WHAT AN eventful County
League game it turned out to be for Hassocks on
Tuesday as they rode their luck in the first half
before finally sealing a 3-1 home win that moved
them up to fifth. With
skipper Joel Harding out injured, Phil Wickwar
continued where he left off in the second half on
Friday and this time the reserve team manager had
far more opportunity to show his worth between the
sticks. He pulled off three quality saves in the
first 19 minutes as the Robins began in strangely
lethargic mode.
The irony was that it
was an error by his opposite number that gave
Hassocks the lead wholly against the run of play on
33 minutes. Just two minutes earlier Matt Robbins
and nearly everyone in the ground wondered how a
penalty was not awarded when he was brought down
from behind by Joe Ransom. But the bad luck was
quickly cancelled when Stuart Faith's 30 yarder
should have been routinely saved by Neil Burling,
who somehow let the ball squeeze by him. Four
minutes later, though, Oakwood were back on terms
when Wickwar's excellent parry from Jamie Dean went
straight to Gavin Gordon, who gratefully accepted the
chance.
Five minutes after
the break Liam Hunt volleyed over a good chance for
Oakwood but then Hassocks gradually started to seize
the initiative. However, once again it was an error
by Burling that allowed Anthony Hibbert's effort to
beat him from a Robbins pass on 54 minutes.
Oakwood's cause was not helped when former Hassocks
player Scott Langridge was straight red carded for a
foul on Robbins with 61 minutes gone and after that
Robbins and Hibbert went close before Burling's
Jekyll and Hyde performance was underlined by a good
save to deny Phil Gault. But on 71 minutes Hassocks
sealed victory when Gault missed Robbins' low cross
but Mickey Turner duly converted at the far post.
Hassocks: Wickwar;
Turner, Marsh, Lear, Leahy, Thompson; Hibbert,
Faith, Fisk; Gault, Robbins.
Subs: Laing &
Slaughter (Fisk & Hibbert, 84)
Middy Starman: Phil
Wickwar, kept Hassocks in the match early on.
