It’s all eyes on the league now for Hassocks Under 23s as they travel to Arundel in their first game since being eliminated from the Southern Combination Under 23 League Cup at the hands of East Preston a week ago.
EP’s 3-1 semi final win at Middle Road means that the Robins can devote their attention to attempting to remain at the top of the West Division over the next month. Victories in all four of their remaining games will be enough to give Nigel Pearce’s side their first ever title at this level of football.
The Robins will face Arundel twice as part of that run, having not taken on the Mullets so far this season. Hassocks’ other game comes in a weeks time, a mouthwatering clash with second placed Horsham YMCA at Gorings Mead.
With only goal difference currently separating the top two, that looks as though it could be season defining.
This is the Mullets’ first season running a side at Under 23 level and they’re enjoying a relatively successful time of it. They’ve won six, drawn five and lost six of their 17 games to date and had they managed to turn some of those stalemates into victories, they could have even joined YM and the Robins in the battle for the title.
Arundel will be well rested ahead of the game at Mill Road. They’ve only played once in the past seven weeks, a 3-0 home defeat to Broadbridge Heath. Prior to that, their last game was away at YM and they pushed them all the way before succumbing to a 3-2 defeat. That match took place on February 21st.
With this being Arundel’s debut campaign, it also means it is the first time that the Robins and the Mullets have met at Under 23 level.
The previous clash between the two in intermediate football came in the 2016-17 season when Arundel Reserves came to the Beacon to face Hassocks Under 21s in the second round of the Sussex Intermediate Cup with the Robins winning 1-0 through a Jake Booth goal.
Prior to that, there were regular clashes in the days when the Southern Combination League ran a reserve section. The last league meetings at that level came in 2014-15 with a 2-2 draw on the Robins previous visit to Mill Road in January 2015 in which Booth and Luke Pawson netted. Prior that, Booth was again on target in August 2014 when the Mullets left Mid Sussex with all three points via a 2-1 win.
If Nigel Pearce’s side are to take anything from the game, then they’ll need to stop the West Division’s top goalscorer Dion Jarvis, who has 17 goals to his name this season.
The Mullets are also likely to include the dangerous Benajmin Gray, who scored at the Beacon in January in their first team’s 2-0 win over Mark Dalgleish’s front side with Arundel sharing a selection policy similar to that of Hassocks of having several players who play both first team and Under 23 football with Jarvis and Gray just two examples.
Kick off at Mill Road on Thursday night is at 7.45pm.
