Hassocks bowed out of
the FA Cup 3-0 in a frustrating encounter on
Saturday as Dave John's men were taught a valuable
lesson in finishing by Surrey-based hosts Walton
& Hersham. In
what proved to be a relatively even affair against
higher-ranked opposition, Hassocks paid the
ultimate price for rarely testing home goalkeeper
Rob Webb despite creating a number of
opportunities. Conversely, the Ryman League hosts
pounced on limited openings to send Hassocks out
of the cup and deprive the visitors of an extra
£1,000 in the bank. Afterwards Hassocks boss John
commented: "I don't think we deserved to lose
3-0. We were the better side until their first
goal and rank bad defending gave them a second.
After battling hard in the second half, it was
frustrating to give away a third."
Hassocks welcomed
back skipper Joel Harding who replaced Phil
Wickwar in goal, while striker James Laing made a
long-awaited return from injury after missing the
whole of last season. The hosts started brightly
and could have taken the lead in the eighth minute
when Rob George poked the ball straight at Harding
from close range. But Hassocks responded well and
began to exert long spells of pressure on Walton,
with full-back Mickey Turner making some thrusting
runs down the right-hand channel. Yet Hassocks
failed to create any clearcut chances in the
opening half hour despite looking the better side.
And they were punished in the latter stages of the
first half when the hosts effectively won the tie.
On 37 minutes Walton took the lead against the run
of a play when a long ball picked out the run of
substitute striker Nathan Graham, who drilled the
ball home from a tight angle. It only took another
five minutes for the hosts to add a second when
midfielder Lawrence Yiga rose above his marker to
head home Tom Carter's excellent cross.
To their credit,
Hassocks refused to give up and they almost
reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time
when Phil Gault's superb curler cleared the bar by
inches. And the visitors continued to look
dangerous after the break as Spencer Slaughter
came agonisingly close with an audacious 40-yard
lob that caught keeper Rob Webb by surprise and
rolled narrowly wide. In the first 20 minutes
of the second half alone, Hassocks were guilty of
squandering five chances, with Webb only required
to make one notable save from Anthony Hibbert on
the hour mark. The best of these openings probably
came in the 62nd minute when a clever Gault flick
picked out Laing, who sadly failed to control the
ball in a superb shooting position.
Yet it was Gault who missed Hassocks' best chance
after tamely shooting straight at Webb following a
pinpoint cross from the overlapping Turner on the
right. And their misery was compounded in stoppage
time as Carter made it 3-0 with a left-footed
effort that passed through the arms of Harding.
Hassocks: Harding,
Turner, Marsh, Lear, Leahy, Thompson; Robbins,
Slaughter (Bates 89), Hibbert; Gault, Laing
(Newington 82).
Unused subs:
Thomas, Franks, Wickwar.
Middy Starman:
Mickey Turner, several surging runs down the right
and full marks for effort.
Report courtesy of
David Menon, Mid Sussex Times
