IN THE space of one
short month a season that still held plenty of
promise for Hassocks has disintegrated – and it
started and finished against lowly Rye. It
might be something about coastal towns but the
Robins clearly do not get on with either Rye or
Selsey. Yet while they have beaten Selsey three
times this season, Rye have proved somewhat more
obstinate. The East Sussex club ended the very real
RUR Cup hopes of Dave John's men just before the
turn of the year and on Tuesday the visitors well
and truly buried the memory of an earlier 1-0 FA Cup
exit to the Robins by pocketing three valuable
league points with a 2-0 win.
It was only Rye's
fifth league success but was thoroughly well
deserved and with their massive number of games in
hand it should go a long way to preserving Division
1 status. As for Hassocks, there were mitigating
circumstances but really this was not good enough
and even the phlegmatic John admitted on the final
whistle that he wasn't a happy man. He felt his side
were bullied out of it and were not helped by
referee Boris Erguvan, whose only bookings were home
trio Chris Brown, Spencer Slaughter and Phil Gault.
That was a somewhat
surprising statistic and hardly guaranteed to lift
the spirits of a side without consistent defender
Ashley Marsh, who broke his collar bone on Saturday
and will be missing for at least two months, as well
as the equally influential Matt Robbins (ankle) and
Jamie Ingham (knee). Amazingly, 16-year-old Ingham
passed himself fit but sensibly he stayed on the
bench and was not risked. With free-scoring
midfielder Anthony Hibbert not showing much sign of
a return to fitness, Matt Amos at university and Sam
Fisk trying his luck in Australia, that leaves John
with a heavily depleted squad.
He gave a full debut
to Michael Bates in midfield and declared himself
more than happy with the teenager's performance but
that was an area where the hosts struggled badly.
They gave the ball away far too
cheaply and with Spencer Slaughter covering for
Marsh, striker Phil Gault played a more withdrawn
role as James Laing and Lawrence Robinson were
entrusted with the attacking duties. Rye's touch was
much more assured and while the visitors had four or
five acceptable chances in the first half, it was 40
minutes before Gault's astute chip brought a good
save from Gavin Bourne. Robins promised more early
in the second half but it came to nothing and two
goals in little more than two minutes left them well
beaten. Scott McDonald scored from Shaun Loft's
headed pass on 64 minutes and then the talented
Duncan McArthur waltzed around at least five
players, including keeper Joel Harding, for a
breathtaking solo goal.
Hassocks: Harding;
Turner, Slaughter, Faith, Lear, Thompson; Gault,
Brown, Bates; Laing, Robinson.
Subs: Thomas (Laing,
73), Dawson (Bates, 80).
Middy Starman: Peter
Lear.
