Hassocks will play their first Southern Combination League Premier Division home game for five weeks as Little Common are the visitors to the Beacon this Saturday.
The Robins haven’t kicked a ball in anger in the bread and butter of league football in Mid Sussex since defeating Loxwood 6-2 on September 28th.
Since then, there has been a 4-2 Peter Bentley League Cup defeat to Langney Wanderers. The scheduled meeting with AFC Uckfield Town two weeks ago was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Mark Dalgleish and his side will be hoping their return home can spark in upturn in fortunes. Hassocks slipped into the bottom three last weekend as a result of their 4-1 defeat at Eastbourne United coupled with East Preston defeating Crawley Down Gatwick for their first win of the season, helping them to leapfrog the Robins in the process.
It won’t be an easy game for the hosts however. Having survived their first ever season in the top flight reasonably comfortably in 2018-19, Common now look to be a side on the up as Russell Eldridge’s talented squad have their eyes fixed firmly on the top half of the table this season.
Before their elevation to the Premier Division just over a year ago, Common had seen destined to make it to the top table for some time.
They came close to promotion on several occasion since entering Division One in 2009 and were only denied a top flight place at the end of the 2016-17 season due to a controversial ground grading ruling after finishing as runners up.
A relaxation in ground sharing rules saw them become tenants at Eastbourne United’s Oval ground and that coupled with a barnstorming 2017-18 season in which they were crowned Division One champions saw them play Premier Division for the first time in their history.
Understandably, consolidation was the name of the game last time around and they had a solid campaign, never really being dragged into the dogfight at the bottom of the table and eventually finishing in 16th spot, eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Player-manager Eldridge will be keen for progress to be made in 2019-20 and they’re going reasonably well so far, sitting in 13th spot with four wins from 12 games coming against Lingfield, Horsham YMCA, Saltdean United and Loxwood.
They also claimed the notable FA Cup scalp of Isthmian League side Three Bridges on a run to the first qualifying round of the competition, their best ever performance.
All this continues a remarkable upward journey for a club who were playing in the East Sussex League as recently as 2004. Over the past 15 years, they’ve climbed three divisions through the Southern Combination League and are no beginning to establish themselves as a Premier Division club.
What’s helping in that regard is the firepower that Eldridge has at his disposal, with a host of names that will be familiar to seasoned SCFL watchers for their past goal scoring exploits.
Sam Cruttwell, Lewis Hole and Wes Tate are all regular goal-getters with Jamie Crone leading the scoring charts for Common with 11 – not good news for Hassocks given the Robins’ troubles keeping goals out at the moment.
Hassocks don’t have the best of records against Common either. In the 13 matches between the two clubs so far, the Robins have only won three times to Common’s seven with three draws.
One of the stalemates came in the last meeting back in February. Hole gave Common a 1-0 within 15 minutes of the start but Liam Benson’s 80th minute leveller ensured that the spoils were shared.
Common had won the earlier fixture 4-2 at the Oval having raced into a 4-0 lead within an hour. Hole again enjoyed a fruitful day, netting a brace this time along with goals from Tate and Ryan Paul before Jake Lindsey and Harvey Blake added a little respectability to the score line for the Robins.
Kick off at the Beacon is at 3pm and entrance is £6 for adults, £3 concessions with Under 16s going free. Our award winning matchday programme is available for £1 and both the Robins Bar and the T Bar will be open and serving beer and hot food and drink throughout the afternoon.
