Hassocks Fatboys Reserves 3-2 East Brighton Wanderers
Sussex Sunday League Division Four
Sunday 10th November 2019
Following on from last week’s drubbing at the hands of Lancing United, Hassocks Fatboys Reserves were looking to bounce straight back with another home game at Clayton. The opponents this time were the same as from our opening game of the season, East Brighton Wanderers with whom we had drawn 2-2 on that sunny September morning.
With a number of absentees, it was a threadbare squad of 11 for manager Reece Wickwar to choose from in his favourite 4-3-3 formation. Captain Nick Jones was again between the sticks, sporting a lovely rainbow armband to show his support for Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign. In front of him was a back four of Nick Davie on the right and Sam Harding on the left with Ali Jenkins joined by a new partner in the middle as Bruce Bignell added some much needed fitness.
In front of them were a midfield three of Kev Ticehurst, Luke Vick and Reece Wickwar. Simon O’Brien and Gregg Chappell were in the wide forward roles with El Bod – having travelled 4,200 Miles from his holiday in St Lucia to land at London Gatwick on the morning of the game – starting as the target man. Sam Wilson, still carrying an Achilles injury, took up a spot on the bench “in case of emergencies”.
Following the previous week’s thrashing, morale was at a low. To try and address this, it had been decided earlier in the week that every member of the squad should bring along their favourite chocolate bar(s) to the game. These would then form a bag of treats for this week’s Man-of-the-Match. Needless to say, there were some shocking inclusions, including two Bountys much to the disgust of most of the squad.
The pre-game message from Reece was simple. Get the attitude right from the warm up, work for each other and don’t let the other side bully you on the ball. With this message still fresh in the minds of the Fatboys, they left the changing room to start their warm up… half arsed as usual.
Unsurprisingly, the Fatboys were slow to start as Wanderers enjoyed the majority of the attacking play. The tactic of using SOB and Gregg as ‘wide forward players’ was exposing Sam and Davie in the full back positions, often leaving them having to mark two players as the opposition were keen to push their own full-backs on.
This in turn led to the Fatboys’ central midfield three being dragged wide, creating space to attack through the middle as well. Although Bruce and Ali were trying to stand firm in the centre of defence, wave after wave of East Brighton players running towards the box began to take its toll as the Fatboys struggled to clear their lines, leaving the front three to try and feed off hoofed balls out of defence.
As a result, Reece made an earlier tactical switch, dropping Gregg and SOB deeper in what was now more like a 4-5-1. The change made all the difference as the Fatboys were now able to keep their shape, spend some time in the opposition half and even create a few chances through their wide players.
SOB in particular was having a great morning and causing his marker all sorts of problems, as well as muscling him off the ball on a number of occasions. Yes, muscling. It was one such turn of strength and speed which created the opening goal.
A hoof forward from Bruce fell perfectly into the path of SOB, who collected the ball just inside the opponents’ half. From there, he ran at the defender before knocking the ball past him, shoving him to the floor and then driving into the box. The Wanderers centre back came over to cover but was no match for the greying animal SOB in full flow. The veteran winger cut inside and as the keeper came out to meet him, he picked out El Bod with a perfectly weighted pass. All Bod had to do was turn the ball into an empty net.
The goal lifted the Fatboys and they continued to mount the pressure on the visitors. Moments later there was a strong penalty shout turned down. Again, SOB found himself one-on-one with his marker and rather than running down the line, he passed inside to Bod who had a touch and shot towards goal. The ball was already sailing over the bar when the defender came in with a shockingly late challenge,sending Bod into orbit before a heavy landing which may have caused a tremor in India.
22 out of the 23 people on the pitch knew it was a penalty. Unfortunately, the one who didn’t was the bloke who mattered the most and he remarkably decided it was a perfectly legitimate challenge. History repeated itself shortly after when Gregg was sent into the air from another late challenge after he’d turned the full back inside out and was about to cross. Again, the referee waved played on in spite of the fact that both teams had by now stopped playing through shock that no spot kick has been awarded.
Davie went a step further and decided to take it upon himself to run 80 yards up the pitch from right back to argue with the ref while the game was going on. This in turn left three Wanderers players completely unmarked in the Fatboys’ half of the pitch where Davie should have been, much to Reece’s disgust.
The Fatboys knew that they would have to rely on themselves to win this game and they continued to pile on the pressure. A long throw from Reece near the East Brighton penalty box found Bod at the front post who, under the challenge of two defenders and the keeper, flicked the ball towards the back post where it crossed the line moments before SOB was able to channel his inner David Nugent and steal the goal. Bod was left in a heap on the floor and began his celebrations from this position by giving the defender who had landed on top of him a big hug, much to the defender’s disgust.
The rest of the half was played out with both teams having half chances but it was the Fatboys who went into the break the happier, especially after their slow start to the game. Reece’s team talk focused on the fact that the job was not yet finished, and a big effort was needed in the second half to ensure that the Fatboys kept the lead for a much needed three points.
Clayton has hosted copious amounts of football over the last few weeks despite the amount of rain we’ve had. It wasn’t a surprise to see that the lower half of the pitch was feeling the strain. With this in mind, the Fatboys started the second 45 determined not to let themselves down.
The half began well for the Fatboys as they continued to push forward looking to extend their lead. A number of chances came, most notably when Kev had a shot cleared off the line by the defender. This was followed by El Bod being denied his hat-trick by a great save from the visiting goalkeeper, who somehow kept out a header from point blank range following some surprisingly successful wing play from Jenkins who had gone forward for a corner.
The Fatboys and Bod did not have to wait much longer for their third however. A corner on the left from Reece found Bod and he again had a header from close range. This time though the goalkeeper had no chance and the hosts had what would prove to be a crucial third goal.
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Following the extension to their lead, the Fatboys started to relax a bit. This proved to be rather costly as they were immediately under the cosh from the visitors. Wanderers got themselves back into the game when a ball over Harding’s head was easily swept up by Jenkins who was covering behind. Rather than clearing the ball over the car park and into the neighbouring church, Ali decided to try and keep possession by clipping the ball back up the line to Harding.
This proved to be a pretty bad decision as by this point, the winger had chased Jenkins down to make a block. The ball bounced off the winger’s leg and onto his arm before falling perfectly into his stride as he ran into the box. Keen to make up for his error, Jenkins chased the winger into the box and just as he was about to shoot, Jenkins slid in and won the ball with a perfectly timed challenge, diverting it into the arms of Jones.
The referee however decided that there was no contact with the ball before it changed direction, and very quickly awarded the visitors a penalty. This angered the home team, who were still reeling from the non-penalties they felt they should have been given in the first half. Nonetheless, a penalty had been given and the taker sent Jones the wrong way to eat into the deficit.
This really should have spurred the Fatboys on to ensure that they maintained what was now a two-goal lead. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect and panic and sloppy play began to creep in, quickly leading to further problems. With the ball being given away on the edge of the Fatboys box for the 121st time in the space of 10 minutes, the Wanderers’ forward found himself with some space and time to bend into the top corner of Jones’ goal, leaving the 22-year-old goalkeeper with no chance.
The Fatboys were looking tired by this point with the heavy pitch conditions not helping. As a result, Reece decided to take the risk of throwing on a half-fit Wilson in place of Ticehurst in the centre of midfield. This helped the hosts to regain some composure and they even managed to put a couple of attacks together.
On one foray towards the opposition goal, the Fatboys were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box. For the 15th time that morning, one of the Wanderers players had told the referee to “Fuck off”. That was one time to many for the official who said that if the Wanderers player swore at him again, he would find himself sitting on the naughty step for 10 minutes.
This was met with a response of “Go on then, I dare you”, a dare which the ref duly accepted. “Fuck you and your shitty game” was the superb response as the player left the pitch. The resulting free kick was struck firmly by Ali but rather than the goal, it hit the player at the end of the wall, leaving him in some discomfort no doubt.
With the visitors down to 10 men for 10 of the remaining 15 minutes, the Fatboys were hoping to extend their lead. Nine hours on a plane and 10 days of all-inclusive beer and food in the Caribbean was taking its toll on Bod however and he was struck with a severe bout of cramp following a huge amount of running. With Bod now limping around, the Fatboys’ race as an attacking force was run.
There was a late onslaught from the visitors to fend off, but the Fatboys managed to do so as they held on for three valuable points, leaving them four points off third spot with two games in hand. Not the finest display from Wickwar’s men – and they will certainly be looking to improve on their performances over the coming weeks – but it was a case of job done and all back to the Club to try Kev’s Great Fatboys Bake Off entry, which was definitely not made by his Dad.
Hassocks Fatboys Reserves (4-3-3)
Nick Jones
Not the busiest of mornings for the young goalkeeper with most of the shots he faced going over or wide of the goal. Could not do anything with the penalty or the second into the top corner.
Nick Davie
Solid morning at right back. He got revenge on his long haired tormentor from the opening game of the season by marking him out of the game, eventually forcing the East Brighton wingers to swap sides halfway through the first half.
Bruce Bignell
Slotted in at centre back well where his typical high-energy performance was a welcomed addition to the back four. We saw a couple of his kamikaze runs forward which might have left the defence understaffed, but on this occasion they were dealt with well.
Ali Jenkins
Happy to complete 90 minutes after struggling with injury for most of November. Gave away a contentious penalty after stopping a shot and getting the ball and was only a great save away from getting an assist after turning into Messi on the left wing. Yet to reach last season’s standard.
Sam Harding
Tough opening 15 minutes where he was often caught between marking two players, but once the tactical shift to 4-5-1 was made he looked comfortable and was solid on the left side of defence.
Kevin Ticehurst
Handed a rare start by Reece after impressing from the bench in recent weeks. Did his job well and was very unlucky not to score in the second half. Will feel aggrieved not to have seen out 90 minutes, however he showed his great attitude by taking on linesman’s duty without complaint.
Luke Vick
Grumpy Luke does not deal well with hangovers. Moaned at Jones for not rushing off his line to claim a ball near the corner flag and the rest of the team for pretty much everything else that happened. The midfield does however always feels stronger when he plays, and that was true again this week.
Reece Wickwar
Reece is always full of running and once again he never stopped. Another two assists on the charts for the Player Manager and he had a nice walk into a neighbour’s garden after the game to collect a particularly wayward shot.
Gregg Chappell
One thing you know you will always get from Gregg is his body on the line. Too much pace for the Wanderers defenders and the referee rightly awarded him numerous free kicks – except for when he was fouled in the box. For the second time this season, he arrived at a game against East Brighton with last night’s face paint on. (Braveheart this time, comedy moustache last time for those wondering)
Chris Clayton
Chris woke up in St Lucia and having flown 4,200 miles over nine hours, he arrived at Clayton Rec ready for a battle. Threw his body on the line and was rewarded with another hat-trick. With this being the second time that Clayton has arrived at a game directly from the airport and scored three times, the Fatboys board are looking at the club accounts to see if there is enough money in the budget to send him on holiday every week. Deserved Man-of-the-Match.
Simon O’Brien
Possibly Simon’s best game so far this season. He helped Harding out defensively, pushing opponents off the ball and took players on with the ball at his feet. Deserved assist for the opener and a contender for Man-of-the-Match had Bod not scored all three goals.
Subs
Sam Wilson
Such was the lack of numbers for the game this week, a half-fit Wilson agreed to be the only sub. Impressed when he came on in central midfield and played a big part in holding back the second half onslaught from the visitors.
Goals
Clayton, assist O’Brien
Clayton, assist Wickwar
Clayton, assist Wickwar