Fair arrives having scored goals for fun with Lancing and Shoreham
Hassocks have boosted their attacking options with the signing of former Shoreham and Lancing forward Alex Fair.
A regular goal-getter wherever he has been thanks to his clinical finishing ability, Fair scored 12 times in 29 appearances last season to help Shoreham to the Southern Combination League Division One title.
Former Hassocks striker Michael Death had taken Fair to Middle Road ahead of the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
He plundered eight goals that season as the Musselmen narrowly missed out on promotion when defeated by Midhurst & Easebourne in the playoffs.
Fair spent 2020-21 with Mile Oak but is probably best known for his time at Lancing spread over two spells, where he played alongside a number of current Robins including Alex Bygraves and Kyle Woolven.
In the 2019-20 season when Lancing topped the Premier Division at the time Covid-19 led the campaign to be declared null and void, Fair had contributed 16 goals in 26 appearances.
Included in that haul were two from the Lancers’ August Bank Holiday Monday visit to the Beacon. Fair was introduced early in the second half with Lancing trailing 1-0 to a James Littlejohn effort and in danger of suffering a first league defeat of the season.
That was until Fair’s brace bagged in the space of 180 seconds turned the game on its head. The first was a stunning 73 minute header with power and direction from a corner out on the left.
The second arrived on 76 and was an equally impressive finish, a cool curling effort from the edge of the box which gave Robins goalkeeper Josh Green no chance.
Fair would go onto inflict further damage on Hassocks two months later. He turned out for Lancing Under 23s when the Robins went to Culver Road in Southern Combination Under 23 West Division action, scoring a hat-trick.
The Lancers ran out 4-2 winners that night with their other goal coming from future Hassocks forward George Mitchell-Phillips. Louis Pople and Tom Jupp replied for the Robins.
During his first spell at Culver Road, Fair was part of the Lancing squad who ended a 23 year wait for senior silverware when winning the Peter Bentley League Cup at the Beacon in 2016 via a 2-1 victory over Newhaven.
There were plenty of other Hassocks connections involved with the Lancers at that time. Former Robins defender Jake Mills was on the receiving end of a foul which saw the Dockers’ Joe Dryer dismissed after only 24 minutes.
Green was Lancing goalkeeper between his two spells with Hassocks, saving Lee Robinson’s penalty six minutes into the second half. Mike Williamson was named man-of-the-match and Bygraves was also a Lancer.
Fair has also represented Littlehampton Town, for whom he scored six times in 11 appearances during the 2018-19 Southern Combination Division One season.
Welcome to the Beacon, Alex.
