Hassocks’ postponed festive fixtures have now been rearranged with dates set for the home meeting with Steyning Town and the away clash with Saltdean United.
The Robins and Steyning will now lock horns in the league for the first time since the 1994-95 season when Gerry Murphy brings the Barrowmen to Mid Sussex on Saturday 25th January.
The sides had been scheduled to meet four days before Christmas, but so heavy was the rainfall across Sussex that the Southern Combination League gave clubs special dispensation to call matches off 24 hours early. With the Beacon under water, Hassocks took advantage as there was little chance of getting the game played.
The weekend of January 25th had been left blank to cater for postponed fixtures from earlier in the campaign and it is now this date that will host an eagerly anticipated clash between two sides who are fairly familiar with each other.
Four times in the last 10 years Hassocks have met Steyning Town in various cup competitions while there has also been the odd friendly thrown in for good measure.
The strong links between the two stem from the number of individuals who have been involved with both clubs over the course of the past decade.
Mark Dalgleish started the trend, departing the Barrowmen after many years of service to take up a role as Mickey Jewell’s assistant in the summer of 2010.
A number of players followed him from Steyning to Hassocks. It wasn’t long until Steyning themselves had an ex-Robin in charge, John Sutter taking over for the 2013-14 campaign.
The Robins could name two former Barrowmen in their side to face Murphy’s men in 11 days time with Andy Whttingham and Liam Benson having plied their trade at the Shooting Field.
Steyning meanwhile have Alex Gathern and Jamie Weston among their number for this season, both of whom represented Hassocks with the Wizard Weston being a particularly popular member of the Robins’ most successful ever side from the 2011-12 campaign.
Meanwhile, a Tuesday night trip to Hill Park beckons with the Robin’s set to take on Saltdean United on Tuesday 4th February with a 7.45pm kick off.
It’s fair to say that there weren’t many tears shed when the Boxing Day meeting between the two was postponed, although it did leave Hassocks with an enforced three week break.
The rearranged date now means that Dalgleish and his players will face six games in the space of three manic weeks which could a long way towards deciding their Premier Division fate.
The visit to Saltdean rounds off that congested list. It starts with Little Common’s visit to the Beacon on Tuesday 14th. That’s followed by a meeting with Eastbourne Town four days later, a trip to Alfold on the 21st, the aforementioned newly arranged game with Steyning on the 25th and another home fixture against Horsham YMCA on February 1st.
Games with Saltdean haven’t been particularly kind to Hassocks since the Tigers’ promotion back to the top flight in 2016. The Robins have lost all four with last season’s encounters being particularly bruising.
A 4-1 defeat at Hill Park in February followed on from defeat by the same scoreline at the Beacon on August Bank Holiday Monday, a game in which Ben Bacon scored all four goals.
Bacon’s departure from the Beacon to Three Bridges means that he won’t get the chance to face his former side, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any players coming up against their old employers.
Saltdean have recently added Jake Lindsey to their squad, the former Hassocks youngster having transfered to Hill Park from Horsham YMCA where he had found first team opportunities limited following his summer move to Gorings Mead.
Lindsey is one of a number of new faces brought in by new Saltdean boss Bryan O’Toole, Shoreham’s former title winning manager having replaced Tom Betts earlier in the season.
