Hassocks Fatboys Reserves 0-1 The Long Man

Sussex Sunday Challenge Trophy First Round
Sunday 6th October 2019
 

Sussex Sunday Challenge Trophy fever gripped Hassocks on Sunday morning as Division One high-flyers The Long Man came to Clayton with the Fatboys Reserves in the mood for a Cupset. After last week’s monsoon conditions, everyone was delighted to find Clayton Rec sunny and dry on this occasion.

The first team were having some major availability issues on the morning of the game and so there were some last minute call ups with Nick Davie and Stuart Young heading to Wish Park. That left manager Reece Wickwar with a threadbare squad of his own to choose from of only 12 players.

That was just the start of Reece’s problems. Number one goalkeeper and captain Nick Jones was being taken up the Arsenal and normal stand in Justin Parker was away. First team goalkeeper Scott McCarthy was ineligible for the competition having played five first team games, Jason Gander who might have done the job is injured and Davie was probably next in line, which explains why he was so desperate to scuttle off to the fronts.

As a result, Reece had to play himself in the sticks, perhaps feeling the backlash from last week when our manager with County League goalkeeping experience instead put a rugby player in goal “because he should be able to catch the ball” once Jones went off injured. With regular full backs Young and Davie in Hove rather than Hassocks, Sam Wilson came in on the left and Bruce Bignell filled in on the right with the ever present centre back pairing of Glen Clayton and Ali Jenkins completing the back four.

Luke Vick and Des Balderdash were asked to play in the holding central midfield roles, with Kev Ticehurst in the 10 position. Ando Knott was wide left, Gregg Chappell wide right with Chris Clayton the lone striker. This left Mark “Reece, I am too hungover to start” Potter picking up the linesman flag as the only substitute. And trying not to be sick at the same time.

Jenkins was given the armband for the day in the absence of Jones he and proved himself to be inferior at tossing in comparison to the usual 22-year-old captain by losing the coin flip. As a result, the Fatboys started the game kicking down the hill facing into the bright sunshine.

As you would expect from a game between two teams that are three divisions apart, the majority of the early possession was all with the Division One outfit. Not that they had it easy – the Fatboys made them work for their early dominance with Kev, Luke and Des all pressing hard to stop them attacking through the middle.

When Long Man did eventually break through the midfield, the defence were there to keep them at bay. In fact, it was the Fatboys who created the best chance of the game on behalf of their opponents in the opening exchanges. A shot came in from the edge of the box with Ali sticking a foot out to try and block it, only to see it deflecting into the bottom corner. It looked a certain goal until Reece flew across to tip it around the post in the save of the season so far.

After soaking up the early pressure, the Fatboys started to mount their own attacks with both Gregg and Ando causing the Long Man full backs some trouble. It was on one of these attacks where Fatboys had their best chance of the first half. Ando collected the ball on the left, running at the defender and turning him inside out. From there, he burst into the box which left the defender with no other option than to bring him down.

Despite shouts for a penalty and Honest Ando insisting the foul was inside the box, the referee decided that the first contact had taken place the other side of the line by a matter of inches. Luke stepped up to take the free kick and he curled a low and powerful shot past the wall which rebounded off the inside of the post, much to the relief of the Long Man goalkeeper who was nowhere near reaching it.

This gave the Fatboys a boost and they continued to pile the pressure on going forward, winning a number of corners. Ando and Luke’s deliveries were superb but ultimately, their teammates weren’t able to make the most of them. Bod had the best chance, heading one narrowly wide at the back post from a free header.

With the Fatboys looking more positive, opportunities began to come for the Long Man to show their quality on the counter attack. They were quick to break and moved the ball around nicely with the home back four having their work cut out to try and prevent the visitors advancing too far.

It was from once such lightning break that Long Man earned the corner from which they opened the scoring. The delivery came deep to the back post where nobody in green was able to clear. From here, the ball made its way back to the corner taker who had now drifted into the box and was completely unmarked. That gave him the time he needed to pick his spot, bending a shot into the top corner and past Jenkins on the post who had turned away thinking the effort was going wide. The goal was celebrated wildly by Long Man, a sign that they were relieved to finally find a way past a stubborn defence from the basement division. The chances of a cupset had dropped.

You cold have forgiven the Fatboys defence for letting their heads drop after defending so well, only to concede from an uncharacteristic lapse. This side is made of stronger stuff than that however and there was a still a belief that they could get bak into the tie. Long Man certainly didn’t have it easy for the remainder of the half and the referees’s whistle was met by a sigh of relief from both sides that they could catch their breath after 45 end-to-end minutes.

The main message from Reece at half time was to keep doing what we had been and not to show the opposition so much respect. There was a slight tactical tweak during the break, Potter now having sobered up enough to take part in the game. He replaced Kev with Des moving into the 10 role in an attempt to add a different threat to the Fatboys front line, namely strength, running and a bull in a china shop approach.

The second half started the same way as the first, with the Fatboys defenders spending a large part of the early exchanges on the edge of their own box. Reece shook things up further by switching Ando and Gregg over and this proved to be a good decision as neither the Long Man right or left back looked comfortable dealing with the threat posed by their new opponent.

Having kept the opposition at bay – other than the lapse in concentration leading to the goal – for an hour, the Fatboys now knew they needed to get on the front foot. Ando was finding a lot of space on the right, and Gregg was making some superb runs across the back four dragging defenders out of position. This led to a number of great chances for the Rugby-turned-Football player to score, and there is a real hope from the Fatboys management team that he will one day stop trying for drop-goals and keep the ball under the bar! If he does, we’ve got one hell of a player on our hands.

The game had been played at an astonishingly quick pace all morning and as players from both teams began to tire, opportunities at both ends of the pitch started to appear. With Wilson having his best game of the season at left back, the Long Man had picked out stand-in right back Bruce as the weak link in the Fatboys defence. At one point, there were five Long Man players all standing on his side of the pitch. However, Bruce was more than a match for this tactic and his far superior fitness shone through to see off any danger with Ali there to cover on the rare occasion that Bruce was beaten by some quick passing.

With five minutes to go and knowing the game would go straight to penalties if it ended as a draw, it was kitchen sink time for the Fatboys. Glen was thrown upfront to add even more strength and aerial threat to the forward line. This almost paid off, as the defender found himself just outside the box with time on the ball. He had a quick look up and spotting Ando in a bit of space just inside the box, chipped a perfect cross right onto the head of the Spaniard, who was unlucky to see his header bounce just wide of the right hand post.

That was the last real chance for the Fatboys. The Long Man decided that the best form of defence was attack late on and in injury time they pushed the hosts back very effectively before the referee called a halt to the game. The fact that the Fatboys were gutted to have lost against a team who are three divisions higher and who scored five past them in the space of 30 minutes in pre-season shows just how far the team have come since August and on another day, it could have been the Fatboys who were in the hat for the next round.

Speaking to the Mid Sussex Times after the game, Wickwar said: “I am very proud of all the squad today. Many bookies had this down as an easy away win, but I think you can tell from Long Man’s reaction at the final whistle that it was anything but easy for them. My players are all gutted that we haven’t taken something from that game.”

Turning his attention to next week, Wickwar added: “It will be good to get back to the bread and butter of the league. We’ve got B Town Flooring next and they’ve started well, sitting deservedly second in the league. However, I have faith in my players to put in a performance that will be more than good enough to secure the three points.”

When asked about the chances of silverware for his team this season, Wickwar said: “I’m confident that there will be something to celebrate at the end of the season. We are playing at a level at the moment where we expect to win games, no matter who the opposition are. If we can continue this throughout the season it will almost certainly end with an open top bus along Hassocks High Street.”
 

Fatboys Reserves (4-3-3)

Reece Wickwar
Solid game from the stand-in goalie. He was quick off his line to clear a number of chances throughout the game, and his kicking was a real asset which the Fatboys are not used to having. Claimed a couple of important crosses as well to help stop the pressure on the defence.
Bruce Bignell
Another new position for Bruce in a Fatboys shirt, this time at right back. As you would expect, he never stopped running and fitted seamlessly into the back four after spending most of this season in midfield. Another string to the bow of the Fatboys’ ‘Mr Versatile’.
Glen Clayton
He’s clearly starting to feel more comfortable in the team now and is beginning to find his voice. This was shown by a number of arguments with his brother who was stood at the other end of the pitch. Solid in the air and on the ground to stop the forwards getting any joy and he almost set up an equaliser with a perfect ball late on.
Ali Jenkins
Stand-in skipper for the day in the absence of Jones. Organised the defence well and was solid throughout the game. Should have done better with the goal but other than that it was another typical display from last season’s Manager’s Player of the Year. His highlight of the morning was being told he looked in his 20’s still by one opposition player.
Sam Wilson
Best game of the season from Sam by some way. His winger never got the better of him to the point where he ended up switching sides having been played out of the game in the first half. Definite Man of the Match contender.
Luke Vick
Came off the pitch saying he was more tired than any other weekend so far this season – and as he didn’t play the day before, that just shows how much effort he put into this game. He was unlucky not to put the Fatboys 1-0 up with a free-kick on the edge of the box. Took some brilliant set pieces from all areas of the pitch. A deserved Man of the Match.
Des Balderdash
Started the game alongside Luke in the defensive central midfield position and offered a superb barrier against Long Man attacks. Moved further forward at half time and did well to not allow the opposition any time on the ball while bringing our wide players into the game.
Kevin Ticehurst
Was an annoyance to the Long Man defenders whenever they tried to step out with the ball. Constant running and hassling and he nearly set Gregg and Ando through with some nice balls over the top in the first half. Made way for Potter at half time.
Ando Knott
As we’ve come to expect from Ando, this was another game of trickery, dribbling the ball at speed and giving the full backs a tough morning. He won the free kick from which Luke hit the post in the first half and was unfortunate not to score in the second with a free header just inside the box late on.
Gregg “One at the front, two at the back” Chappell
Very unlucky not to score late on with a number of one-on-one chances with the keeper. Arguably though, Gregg’s greatest contributions to the day all took place after the game with the scrubbing of his teammates in the shower, his soapy dancing and then his superb homemade sausage rolls in the Club after.
Chris Clayton
Tough morning for El Bod playing up front on his own. The ball being played sideways across the pitch a lot meant a morning of running back and forth for the big man. He was unlucky not to score with a free header from a first half corner and did superbly to bring in the wide players.
 

Subs

Mark Potter
Having asked to start as a sub due to over celebrating an Albion win the day before, Potter sobered up enough to join in with his teammates at half time. A solid display sitting just in front of the back four helped to stop the Long Man attacks.
 

Man of the Match

Luke Vick with Sam Wilson not far behind.