Hassocks make their first senior visit to Broadbridge Heath’s High Wood Hill Sports Ground on Tuesday night where the Bears are yet to lose a Premier Division game so far.
Since taking up residence in their new home, Steve Painter’s side have picked up seven points out of a possible nine. They saw Lingfield off 3-2 at the weekend to go with a 1-0 win over top flight newcomers Alford and a 2-2 draw in the ground’s opening fixture against Loxwood.
That form has marked the Bears out as potential dark horses in the Southern Combination League title race. They’re currently fifth in the table with one less from six games, nicely positioned some five points behind leaders Eastbourne Town.
Challenging for the championship would continue Heath’s impressive rise over the last decade or so. As recently as 2010, they finished in a relegation spot in Division Two and were only spared the drop into the West Sussex League due to a lack of sides applying for promotion to the Southern Combination.
Fast forward nine years to April 2019 and they were securing a sixth placed finish in the Premier Division, their highest ever placing. That was an impressive enough achievement even before you take into account the ground problems they suffered over the course of the last campaign as their move to High Wood Hill dragged on throughout the year.
They had been due to move in early in the season but the contractors repeatedly pushed back the opening date, leaving Heath stuck playing at a Broadridge Heath Leisure Centre facility which was no longer being looked after properly.
That was the case when these two sides last met there back in November. The playing surface resembled a cabbage patch although that still didn’t excuse the result as Hassocks were comprehensively beaten 6-0.
Oliver Moore scored twice for the Bears with the other men on target being George Cousins, Thomas Howard-Bold, Max Howell and Dean Wright.
It was by some distance the Robins’ biggest defeat against Heath. The 22 previous meetings between the two clubs have seen the Robins win nine times to Heath’s eight while there have been five draws.
Those fixtures have taken place across all three division of the Southern Combination League over the past 35 years, making Heath one of the few opponents that Hassocks have faced in the Premier, Division One and Division Two. There have also been clashes in the Peter Bentley League Cup as well as the FA Vase.
The Bears can call upon a couple of names who will be familiar to Hassocks supporters. Defender Josh Tuck is now at High Wood Hill having moved from Burgess Hill Town in the summer.
He spent the 2017-18 season at the Beacon, playing 19 times and scoring once. Goalkeeper Conor Evento has been with the Bears for a couple of years now having played for the Robins’ Under 18s and Under 23s squads during the 2015-16 campaign.
Kick off at High Wood Hill is at 7.45pm and entrance is £6 adults, £4 concessions and £1 for Under 18s.
