Terry Higgs scored twice and then announced he was stepping down as player-coach of Crawley.

A double from Higgs plus two from Adrian Shuttleworth brought Crawley's miserable run in Kent/Sussex division one to an end as they won 4-2 at Burnt Ash.

But Higgs revealed after the game he was joining South Premier side Oxted for the second half of the season.

Higgs had been in charge at Crawley for 18 months and oversaw their relegation from the Regional League last season.

Higgs said: "The offer has been there for a while. I have tried to stick with Crawley as long as I can but the time seems right now.

"This is going to be my last season and after a lot of heartache I have decided to see if I can play at Southern Premier standard.

It was the opportunity to play with Oxted that was the driving force and certainly not the poor league position of Crawley, but now there is no realistic chance of promotion for Crawley I want to see if I can play at a higher level."

Jason Carter also played his last game for Crawley on Saturday. Having just been made redundant, he is now going travelling to the Far East.

Keith Frimley, now in his 24th season with the first team, is set to take over as player-manager for the remainder of the season with Jamie Westwood taking on the captaincy.

Westwood said: "I think a mid-table position is realistic for us after our disappointing first half of the season. We have got players such as Kris Rai and Tig D'costa who are pushing for places, so Terry's departure will open up opportunities for some of our younger players to shine in front of goal."

Eastbourne moved into fourth place after winning 1-0 at Ashford. Kevin Williams scored the only goal from open play with eight minutes to go.

Skipper James Mackay said: "We have got some form going now and we feel we can beat any side in this league."

Crowborough were awarded a walkover against University of Kent and the three points lifted them to sixth in the table.

South Saxons remain second from bottom after losing 4-0 to leaders BBHC.