In form Peacehaven & Telscombe the visitors for first floodlit game of 2023
The Beacon hosts its first floodlit football of 2023 when in form Peacehaven & Telscombe are the visitors in Southern Combination League Premier Division action.
Peacehaven had been due to visit in December but the game was lost to a frozen pitch during that week when temperatures in Sussex barely crept above minus.
The Tye had sat fifth in the table at the time with Hassocks sixth. Nearly six weeks later and it has become a battle of fifth versus ninth, the Robins slipping down the standards on account of playing just two Premier Division fixtures since.
Steyning Town left the Beacon with a 3-2 win on Boxing Day. Hassocks bounced back last time out with a much improved performance delivering a convincing 3-0 win over AFC Uckfield Town.
Peacehaven & Telscombe this season
Feast or famine is probably how best to describe the 2022-23 campaign so far for Peacehaven with two really good sequences of results bookending a pretty disastrous spell.
The Tye began in impressive fashion, topping the early Premier Division table with four wins from four. That fed into a record over their opening eight league and cup games of seven victories and one draw, leaving Peacehaven to rightly be labelled title contenders.
In mid-September however, the wheels came off slightly. Peacehaven lost five, drew one and won just once from a run of seven matches with that sole victory being a less-than-convincing 1-0 success over struggling local rivals Saltdean United.
That run was ended with a superb Sussex Senior Cup win over then Premier Division leaders Broadbridge Heath, sparking the current impressive form of only three defeats in 18 matches.
Hassocks v Peacehaven & Telscombe head-to-head
It is not a fixture which has brought Hassocks much joy through the years. Peacehaven have won 22 of the 39 meetings with eight wins for the Robins and nine draws.
Hassocks can at least take solace from the fact this one is at the Beacon – trips to the Window Workshop Sports Park have been even more harrowing.
The Robins have won just one league game in their history at Piddinghoe Avenue. That came under Mickey Jewell in the 2011-12 season when Hassocks went onto claim their highest ever Premier Division finish of fourth.
Last time Hassocks played Peacehaven & Telscombe
Significant rebuilds of football clubs often take time to gel and that was something Peacehaven hammered home in James Westlake’s first competitive game in charge of his new-look Robins.
Goals from Max Hollobone and a Callum Edwards brace secured a 3-0 victory for the Tye on the opening day of the campaign, setting them up for that impressive early season form.
Matchday information
Kick off is at 7:45pm and admission is £7 adults, £3 concessions and free for under 16s. Both card and cash payments are accepted on the turnstiles.
The T Bar will be open serving hot food and drink and the Robins Bar has a wide selection of craft beer from local breweries, along with other alcohol.
Dogs are welcome and a printed matchday programme will be on sale for £1.
