After 25 days without a game, it seems likely that Hassocks will finally get to play this weekend as they travel to the Shooting Field to take on Lingfield.
With no sign of a let up in the horrendous wet weather that Sussex has endured recently, the Lingers have surrendered home advantage to switch the Southern Combination League Premier Division fixture from Godstone Road to the 3G surface at Steyning Town. Kick off will be at 5pm.
Godstone Road has been hit particularly hard by this winter’s rain with their last game there having taken place on Saturday October 26th, a 4-3 defeat to Horsham YMCA.
The Lingers still have 16 league fixtures left to play so sourcing an alternative venue has become vital to avoid falling even further behind.
As a result, they’ve become regular users of the Shooting Field since the turn of the year. The Lingers have also played home games at the Church Road ground of Isthmian League South East side Whyteleafe and the new Camping World Community Stadium in Horsham.
The postponements suffered by Lingfield have left them in 16th place in the table, which gives Saturday’s game the appearance of another important head-to-head fixture between two relegation candidates.
That position is perhaps a little false, however. The Lingers have up to six games in hands on the sides above them. If they won all of those then they could climb as high as sixth in the table, miles away from their current precarious situation just a point ahead of the drop zone.
Hassocks are themselves facing a fixture backlog with 14 games left to play in eight weeks. The Robins’ last five matches have all been postponed with home games against Langney Wanderers, Little Common and Broadbridge Heath and away games at AFC Uckfield Town and Alfold all being lost.
The Robins last kicked a competitive ball on Tuesday 11th February when they picked up a dramatic three points against Horsham YMCA at the Beacon.
YM had taken a 2-0 lead inside of the first seven minutes, which they held until just before the hour mark. James Westlake pulled one back for Hassocks, setting the stage for two goal in the final five minutes from Phil Johnson and George Galbraith-Gibbons which completed an impressive turnaround.
While the Robins may be rusty coming into this one, Lingfield have played three times in the last two weeks. On Tuesday night, they became the latest side to go down to resurgent Pagham, losing 3-1 in a game held at Whyteleafe.
Prior to that, they picked up an impressive point in a 2-2 draw away at Langney Wanderers and won 3-1 away at Saltdean United, a big result which plunged the Tigers into the relegation zone.
This will be the 26th meeting between Hassocks and Lingfield. The Robins leading the head-to-head with 12 wins to the Lingers’ eight. Lingfield completed a Premier Division double last season with Hassocks winning 3-2 in the Peter Bentley League Cup at the Beacon.
The sides last faced off was back in September and it wasn’t a good afternoon for Hassocks under the final sun of the summer.
Harvey Enticknap had given the hosts the lead but two goals in the final seven minutes of the first half from Jake Horn turned the game on its head.
Ben Connolly notched a third for the Lingers seven minutes into the second half and the Robins’ misery was complete when Will Broomfield missed a late penalty.
Kick off at the Shooting Field is at 5pm.
