If Hassocks are to continue their impressive start to the season, then they know they’ll need to buck the trend of results over the last 20 years away at Horsham YMCA.
Gorings Mead has never been the happiest of hunting grounds for the Robins. Since the turn of the century, Hassocks have won just twice away in Horsham in the league and once in the FA Cup which was the last time they tasted triumph there, a 3-2 smash-and-grab win in 2013 delivered by goals from Nick Pitcher, Nathan Miles and Jamie Hillwood.
Hassocks’ overall record against YM isn’t too great either with 11 wins from 47 games. That has at least been improving over recent times with the Robins picking up impressive victories over Peter Buckland’s title chasing squads at the Beacon in the 2016-17 season and last time out.
That January win in Mid Sussex was particularly impressive. Hassocks won 5-3 but that doesn’t tell the whole story as they were 5-1 ahead entering injury time after a dominant performance in which Liam Benson, Will Broomfield and James Littlejohn all scored along with a brace from Phil Johnson.
Johnson’s double was particularly timely given that YM had put in a seven day approach to take him back to Gorings Mead just a few days later. He remains a popular figure at the club after a goal-laden three seasons there.
One player who had made the move in the opposite direction is Jake Lindsey. He’ll be coming up against Hassocks for the first time since his summer departure and will be sure of a warm welcome from the visiting support after coming through the ranks at the Beacon as part of the treble-winning Under 18s side of two seasons ago.
Buckland took Lindsey to Gorings Mead as part of his summer rebuild. The YM boss has been keen to emphasise that this is a much younger, inexperienced squad compared to the one he led to second place in the Premier Division last season and as such, expectations of what they can do in 2019-20 should be tempered.
That’s been born out by early results. YM lost their first two league games of the campaign, going down 4-1 at home to Little Common on the opening day before being on the wrong end of an entertaining 5-3 defeat at newcomers Alford.
They bounced back well from those two setbacks to progress in the FA Cup last Saturday, eliminating Croydon 2-1 at Gorings Mead. That should give them confidence as they go looking for their first league points of the season.
Kick off at Gorings Mead is at 3pm.
