Hassocks were leading visitors
Selsey 4-1 with four minutes plus stoppage time remaining
when Saturday's County League match was abandoned. Burgess
Hill referee James Harding had just awarded a second penalty
against home keeper Jack Simpson although the general
consensus seemed to be it was a 50-50 challenge with Rob
Brown that left the Selsey striker with a suspected broken
leg.
An ambulance took more than
half an hour to arrive, by which time Mr Harding had decided
to call a halt. His decision to award the penalty caused
furore and he showed a red card to Hassocks skipper Ashley
Marsh as well as to Simpson. But it seemed he intended to
play out the remaining time before the lengthy wait for the
ambulance prompted him to call the two managers together and
announce he was abandoning the match. The stricken Brown was
still lying inside the area where he had fallen.
Two goals by James Laing in
the first 23 minutes put Robins in the driving seat and
Laurence Robinson made it 3-0 after 54 minutes. Callum
Britton got up to score from the spot seven minutes later
after Simpson's challenge on him was deemed unfair but
surprisingly that was considered sufficient punishment. And
the three-goal cushion was swiftly restored as three minutes
after that Robinson's long legs got him to the ball just
before Selsey keeper Steve Philiips to make it 4-1.
Despite their recent record
of conceding games late on, three points looked assured for
the hosts although it will be the FA who now have to rule on
that.
