If before Saturday's trip to
Selsey Dave John had been offered a point, he would probably
have bitten your hand off, especially with a starting line
up with an average age of just 21. But
in the end he was slightly disappointed that his young
Hassocks team did not collect a much-needed three points
against a Selsey outfit who looked like they were struggling
for confidence themselves. Chances were few and far between
in the goalless draw and Jack Simpson will rarely have a
more trouble-free afternoon, with just one save to make in
the first half and a few crosses to gather after that, which
his big frame made him comfortably equipped to do.
The Hassocks back line of
Jacques, Eynon, Marsh, Pitcher and, in particular, the
superb Stuart Faith, dealt admirably with anything that was
thrown at them and Blues were restricted to a couple of
speculative efforts that flew tamelessly over. James Laing,
the oldest player in the side at 31, played in an unfamiliar
holding midfield role and did a fine job alongside Anthony
Hibbert and effervescent Jamie Hillwood. The 18-year-old
Hillwood is far from the finished article, his defensive
duties often leave a lot to be desired, but as an attacking
influence he is a real find. Twice he put in excellent
efforts in the first period, forcing Steve Phillips to save
low down on both ocassions.
But the best chance of the
entire match fell to Jamie Buckett on 19 minutes when after
fine work down the left by Hillwood and Eynon, the striker
scuffed his shot badly wide from eight yards with just
Phillips to beat. It was a critical miss in the context of
the game. In the second half, Hillwood marauded into the box
but his cross-shot went agonisingly wide of the far post,
Buckett headed straight at Phillips from Jacques' cross and
Hibbert shot just wide. At the other end Tom Ridley and Mark
Lee both hooked efforts over and it looked as if each side
had settled for a point in the final quarter, especially
Selsey as they were reduced to 10 men with 12 minutes left,
when Sean Dobbs received a second caution for a tackle on
Laing.
Main talking point at the end
was the performance of Burgess Hill referee Colin Mallows in
booking six players, including Faith and Eynon, in a game
where all players were committed but hardly produced a bad
tackle between them. All too often, it seemed, the official
held up play to hold a conference with players as well as
scattering yellow cards around like confetti. But it was a
good away day for the Robins, with a hard-earned point to
boost confidence as John tries to get the club back on
track.
Hassocks: Simpson, Jacques,
Eynon, Marsh, Faith, Pitcher, Buckett (Miles, 75), Hillwood,
Hibbert, Laing, Robinson.
Subs: Miles (Buckett 75), Williams,
Thompson (unused)
Starman: It was an
excellent, whole hearted performance by a young side but
Stuart Faith gets the vote as he hardly lost a tackle or
header all afternoon.
