In just over three months’ time the season will have ended, and the lull begins before it happens all over again. No doubt it’s a time to reflect, rebuild and plan ahead for what is to come.
In the meantime, that next few weeks will be passing at the blink of an eye and I’ve still to get to a few clubs I would really like to visit. As you know I don’t do for the ticks, the count, the printed programme etc.
Tuesday night took me into Hampshire, but not for a Wessex League fixture which will surprise a few people. Within our Sussex boundary in the SNLF we have clubs from Surrey and one from the bordering Shire.
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Petersfield Town was the destination; joint managers Callum and Connor having appeared on the podcast earlier this season and being that the journey was only 40 minutes away not too bad for a trip out.
Their opponents I had seen twice already this season, Hassocks. Long time leaders of the Southern Combination Premier Division, they are 17 pts clear currently, but the evening was all about the Peter Bentley Cup.
The Robins were winners at Love Lane just a couple of weeks earlier, both sets of management teams knowing exactly what to expect on the night, a crisp cold one once again which hopefully in the coming weeks begins to warm up.
The pitch has a different slope that’s for sure, heading downwards across the pitch from the changing room side instead of from one goalmouth end to the other, certainly makes for an interesting game and cross field balls.
The visitors were the brighter starters and were creating chance after chance, not allowing their hosts to settle. Kieran Connell was the busier of the two keepers, denying Dan Turner and Ruari Farrell within the first 15 minutes, further chances went begging too.
Just before the half hour mark they made one count, an incisive breakaway from Joe Bull saw his pass find Morgan Vale, the striker firing low and hard from 20 yards out to give the visitors the lead and no more than they deserved.
Nine minutes before the break, Connell pulled off the save of the night. Harvey Blake strode forward unchallenged and unleased an effort that was destined for the near post top corner only for the keeper to pull out a last minute hand to tip it round the post.
The Rams did have a shout for penalty before the half ended, Rudi Blankson appearing to be shoved in the back, but the referee was having none of it.
They did however get a spot kick five minutes into the half, but Ashton Leigh smashed the effort against the bar and away to safety. That though was the start of some relentless pressure from the hosts, Hassocks finding it hard to escape from their own half amidst wave after wave of attack.
The Robins however did have one or two chances of their own, but once again Connell was equal to their efforts, and they had to keep defending their single goal advantage.
The game boiled over slightly in stoppage time as Callum Kimber was sent off for kicking the ball at the head of Blake while on the floor whilst a further player was sin-binned leaving the Rams to play out the final moments with nine players, a hard fought win taking the Robins into the semi-finals.
A very interesting game to watch from a neutral perspective, Hassocks could have been two or three goals in front before the scores. If Petersfield had scored the penalty or indeed converted that pressure into goals certainly could or would have been looking at a different scoreline.
Upon catching up with Connor and Callum after the game, they made more than a few changes with the play-off’s their sole aim and promotion. While they’ve enjoyed the difference and the teams this season it’s a long drag for them over to East Sussex and likewise for the clubs coming to them, especially on a Tuesday night.
Good to also catch up with Hassocks chairman Pat Harding, donning the physio role for the evening, a chat with Darren Budd fresh back from a mid-season holiday and Robins gaffer James Westlake, the chance of a double to match Steyning Town from last season is very much alive.
