Hassocks and Little Common will be hoping it’s a case of fourth time lucky when they try to get their Southern Combination League Premier Division clash played on Tuesday 18th February.
Three times the Commoners have been due to visit the Beacon and three times horrific rainfall has left the pitch waterlogged and the game postponed.
The most recent effort came on Tuesday 14th January when Storm Brendan was at his height, wiping out every fixture scheduled to be played in Sussex that evening.
Previously, Russel Eldridge’s side had been due to visit on Tuesday 26th November. That followed the postponement of the original tie which fell to a sodden surface on Saturday 2nd November.
The delays mean that Hassocks and Common will now face each other twice in the space of a little over a month, with the Robins set to travel to the Oval for the return fixture on Saturday 21st March.
Hassocks took just one point off Common last season, a 1-1 draw at the Beacon thanks to Liam Benson’s late leveller following on from a 4-2 defeat at the Oval in which Hassocks were 4-0 behind with an hour played.
They’ll prove tough opponents again this time around. Eldridge and his players are eyeing up a highest ever league finish in their second season in the Premier Division with their season’s highlight so far being 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
February is now shaping up to be a busy month for Hassocks with seven games already crammed in against Horsham YMCA, Saltdean United, Loxwood, Langney Wanderers, Little Common, AFC Uckfield Town and Broadbridge Heath.
There could yet be another fixture inserted; we’re awaiting confirmation as to when Hassocks’ trip to Alfold will be rearranged for after Tuesday’s night visit to Surrey was postponed for a third time.
