Father Christmas hasn’t been kind to Hassocks this year, giving the Robins the gift of a trip to Southern Combination League leaders Chichester City in their final game before December 25th.
Chi returned to the top of the table last weekend, winning 1-0 away at Horsham YMCA through Ellis Martin’s 83rd minute which deposed long term leaders YM.
The result leaves Mils Rutherford’s side level on points with their hosts that day at Gorings Mead but with a superior goal difference. They also have a game in hand, which at this halfway point of the Premier Division season must leave them as favourites to win a first title since 2004.
Chi began the season in imperious form. They dropped just two points from their opening seven fixtures before losing to Saltdean United, since when they’ve also tasted defeat against fellow title challengers Newhaven and an improving Eastbourne Town.
With the majority of their dropped point coming against teams in the top five, it means that they tend to put away those lower down the table which makes ominous reading ahead of the Robins trip to the Countrywide Gas Stadium.
Hassocks can take heart though from their last meeting. They traveled to Chi back in October in the first round of the Sussex Senior Cup and put in a battling display to push the hosts close before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat with Liam Benson scoring.
That was a far cry from the first league meeting when Chi left the Beacon with a convincing 6-0 victory back on the first Tuesday of the campaign. Gicu Iordache scored twice that evening with Scott Jones, Dave Herbert, Jimmy Wild and Rob Hutchings also on target.
As a result of Chi’s two victories so far this season, both sides now have 16 wins to their name which is surprising from a Hassocks point of view given that up until April, the Robins hadn’t beaten Chichester in nine attempts. Of the 39 meetings, seven have ended as draws.
Hassocks did pull off an almighty shock on their last league visit to Oaklands Park, goals from Michael Death and George Galbraith-Gibbbons shocking the host and all but ending their title hopes.
That result went a long way to being the difference between the Robins finishing third from bottom which meant avoiding relegation and second from bottom which would have led to them being demoted into Division One.
Kick off down at Chichester is at 3pm.
