Weather permitting, Hassocks will make only their second trip to Hill Park in the past 17 years this Saturday to take on Saltdean United.
They’ll be hoping to fare better than on that previous occasion, which came just over a year ago. The Robins were well beaten that day as goals from Rob O’Toole, Ryan Warwick and former Bristol Rovers midfielder James Fraser secured a 3-0 win for the Tigers.
Things didn’t go much better from a Hassocks point of view last time the two sides met either. Former Robin Ben Bacon put in a sizzling performance to score all four goals for Saltdean as they left the Beacon with a 4-1 win on August Bank Holiday Morning. Phil Johnson netted the hosts consolation.
The good news for Hassocks fans is that Bacon has since left United, moving onto Lingfield for a brief spell before returning to Steyning Town where he spent the first half of last season.
That result came as part of United’s flying start to the season in which they suffered only one defeat from their first 12 matches, including securing hugely impressive victories against Chichester City and Horsham YMCA in back-to-back matches in the space of three days at the end of September.
Things have unravelled slightly over recent weeks though and they’ve been in pretty poor form since the turn of the year, winning just three of their last 10 games to slip some 17 points behind leaders Chi.
Although facing an uphill battle to stay in title contention, Damian Freeman’s side could yet lift secure some silverware for the Hill Park trophy cabinet with a Peter Bentley League Cup semi-final still to come against Chi on February 19th.
If Mark Dalgleish’s side are to take something from the game, they’ll have to be wary of the threat posed by Jamie Brotherton who has 111 goals for the Tigers from midfield.
They also have a familiar face to Hassocks fans between the posts, Nathan Stroomberg having left the Beacon after 21 appearances last season to move to United where he has firmly established himself as their number one.
There have been 27 meetings between the two with Hassocks having won 12 games and Saltdean 13, leaving just two draws. The Robins head-to-head is largely helped by the sides clashes in Division One during the early 90s, when the Robins won six games out of six, scoring 19 goals and conceding just four.
Kick off at Hill Park is at 3pm. Given the adverse weather conditions that Sussex is expecting over the next 48 hours, please keep an eye on our social media channels for updates should the game fall to the expected cold snap.
