East Preston are the visitors to Mid Sussex this Tuesday as the Beacon hosts its first Southern Combination League Premier Division action of the season.
It’s been a busy summer for EP as they prepare for their third campaign back in the top flight under a new management team and with something of a new look squad in place.
Bob Paine and his coaching staff left the club a few weeks after the end of the 2018-19 season with former Rustington management duo Kerry Hardwell and Jon Tucker being appointed in their place.
Paine had done a sterling job in stabilising the club after relegation to Division One in 2016, winning promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt and subsequently keeping EP in the Premier Division for the past two seasons with 13th and 14th placed finishes.
Now it falls to two former Rustington managers to build on that by repeating at the Lashmar the success that they had with the Blues.
Under Hardwell’s leadership, Rustington won both the Division Two title and the Division Two Cup last season, an impressive haul for his first season in charge.
The previous year, Tucker had been at the helm and he also won a double for the club, marking EP’s new look management team as a duo who know how to win.
Their recruitment so far has been impressive with plenty of well-known names on the Southern Combination circuit making the move to the Lashmar this summer.
Among those are a host of former Pagham players including Josh Irish and Andy Chick while David Crouch has made the move from Arundel.
EP kicked off their season on Saturday against Lingfield at the Lashmar where they were well beaten 3-0 by the Lingers. With such changes having taken place over the summer, that perhaps shouldn’t have come as a surprise and it may take EP several weeks to find their feet.
They can at least take solace from the fact that since their promotion two years ago, games with Hassocks have been close run affairs.
Last season saw the two sides share a point in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Lashmar before Phil Johnson scored the only goal of the game in the return at the Beacon.
In fact, the last five meetings have either finished 1-0 or 2-2, so based on that we’re either in for a goal fest or a tight affair in Mid Sussex.
It’s EP who have the better head-to-head record in the fixture with 18 wins to Hassocks’ 14. There have been 10 draws with the Robins scoring 60 times, somewhat behind the 80 that EP have plundered with many of those coming between 2012 and 2014 when Dom Di Paolo’s side won the Premier Division table.
Two former Hassocks players played a part in that triumph. Joel Harding was Paolo’s first choice goalkeeper throughout a 2013-14 campaign in which EP swept all before them.
Harding wound up at EP via Lancing having left the Beacon in the summer of 2010 to become number one at Burgess Hill Town. He came through the youth ranks at the Beacon as part of the Under 18s who won the SCFL Youth League and the Sussex County Cup in 2002, going onto play 340 times for the Robins and becoming one of the most popular players in the club’s history in the process.
Rob Boddy was the second former Robin to be a part of that all-conquering squad having left Hassocks for EP in the summer of 2012. He made 12 appearances in his brief spell at the Beacon.
Kick off on Tuesday night is at 7.45pm and entrance is priced at £6 adults, £3 concessions and under 16s go free. The T Bar will be open throughout the evening serving hold and cold food and drinks and the Robins Bar will have alcohol available.
For those travelling from the west, please note that there are long term roadworks taking place at Stonepound Crossroads and as such, there is no access to Hassocks from Hurstpierpoint.
Three way temporary lights are also in place, which may effect the journey times of those coming from the north as well so if you are travelling to the Beacon via car, please leave enough time.
