What a difference 72 hours make for Hassocks as they bounce back to beat Pagham

Most of the drama was saved for the final 10 minutes, when two of the goals arrived and both sides squandered chances as the tie threatened to go either way.

The previous 80 minutes won’t be remembered as a classic. Opportunities were few and far between, not that anyone with home connections was complaining as dour fare meant that the Robins had given their best defensive performance of the campaign so far.

With a striker like Charlie Pitcher in their ranks, Hassocks know that if they can keep it tight at one end, then Pitcher has the quality to win them games at the other.

He scored both of the Robins goals, the first with a perfectly taken penalty and the second a poacher’s finish after a goalmouth scramble which sparked that madcap finale.

Hassocks were rarely troubled at the back until then. Last season’s number one Charlie Pugh answered the call to return between the sticks with Dave Carruthers and Conor Evento both struck down by injury.

Pugh could not have expected to have such a comfortable evening against a side who arrived in Mid Sussex as the division’s second-highest scorers, the goalkeeper pulling off only one save of note in the second half.