Hassocks will be hoping for some fireworks on the pitch on Bonfire Night this year as they host Premier Division rivals Lancing in the second round of the Sussex Senior Cup at the Beacon.
Outside of being paired with of the county’s sides playing above Southern Combination League level, this is one of the hardest draws that the Robins could have been given.
This is turning out to be quite the season for Lancing, who are Eastbourne Town’s closest pursuers in the Premier Division as well as being in the midst of an exciting run in the FA Vase.
Naim Rouane and his players will arrive at the Beacon in high spirits following their weekend exploits in the second round of the national cup competition.
They gave a professional performance away at Eastern Counties League side Frenford, winning 3-1 through goals from top scorer Lewis Finney and a Kane Louis brace to advance to round three – another impressive result in a season that continues to get better and better.
Not many people would have had the Lancers down as title challengers in the summer when Rouane became the third man inside of a year to sit in the Culver Road hot seat.
Yet he’s built a close knit squad who have played some excellent football to sit second in the table having won seven, drawn four and lost only one of their 12 Premier Division game to date.
One of those victories came at the Beacon on August Bank Holiday Monday although Hassocks came close to becoming the first side to take a point off the Lancers on that occasion.
James Littlejohn put the Robins into the lead before two goals in the space of two minutes from Alex Fair flipped the tie on its head.
The Robins then won a last minute penalty but Ben Bacon saw his spot kick kept out as Lancing maintained their 1000% record by making it five wins from five.
That was just the latest in a long line of entertaining fixtures between the two which have featured goals, controversies and familiar faces.
The 30 previous meetings have yielded over 100 goals at an average of well over three per game, while both sides have several players who used to play for the other outfit among their ranks.
Hassocks could name up to three former Lancers in their side today in Josh Green, Liam Benson and Lewis Westlake while Lancing have Jack Baden and Matt Berridge on their books, Berridge having made the move to Culver Road as recently as last month.
One of those 30 past clashes came in the Sussex Senior Cup, a first round meeting back in 2011. Hassocks will be keen to avoid a repeat of that experience as despite Phil Gault giving the Robins an early lead, it was the hosts who ended up hammering Mickey Jewell’s side 6-1.
Lee Denyer, Darren Boswell, Richard Hudson, Darren Annis, Dan Turner and Titus Patterson all ended up scoring for Lancing, although the Robins’ cause wasn’t helped by a number of weird and wonderful decisions from the match officials.
Kick off at the Beacon is at 7.45pm and entrance is priced at £6 adults, £3 concessions and Under 16s go free. The Robins Bar and the T Bar will both be open throughout the evening serving beer and hot food and drink respectively and our award-winning matchday programme can be purchased for £1.
