Robins host Anvils as the Sussex Senior Cup makes its comeback
Hassocks have been drawn at home against Southern Combination League Premier Division rivals Crawley Down Gatwick in the first round of the Sussex Senior Cup.
That is good news for the neutral as games between Robins and Anvils tend to be ridiculously entertaining with goals never in short supply.
84 have been plundered in 21 previous meetings in senior football at an average of four a game, including 25 in the past five meetings. Amongst the more ridiculous score lines of the past six years are 5-3 and 6-4 wins for Hassocks.
The last fixture between the two was dull in comparison, yielding only six goals as the Robins won 4-2 in Southern Combination Premier Division Supplementary Shield at the Haven back in April.
That gave Hassocks their 10th victory over Down, who have seven wins to their name. There have been four draws.
This will be the first time that the clubs have met in the Senior Cup and the first time Crawley Down have visited the Beacon since October 2018, when they ran out 2-1 winners.
The pandemic put paid to their trips to Hassocks in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, with both last season’s Supplementary Shield clashes taking place at the Haven due to drainage work on the Beacon pitch.
Down will arrive with several familiar names to Hassocks fans amongst their squad. Harvey Blake and Phil Johnson moved to the Haven in the summer of 2021 and they were joined this year by Charlie Pitcher and Will Broomfield.
Nobody at Hassocks needs telling of the difficulties facing Johnson and Pitcher poses; both are in double figures for the season already, explaining why Down have scored the second-highest number of goals in the Premier Division after leaders Littlehampton Town.
The Robins exited last season’s competition in a 3-0 defeat away at Midhurst & Easebourne. Dave John left many of his first choice players at home for the fixture with the Division One Stags and paid the price. Not that it mattered; the competition was abandoned once the winter lockdown arrived.
No date has been set for the Crawley Down game yet, so please keep your eyes on the Robins’ website and social media channels for updates.
A fixture that does have a confirmed date is the rearranged Premier Division clash with Eastbourne United, now scheduled to take place on Tuesday 12th October at the Beacon. The original tie was postponed by the league in response to the fuel crisis.
Kick off is at 7:45pm and admission is £6 adults, £3 concessions and free for under 18s.
