes, Budd, Finney, Fair; Fender, Croal.

Subs: Benson, Abdsami, Brodie, Bull (used), Bonwick-Adams (unused).