Second half collapse sends Fatboys crashing out of cup

A terrible second half collapse saw Hassocks Fatboys Reserves Sussex County FA Sunday Trophy end with a 4-1 defeat against The View, increasing the pressure on manager Jamie Stratton in the process.

The loss means that the Fatboys still only have one win to their name eight games into the season although Stratton has done his best to rewrite the history books, claiming that the three points the side picked up by default through Hangleton only turning up with six players should count as a victory.

The truth is that the Fatboys need a win and fast. They started this game the better side, encouraged by a rallying team talk with the front three of Jake Graham, Kenny Tinnion and Reece Wickwar causing real problems. Captain Wickwar in particular looked pleased to have finally been granted his dream of a starting place up front.

Many would’ve expected The View to dominate given that they play in a higher division but the visitors found chances hard to come by thanks to the organised back four of Pete West, Jon Kelly, Sam Wilson and Nick Davie.

Credit in protecting them should also go to the midfield three of Mark Potter, Tommy Tyler and Stuart Young.
Confidence was running through the Greens and they should have taken the lead when Wickwar played in Graham but his shot flew just wide of the post, much to The View’s obvious relief.

That relief was short lived however as the Fatboys took the lead with a classic route one goal. 22-year-old Nick Jones leathered a long kick straight up the pitch, remarkably keeping it in play. This surprised not just his own team but the opposition as well, with Graham taking advantage of the fact that The View were at sixes and sevens to run through on goal and coolly finish.

Could a cup upset be on the cards? It might have been had the Fatboys put away some more of their first half chances. The best of those came when Wickwar played in Tinnion and his shot forced a good, tidy save from The View goalkeeper.

The View made a couple of changes at half time and that proved to be a stroke of genius on their part as the subs who came on began to cause the Fatboys all kinds of problems. The attacking efforts of the first half seemed to have taken a lot out of the men in green and as they began to tire, only some strong and legal tackles from West and Davie ensured The View weren’t able to score.

Despite all their possession, the equaliser was a goal that nobody could do anything about as The View’s winger cut inside and curled one straight over the head of Jones for 1-1. Some would say Jones was lobbed again but he was pretty helpless for what was a fantastic strike.

There was an instant chance to restore the lead for the Fatboys. Davie slipped over but somehow his fall ended up being a perfect pass to Wickwar who found Graham but he could only direct his shot straight at the goalkeeper.

The game could have gone either way at that point but the Fatboys collapse was just around the corner. A loose ball wasn’t cleared properly and one of the subs introduced by The View at half time was eager to show his manager why he should be starting by burying past Jones for 2-1.

Two became three shortly after and this time it was the other substitute delivering a message as he sprung the offside trap and made no mistake to tuck past the onrushing Jones.

The Fatboys didn’t give up and with substitutes Kane Wright and Kevin Ticehurst thrown on in an attempt to become more attacking, there was another good opportunity to pull one back. Young showed some neat footwork out on the left and his cross was dropped by The View goalkeeper right into the middle of the danger zone. With the goal gaping, it only needed a Fatboy to reach the ball and turn it home but unfortunately, the two players closest to it were Davie and Wright. Neither has scored a goal for the club and they showed why when they ran into each other in true Chuckle Brothers style, allowing The View to clear.

With seconds remaining, The View added one final nail to the coffin when the Fatboys went for the unique tactic of leaving six men up front when defending a corner. Unsurprisingly, this led to a free header which was easily converted past the frustrated Jones to make it 4-1.

Stratton put a brave face on things afterwards, highlighting the drop outs and no shows of three of his players as being particularly unhelpful to his chances of halting the Fatboys slide. That wasn’t enough to stop the speculation about his future with a source close to former club captain Martyn Buxton saying, “Would Martyn welcome a return to the club as manager? Put it this way – there is only so much wanking while watching repeats of Peak Practice that a man can do on a Sunday morning.”