Hassocks Fatboys 3-1 Queens Park
Six weeks ago at East Brighton Park turned out to be a bit of a disaster for Hassocks Fatboys, who travelled to Queens Park for the opening game of the 2020-21 Sussex Sunday League season and were duly hammered 9-0. That’s NINE nil.
Fast forward 42 days and it was Queens Park’s turn to visit Clayton Rec. They had been top of the Premier Division since that NINE nil victory.
The Fatboys in contrast had lost five of six subsequent matches, including an embarrassing 3-2 Roy Terrington Trophy exit to the bottom club in Division Two who did not have a single league point on the board from five matches at that point in time.
The full time score at Clayton: Hassocks Fatboys 3-1 Queens Park. An extraordinary turnaround from that chastening afternoon in sunny Whitehawk.
Football is a funny old game and it can be an ironic one too. In the game six weeks ago, Andy was sent off for calling the referee “A F**KING ****” at the top of his voice.
A Queens Park player repeated the trick, although he threw the word “cheating” in the mix and directed it towards both Matt Jasper running the line and the man in the middle, picking up a wonderful red card for his efforts with just 25 minutes or so played.
To anyone looking at the result, the red card would appear to be the reason for the dramatic swing that had seen the Fatboys go from 9-0 defeat to knocking off the Sussex Sunday League table toppers in less than two months.
That was not really the case though. Even before Queens Park were cut down to 10 men, we had been well on top. “When we play like pricks, we are really shit. When we turn up and actually try, we can be a decent team” was how Andy put it afterwards. This was one of those days when we were a decent team.
What helped was having one of the strongest squads we have had all season. Having been part of a Hassocks defence which lost 8-0 to Horley Town last Saturday, Turner had decided that if he was going to get thrashed every week, he may as well have a laugh doing it with us and so he was in for his second appearance of the season.
Andrew Davies had been convinced to play after Spiesy said that he wanted to take Lisa out for the day. Being the gent that he is, Davo agreed to take Spiesy’s place in the squad to facilitate this.
What Spiesy had neglected to mention is that the date was to Clayton Rec to watch Hassocks Fatboys versus Queens Park and he and his good lady wife rocked up at 10.40am with a Costa takeaway and a bacon roll. Steve knows how to treat a woman.
Mike ‘Best Left Back in Mid Sussex’ McDonald took up the left back berth with Gregg Chappell giving an outstanding performance at right back.
Jack and Wilkesy formed an all-action central midfielder partnership and Andy just in front managed to get through the 90 minutes without calling the official a see-you-next-Tuesday, unlike our opponent. In attack, the traditional front line of Duck, Jordan and Stuart were reunited for the first time this season.
Queens Park played some nice football in the opening exchanges, forcing Scott into an excellent one-on-one save and then a solid stop to turn a similar chance around the post inside the first 10 minutes. The visitors were probably expecting this to be a similar experience to the last meeting at that point in time. How wrong could you be?
Jordan soon had the ball back of the net, only for the goal to be ruled out as the referee ruled that Jordan had fouled the goalkeeper when smashing home the rebound from a spilled shot. That was the start of an excellent period of dominance from the Fatboys, causing Queens Park to become increasingly frustrated.
Eventually, that frustration boiled over and when Jasper flagged to signify that the ball had gone out of play for a throw, the Queens Park midfielder lost his mind. It was such a trivial thing to explode with rage over, which is what made the offence even better.
All three of the Fatboys goals came from headers which will do our reputation as a long ball team a world of good. The first came on 28 minutes when Duck swung the perfect corner onto the head of Davo who powered home a trademark towering header for 1-0.
Duck’s contribution to the goal was rather surprising as he had arrived at Clayton cutting a very hungover figure. He also appears to be going through a sympathetic pregnancy as, with Rosie now expecting (congratulations Mr & Mrs Duck), he explained that the reason he was about to throw up because he “was with child” rather than the 10 Stellas and a bottle of champagne he had sunk the previous evening.
There were several more opportunities to extend the advantage before half time with Jordan and Stuart both going close. My eyes may have been deceiving me, but it looked like even Jack had a shot at one point in a sign of how dominant the men in green were.
The message at the interval was that it would be very disappointing to lose against 10 men given how well we had played in the first half. Finding that crucial second goal would be the key and there were again plenty of chances which were not taken through a combination of the woodwork being rattled and some wasteful finishing.
Eventually, the Fatboys did manage to double the lead and it came from another corner. Duck’s delivery was met by Turner to spark a wonderful chain of headers; Turner headed to Andy, Andy headed towards goal, Jordan headed it over the line to “make sure” it went in, as all good strikers do.
Defending a two-goal lead was much more appealing than hanging onto one and so Stuart moved to right back in place of the tireless Gregg with four young players all coming on from the bench: Jasper, Alex Bates, Matt Perry and Max Gill who made his debut with an exciting cameo in the number 10 role.
Eight minutes after the second and Davo made the game safe by adding a third for the Fatboys from another Duck corner. Queens Park pulled one back in the closing stages with a rare second half attack as their forward brought a ball under control in the box, turned this way and that and then hit a brilliant volley into the far corner.
It was too little, too late though and the Fatboys held on for an excellent 3-1 victory. What a difference six weeks can make.
Hassocks Fatboys (4-3-3)
Scott McCarthy
Two important saves in the opening 15 minutes and quick off his line to thwart Queens Park on the rare occasions they broke through in the second half.
Gregg Chappell
Added another string to his bow with an excellent performance at right back. Defended well and got forward to support Duck.
Dan Turner
Won every header, dribbled around four or five players like they were not there and enjoyed the havoc he was causing by smashing the ball 70 yards down the pitch. Good to have him back.
Andrew Davies
An incredible 90 minutes in which he made the difference at both ends, leading a rock-solid defence and popping up with two decisive goals from headers.
Mike McDonald
“When I saw the squad, I thought I’m going to be playing f**ing left back.” He was correct – and he showed everyone why he is the best left back in Mid Sussex.
Jack Lewis
A disciplined performance in the holding midfield role. His work in keeping the dismissed Queens Park midfielder quiet played an underrated part in building frustration and causing the red card.
Jamie Wilkes
Saw plenty of the ball and made lots happen with it. This was surprising given he had been out for Ryan John’s birthday the previous evening.
Andy Brown
One of his best performances of the season so far which was only missing a goal. He will not be buying Jordan a pint anytime soon.
Dave Keane
First man in Fatboys history to play whilst going through a sympathetic pregnancy. If said pregnancy results continues to result in two assists every game then that would be splendid.
Jordan Walsh
Much fitter and sharper than in last week’s injury-hit 30 minutes against White Garden. Did what all good strikers do by stealing a goal from Andy.
Stuart Brown
Another shift from the captain as he tracked back when playing on the left of the front three before finishing the game at right back, where he made some important interventions.
Subs
Matt Jasper
A positive first appearance of the season as he got on the ball and caused problems when running at the Queens Park defence.
Alex Bates
Asked plenty of questions in his brief time on the pitch after coming on up front to make it three impressive cameos in his Fatboys career so far.
Max Gill
Showed some lovely touches in the middle of the park, linking up well with Andy in particular and coming close to a debut goal with a shot which flashed just wide.
Matt Perry
Was his normal assured self at left back, keeping things simple whilst making sure his side did not lose the ball.
Sussex Sunday League Premier Division
Sunday 25th October 2020
Clayton Green
Goals
Andrew Davies (28′)
Assist Dave Keane
Jordan Walsh (71′)
Assist Andy Brown
Andrew Davies (79′)
Assist Dave Keane
Man-of-the-Match
An excellent team performance in which there were numerous candidates. Andrew Davies was the best of the bunch, not losing a header all morning and scoring twice to help secure the three points.
Previous Matches
13/09/20: Queens Park 9-0 Fatboys
12/01/20: Fatboys 1-5 Queens Park
30/09/18: Fatboys 6-5 Queens Park
12/11/17: Fatboys 2-1 Queens Park
03/09/17: Queens Park 1-1 Fatboys
30/04/17: Queens Park 3-6 Fatboys
11/09/16: Fatboys 1-7 Queens Park
27/09/15: Fatboys 1-3 Queens Park