Hassocks play their third home game in the space of 10 days as cup specialists AFC Uckfield Town visit the Beacon on Tuesday night.
A combination of bad weather and AFC Uckfield Town’s brilliant run to the fourth round of the FA Vase has seen this game postponed three times already – and moved from the Oaks to the Beacon for good measure!
Originally scheduled for the start of November along the A272 at Uckfield, the first fixture was postponed due to Town’s FA Vase second round game at AFC Croydon Athletic.
The rearranged fixture was then switched to Mid Sussex in order to try and help preserve the Oaks’ pitch ahead of their third-round tie with Sutton Common Rovers but has since been twice lost to the weather thanks to firstly Storm Diana and then the heavy rain midway through December which saw a glut of Southern Combination League matches abandoned before they could reach their conclusion.
It’s been a whirlwind couple of seasons for the Oakmen as they’ve started to establish themselves as part of the furniture in the top flight of the Southern Combination Premier Division.
After being spared relegation to Division One only by ground grading at the end of the 2016-17 season, AFC Uckfield Town haven’t looked back.
They finished in 14th spot last season although that was with a nine-point penalty – without that deduction, it would have been a 10th place finish which would’ve been close to their highest ever.
They’ve taken that impressive form into this season and have a victory over Eastbourne Town to their name as well as having claimed points from title chasing duo Saltdean United and Newhaven. Those results have left Uckfield in a lower mid-table position but with games in hand on every side around them.
The reason they’ve played less times than every other team in the division is because they have enjoyed their best-ever run in the FA Vase as well as reaching the last eight of the RUR Charity Cup and the final four of
the Peter Bentley League Cup.
Their FA Vase run saw them eliminate AFC Croydon Athletic and Sutton Common Rovers on their way to a heroic fourth round defeat to Windsor. Their form in the two other knockout competitions has been equally impressive and goes to show that on their day, Anthony Storey’s side can be a match for anyone in the Premier division.
A lot of Uckfield’s success this season has been based around attacking football and they have two of the division’s top marksman among their ranks in Callum Smith and Matt MacLean who have plundered 21 goals in the league between them so far.
That sort of firepower combined with the history of the fixture suggests that a draw between the two is extremely unlikely.
In 14 previous meetings, there has never been a draw with Hassocks triumphing eight times and Uckfield six.
Both sides had a win apiece in the league last season, triumphing in their respective away games and the fixture tends to guarantee goals with 58 so far at an average of over four a game.
They also both come into this fixture in good spirits having won at the weekend, Hassocks with their brilliant 5-3 victory over Horsham YMCA and Town with a 1-0 success over East Preston thanks to a late, late winner from Smith.
Kick off at the Beacon is at 7.45pm and entrance is priced at £6 adults, £3 concessions and Under 16s go free. The Robins Bar will be open for beer sales and hot food and drink is available from the T Bar.
