Fated cup tie abandonedwith Robins well ahead

After two postponements and a switch to Steyning, the visitors were leading 3-0 against the Division 2 high flyers when the home midfielder went down slowly with no-one around him, complaining of neck pains.

An ambulance was called and with Shugga unable to move, the referee called a halt.

With former Robins manager John Suter in charge of Steyning and Hassocks’ current assistant boss Mark Dalgleish having spent a number of years at the Shooting Field, there are strong links between the clubs and these were enhanced by the hosts naming former Robins youngster Jake Mills in their starting line up.

But it was the latest man to make the move between the clubs who proved the best player on the pitch as Craig Knowles continued an impressive start to his Hassocks career. He was involved in all three of the goals.

The first arrived after just five minutes and it was Knowles who scored neatly from the edge of the box after good play from George Brown on his first senior start.

Two minutes later it was 2-0 as Knowles won a free kick five yards outside the box and Phil Gault dispatched the dead ball kick in trademark style.

It stayed that way until the second half when the hosts rallied and asked a few questing of Hassocks, who were fortunate not to concede a goal before on 55 minutes Knowles pulled the ball back to produce an own goal.

Hassocks handed a senior debut to Dan Stokes who replaced impressive fellow youth teamer Brown before the early finish. The tie now awaits a County FA ruling.