It’s been a month since Hassocks Under 23s last kicked a ball in anger. The Robins will be hoping to get back to action this Thursday night when they make the trip to Worthing United in Southern Combination West Division action.
Thursday 23rd January was the last time that Dave John’s side played, a 2-2 draw with Arundel at the Beacon. That’s the only time they’ve taken to the field for a league game since beating Lancing 6-1 on November 28th, 12 long weeks ago.
The Mavericks have at least been slightly more active. They defeated Seaford Town to move into quarter finals of the League Cup two weeks ago – where they could face the Robins should Hassocks overcome Southwick in their own second round clash – and have played two league games in that period, drawing 0-0 at Selsey and losing 6-3 at home to Arundel.
It’s proving to be something of a tough return to Under 23s football for United. This is the first season in which they’ve entered a side at this level following a two year absence and they currently sit bottom of the table with two wins, one draw and eight defeats from their 11 games to date.
They have proven to be the division’s great entertainers though, scoring nearly as many goals as they conceded. Eight of their fixtures have featured five or more goals, so Mavericks fans are certainly getting their moneys worth.
One of the few low-scoring fixtures that United have been involved in came at the Beacon back in October. It also happened to be one of the Mavericks’ two victories, a 2-0 success delivered via goals from Dan Hills and Kieran Sellick.
Hassocks have been much improved since that day and will go to the Robert Albon Memorial Ground in a good run of form, unbeaten in their past three league matches.
Their previous visit to United should also provide some grounds for optimism. It came in January 2018 and saw the Robins run our 4-2 winners. Kieran Rowe netted twice with Keeley Johnson and Ben O’Leary both scoring their only goals of the season.
Three months later and the sides shared a 3-3 draw at the Beacon in mid-April which did the Robins’ hopes of catching leaders Pagham no good. The goals that evening came from Max Willcox, George Galbraith-Gibbons and Connor Bradley.
Kick off at the Robert Albon Memorial Ground is at 7.45pm. If you’re planning on travelling, then please keep an eye on both ours and Worthing United’s social media profiles for any news of a postponement.
