Roads to Wembley start with one home and one away tie for the Robins
The draws for the opening rounds of the FA Cup and the FA Vase have been made with Hassocks facing Southern Combination League opponents in both.
Fellow Premier Division outfit Lingfield will visit the Beacon in the FA Cup on Saturday 6th August. The sides have met in seven different competitions over the past 40 years, but this will be the first ever clash in the FA Cup.
Hassocks lead the way in the head-to-head with 14 wins from 30 matches. There have been seven draws and nine victories for the Lingers.
The Robins went unbeaten against Lingfield in 2021-22. They earned a 1-1 draw at the Beacon on August Bank Holiday Monday despite playing for over an hour with 10 men following a red card to Connor Bradley.
Alfie Loversidge had given Hassocks a sixth minute lead with Lingfield equalising through Jamie Bakhit 13 minutes from the end.
The reverse fixture in January was switched from Godstone Road to Whyteleafe. The further journey had no impact on Hassocks as goals from Jack Troak and Josh Short secured a 2-1 win, the Robins’ first on the road in the 2021-22 season.
Isthmian League South Central Division side Uxbridge will visit the winners in the preliminary qualifying round on Saturday 20th August.
The Vase draw has handed Hassocks a trip to Division One outfit Chessington & Hook United in the second qualifying round on Saturday 24th September.
Chessington are newcomers to the Southern Combination League this season after the FA moved them from the Southern Counties East League.
The clubs have met on two previous occasions. The first saw Hassocks pick up a hugely impressive FA Cup first qualifying round win at Chalky Lane in the 2005-06 season.
Pat Harding scored twice along with Mickey Turner to give Dave John’s side a 3-0 victory. The Robins were eliminated from the competition in the next round in front of a bumper crowd at the Beacon by Dulwich Hamlet.
The second meeting with Chessington was less enjoyable. Injury-hit Hassocks underperformed in losing 3-0 away from home in October 2013 to see their Vase hopes ended in the first round.
Theo Woodhouse, Daniel Harding and Nathan Gilbert got the goals for United, all of which came in the second half.
