Back to Bognor, finally. With a faint mizzle in the air we should still see some football, with a midday pitch inspection given the thumbs up at Nyewood Lane as the Hawks go in search of an eighth match unbeaten in the league under the bright lights of Bognor.

Team News

Joel Daly will be assessed prior to tonight’s fixture after hobbling off in Saturday’s victory over Kingstonian.

Charlie Harris started Saturday on the bench before replacing Daly, and he will be looking for a route back into the midfield.

Joey Taylor and Imran Kayani received call-ups to their respective nations for the upcoming batch for international fixtures, and so they will be away for a short period of time.

The Opposition

It was bad, then brilliant, and now fairly standard. Towards the end of January The Rocks were looking like a side destined for the play-offs, though recent results have halted their progress as they sit 10th, still only five points adrift of that cherished zone.

Since a 6-1 defeat at Littlehampton Town in the Sussex Senior Cup, their progress in the league has slowed following a fine run that saw them claim seven straight wins. That’s all it can take to change a season, but perhaps it came a little too soon.

Victory tonight, though, for Robbie Blake’s side sets them up for a thrilling run-in, with plenty more football on the way in the remaining few weeks of the season.

One to Watch | Dan Gifford

There’s a panoply of positive players at the club, yet Gifford’s 17 goals in all competitions this campaign earn him the ‘One to Watch’ title.

And at just 20 years of age the centre forward, who is a product of Portsmouth’s Academy, has been fantastic since returning from Farnborough early in the season.

He scored 10 goals in his 26 appearances last season, and he also got 10 in 25 during the 21/22 campaign, on both occasions on loan from Portsmouth. He has also previously spent time on loan at Weymouth.

Recent Form – DLDLW

10/2 | Cheshunt (H) | Drew 1-1

17/2 | Kingstonian (A) | Lost 3-2

24/2 | Potters Bar Town (H) | Drew 2-2

9/3 | Hornchurch (H) | Lost 2-1

16/3 | Wingate & Finchley (A) | Won 1-0 

Previous Meetings

This is the third meeting of the season between these two Sussex clubs, with the sides having met in the league and Senior Cup twice at The Enclosed Ground.

Whitehawk claimed the league match, winning 3-2 courtesy of a fine first half comeback, before falling to a 3-0 defeat in January in the cup.

Prior to that, the last time the two sides met was back in April 2019, when Jude Macdonald’s doomed Hawks would earn a 0-0 draw at Nyewood Lane, with the return fixture going in favour of the Rocks by a 4-1 scoreline.

The year prior, Bognor claimed an 8-0 Velocity Cup victory against the calamitous Hawks in what was one of the heaviest defeats for the club.

Since 2013, the two sides have met on 10 occasions, with both sides winning four, and two draws.

How to Follow

If you can’t make it to Nyewood Lane tonight, then you can follow the action via our X (Twitter) channel, which can be found here.