Hassocks kick off a run of four home fixtures in the space of 11 days on Tuesday night as AFC Uckfield Town make the short journey to the Beacon.
The tie had been scheduled for mid-October but unfortunately, the game was lost to a waterlogged pitch as Mid Sussex was battered with rain.
Inclement weather and the visit of Uckfield became something of a running theme last season. The fixture was postponed three times thanks to a combination of rain and Town’s record-breaking run to the fourth round of the FA Vase with the game eventually taking place in January, just the three months later than had been planned.
Things went quite well for Anthony Storey’s side that day. They won 2-1 before following that up with a 4-0 victory in the final game of the season which confirmed a seventh-placed finish in the Premier Division, their highest ever.
That was just the latest milestone in an impressive upward curve for the club. Ever since the Oakmen received a relegation reprieve at the end of the 2016-17 season with Little Common unable to come up that year due to ground grading, they’ve been slowly climbing the Premier Division table.
As well as finishing higher than ever before and going further in the FA Vase than they had ever managed, Uckfield also made the final of the Peter Bentley League Cup where they went down to Saltdean United in a game held at the Beacon.
All that success led them to be labelled as potential dark horses for a tilt at the title this time around, providing they held onto the majority of their talented squad in the summer.
Storey managed to not only do that, but he also added a few additional bits of quality to make them an even bigger threat this time around.
They don’t come much more quality than striker Liam Baitup. The experienced hitman made the move to the Oaks and has been in sparkling form so far, scoring 13 times in 21 games and forming a dangerous striker partnership with Bailo Camara, a man who always seems to net against Hassocks.
Camara has eight himself and those goals have Uckfield in 13th spot in the table at the time of writing, although they do have up to three games in hand against the sides around them in the table – win those and they could climb as high as third.
They’ll no doubt arrive at the Beacon full of confidence given their recent record here in Mid Sussex. The Oakmen have won on three of their last four visits in all competitions.
Remarkably, there has never been a draw in the 16 previous meetings between the two with eight wins apiece and plenty of entertainment as the last 10 fixtures have all featured three goals or more.
Two of Hassocks’ squad spent time earlier in their careers at the Oaks. Harry Mills and Andy Whittingham are both ex-Uckers and will be hoping to put one over on their former club.
Uckfield have ex-Robins goalkeeper Alex Harris among their registered players, although he is yet to make an appearance so far this season for the Oakmen.
Kick off at the Beacon is at 7.45pm and entrance is priced at £6 adults, £3 concessions and Under 16s go free. The T Bar will have hot food and drink, the Robins Bar will be serving beer and the latest edition of our award-winning matchday programme will be available for just £1.
