In four league and
cup games last season Hassocks failed to beat
and even score against Shoreham, but after a
hard fought battle at the Beacon, James
Laing's eighth minute strike was enough to
earn the points against their bogey side.
Robins hard to work extremely hard against a
side fourth in the table and although Shoreham
pressed hard and finished strongly in the
second half, Joel Harding hardly had a shot to
save, but once again his handling was
impeccable.
Phil Gault
returned to the Beacon and was excellent in a
central midfield role vacated by the injured
Spencer Slaughter. With Ian Simpson sidelined
by a back injury, Dave John will have been
concerned to see Stuart Faith leave with a
heel injury and Laing limp off after a poor
challenge from Lee Eastman.
It was Laing's
tap in from six yards after just eight
minutes, following a downward header by Gault
from a Terry Gacias corner that was the
difference between the sides. In truth clear
cut chances were at a premium throughout,
although both sides knocked the ball about
well on a good Beacon surface.
Laing and Neil
Kane worked tirelessly up front, with Kane
unfortunate not to get on the score sheet
against his former club when his flick from a
Kublickas cross flashed just wide of the post.
Harding denied Jamie Groves from 20 yards and
Bradley just failed to get on the end of a
Hudson centre, whilst in the closing minutes
Dan Jacques tested Michael Hunter with a shot
after a fine run and the Robins saw the game
out to earn three excellent points.
Hassocks:
Harding, Jacques, Marsh, Lear, Faith,
Kublickas; Gacias, Gault, Hibbert; Kane, Laing
Subs: Bowra
(Faith 51), Clark (Laing 69)
Starman: Phil
Gault
