Hassocks kick off the new decade with a home clash against Pagham. With the Lions having been playing Southern Combination League Premier Division football since 2007 and the Robins since 1994, it’s a meeting of two of the top flight’s longest serving clubs that will get 2020 underway.
It’s a massive game too as 18th meets 19th with both clubs facing a real fight over the course of the second half of the campaign to avoid relegation into Division One.
Pagham are currently one place and two points better off than Hassocks towards the bottom of the table by virtue of having drawn two more games.
Worryingly from a Hassocks point of view, the Lions have picked up markedly in recent weeks and will arrive at the Beacon in good spirits.
But perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise. It was a summer of sweeping changes at Nyetimber Lane as former East Preston manager Bob Paine was appointed to the hotseat, having to completely rebuild his squad in the process.
Such upheavals can often take a few months to deliver results as players and staff bed into a new environment and Paine and co will no doubt be hoping that is the case as they look to pull away from the relegation zone between now and April.
Another reason for the Lions to be positive here today is their recent record over Hassocks. The sides have already met twice this season, Pagham winning 1-0 in the league at Nyetimber Lane in August before following that up with a 3-0 demolition job in the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup in September.
Those results were just the latest in a long line of disappointments for Hassocks against the Lions over the course of the last decade.
Since 2014, we’ve picked up a grand total of four points from a possible 33, the only victory in that sequence coming when Hassocks ran out 4-0 winners here just under a year ago.
The overall head-to-head record doesn’t make for much better reading if truth be told. The Lions lead the head-to-head by some way, having won 28 games to the Robins’ 17 with nine draws.
There is a third and final reason for Pagham to feel confident – they’ll have happy memories of playing at the Beacon. It was in Mid Sussex that they lifted their last piece of silverware, beating Haywards Heath Town to win the Peter Bentley League Cup at the end of the 2016-17 season.
The game kicks off a busy January period for Hassocks. There are games against the top two to come with Mark Dalgleish taking his side to leaders Lancing next Saturday before Eastbourne Town visit the Beacon a week later.
Sandwiched in-between is a Tuesday night home clash with Little Common. The Robins also make their first ever trip to Alfold seven days after.
Hassocks will need all the support that you can give them then in a must-win game. Kick off is at 3pm and entrance is priced at £6 adults, £3 concessions and Under 16s go free.
The Robins Bar will be open and the T Bar will be serving hot food and drink throughout the afternoon. Raffle tickets are available for just £1 a strip and our award winning matchday programme costs the same amount.
