October should have been renamed Eastbourne month for Hassocks. After facing Langney Wanderers in both the league and Peter Bentley League Cup, the Robins travel to the Sunshine Coast again to face an Eastbourne United side who have been in rampant form recently.
It’s been a whirlwind year at the Oval. They pulled off an extraordinary escape from relegation last season, scoring in the last minute of the final game to overtake Arundel having been miles adrift of safety at Christmas.
That turnaround was sparked by Billy Reed taking over as chairman at the Oval and the inspired appointment of Arron Hopkinson as boss.
Reed in particular was bullish over the summer about United’s chances of making a real impression this year, but he’s since departed to Hastings United and Hopkinson has also resigned as manager.
His place has been taken by Matt Crabb and that looks like another inspired appointment. United have won their last seven games in succession across all competitions and currently occupy eighth spot in the table.
Matt Crabb has since taken over as manager and that looks an inspired appointment with United one of the form teams in the division currently, sitting ninth in the table with Peacehaven & Telscombe in third only three points away.
That marks this out as a particularly tough assignment for Hassocks, although they’ll no doubt take heart from their recent record at the Oval where they haven’t tasted defeat since 2010.
In actual fact, they’ve won on their past six consecutive visits, a run made all the more ridiculous when you take into account that only twice in that time have the Robins finished above United in the league.
The most recent of those trips came in January, which was the last time these two sides met. Hopkinson was only a month into his Harry Houdini act at that moment in time, but the improvement in United was already clear asHassocks were made to work extremely hard for their 2-0 success.
It came thanks to a goal of the season contender from James Littlejohn and a trademark Phil Johnson finish. Littlejohn opened the scoring on 42 minutes, spotting United goalkeeper Jordan Hawkins ever-so-slightly out of position.
Despite the ball bouncing awkwardly on a difficult surface, Littlejohn managed to get it under control before hitting an effort from a full 30 yards with stunning results, the ball rising over Hawkins’ head before dipping perfectly into the far corner of the goal to draw the applause of the home faithful as well as the travelling Hassocks contingent.
Needless to say Johnson’s finish wasn’t quite as impressive, the Hassocks captain finishing off a counter attack which he’d started by releasing Spencer Slaughter down the right who delivered a lovely cross which Johnson met with an inch-perfect finish in off the post after continuing his run into the box.
Hassocks’ fine record at the Oval has played a significant part in putting them in a dominant position when it comes to the head-to-head. There have been 40 meetings between the two sides with Hassocks winning 18, United 10 and 12 draws.
Kick off at the Oval on Saturday is at 3pm. The games with Eastbourne-based teams don’t stop there either – Hassocks host United’s tenants Little Common at the Beacon a week later.
