Seaford Town's R.U.R Cup venture has come to an end after a 0-2 defeat to Hassocks at the Crouch. Despite the Robins having to see out the majority of the second half with ten men, two first half goals for the Premier Division side were inevitably enough to overcome a depleted Seaford side on the night.

Seaford’s multiple absentees included both manager Paul Wise and assistant John Kirby through illness, allowing former Ladies coach Billy Pout the chance to take the reins for the first time. Having managed to ride out the first quarter of an hour with relative comfort, the hosts’ soon began to encounter some problems, first after stand-in striker Matt Holland was forced off with injury in the 17th minute. Hassocks began to display their threat going forward soon after, and were given the perfect opportunity to take an early lead just under the 20 minute mark when Seaford defender Ollie Lee was penalised for a challenge just inside the area. Up stepped winger Jack Troak for the Robins, who confidently dispatched the following penalty into the top left corner to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

While Seaford may have had a higher volume of final third possession throughout the first half, their ability to convert pressure into chances cost them dearly, with Hassocks ultimately being able to stand firm in their defensive effort. With under 2 minutes to play in a first half which did not provide any real sparks in terms of opportunities for either side, Hassocks did manage to double their advantage, after a delivery from wide left of the box was glanced into the bottom corner of Mike Platt’s goal. A frustrating way to concede for Seaford having failed to react quick enough to a cross, with the second goal proving to be a visible blow in confidence heading into half time.

The second half got off to a fiery opening just two minutes after the restart, with former Seaford defender Brad Tighe receiving a straight red card following an off-the-ball incident. Despite the newly-received man advantage seeming the ideal spark for Seaford to kickstart their comeback effort, the large majority of their resulting attacking spells failed to amount to anything of substance. For Hassocks, the blow of going down to 10 never really landed them in as much trouble as could have been predicted, with Brad Sweetman’s side still more than able to contain Seaford and keep a hold on their lead.

While Billy Pout’s men continued to fight until the last minute in the search for a way back into the tie, their efforts would go on to fall short, with Hassocks holding on to their 2-0 lead to see themselves advance into the semi-final of the R.U.R Cup, where they will face Chichester City or Littlehampton at the Beacon.

Seaford Town:
Mike Platt (GK)
Shaun Skipper
Ollie Lee
George Maybury
Matt Simpson
Callum Edwards
Matt Ford
Ben Dartnall (off 52')
Reece Edwards
Alex Saunders
Matt Holland (off 17')

Subs: Scott Marshall (on 52'), Simon Piper (on 17'), Dan Pollard (on 81'), George Olulode