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Sussex County League Division 2
Hassocks 0 Lingfield 1
Back in November, Hassocks won 4-1 at Lingfield but since then the merry-go-round that is County League football has seen the Surrey-based club form what is nearly a completely new team.
Only three players who started that game in November were on Saturday’s team sheet at the Beacon but the changes paid off as the visitors deserved their victory, which came courtesy of a Matt Warren strike early in the second half.
Robins have struggled since the turn of the year, just one win in five now, and they looked very much off colour until the final 20 minutes. And to compound their misery, Robert South was shown a straight red in injury time for hauling down Josh Smith.
Smith, built like a boxer, was a constant menace to the Robins defence but all too often went down way too easily for a man of his large frame. This brought bookings for Ashley Marsh and Stuart Faith, while Phil Gault and new signing from Shoreham, Rob Boddy, also found their way into referee Andrew Massey’s notebook.
The referee had a poor game, with a number of bewildering decisions and the red card for South looking harsh as it appeared Faith was covering the run on goal.
However, the ref cannot be blamed for Hassocks’ below par performance, as they gave the ball away at regular intervals to allow Lingfield a reasonably easy afternoon.
Clear cut chances at both ends were at a premium, with neither keeper overworked.
In the first half Smith fired over twice and headed straight at Jack Simpson from a Simon Wallace cross, while Wallace himself was denied by Chris Maynard’s goal line clearance.
Simpson brilliantly tipped over Smith’s header and at the other end the Robins’ best chance of the first half fell to James Westlake, who shot tamely at Rob O’Hara after good work from Nathan Miles.
Miles and Gault found life hard against the imposing figure of Rhys Coleman, a former Charlton trainee, who looked as if he had played a higher level.
Hassocks started the second half brightly, with Miles and then Anthony Hibbert shooting wide but on 48 minutes it was 1-0 to Lingfield. There seemed little danger as Warren picked up the ball on the left edge of the area but his shot on the angle somehow beat Simpson’s dive at the far post to nestle in the bottom corner.
Phil Johnson had a long range effort saved and Gault headed wide and also had a shot blocked in a goalmouth melee but Hassocks could find no way past a resolute Lingfield back line and South’s dismissal really summed up a poor day at the office for the Robins, who need to get back on track quickly to stop their season floundering into mid-table mediocrity.
Hassocks: Simpson, South, Maynard, Marsh, Faith, Westlake, Hibbert, Cooper (Boddy, 58), Miles, Gault, Johnson. Unused subs: Wallis, G Amos.
Middy Starman: very difficult but Ashley Marsh put in a solid enough performance
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Sunday 27 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
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Light showers
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