Horsham YMCA boss John Suter could not resist a smile when he heard results from some of the other top sides in the County League.

His men scored twice in the second half to overcome rock bottom Littlehampton 2-0.

The Marigolds put up a good battle and Suter admitted they could have had a penalty in the first half when Stewart McCreadie appeared to trip Steve Davies.

Gil Taylor made the breakthrough and Paul Young, having seen a goal unluckily ruled out, made up for it by crashing home the second Suter said: "We were never really troubled in the second half."

East Preston fought back from 2-0 down at half-time at Hailsham to lead 3-2 but then conceded a goal late into injury time to go home with just a share of the points.

The visitors also had David Walker sent off for two bookable offences in a dramatic match.

Rob Knight opened the scoring for Hailsham and Ross Southwood put them 2-0 ahead from the penalty spot before the break. However, goals by Matt Huckett, Smith and a Knight own goal saw the visitors take the lead. Mark French grabbed the late equaliser.

Dennis said: "We were brilliant in the first half and we told them to concentrate on defending but we gave away silly goals.

"All credit to the lads though, they didn't play well in the second half but they kept going right to the end."

Chichester boss Adie Girdler swapped a few people around for their trip to high-flying Whitehawk and it paid off as they picked up a 2-1 win with striker Roger Moore and midfielder Paul Thomas on target.

An own goal put Hawks on the scoresheet.

Girdler said: "It was a very good display coming after our recent performances where we have not defended well."

Southwick picked up a useful point at Ringmer in a goalless draw but the game was not lacking in action.

Ringmer chairman Richard Soan said: "It was not a drab 0-0 draw but an exciting end-to-end contest. It was an old-fashioned football match between two competitive sides."

An old-fashioned striker was the difference at Peacehaven where two goals from veteran Adie Miles gave Pagham the points.

Peacehaven were good value for the first half lead given to them by Matt Balmer but Miles headed the Lions level after the break and both he and Russell Hardwell scored in the last five minutes for a 3-1 win.

Player-manager Danny Hinshelwood has his sights set on Selsey joining the front-runners and they did their cause no harm with a 3-1 win over Three Bridges.

Paul Lee, Jason Reed and Clinton More notched for Selsey, while Pat Massaro, with his 30th of the season, replied for Bridges.

Hinshelwood said: "If we can throw a run of wins together over Christmas then I think we can get in touch with mid-table, and from there the leaders."

Joel Harding made his return from injury in goal for Hassocks and kept a clean sheet as his brother Pat's goal decided the issue at Wick in a 1-0 win. Pat scored with a rare header.

Robins boss Dave John said: "They had Nicky Wyatt up front from Bognor who is a useful player but we defended well and both keepers made good saves. The closest they came to scoring was when they hit the bar in the last minute."

Redhill completed a league double over Sidley when new signing Luke Jones took his tally to two goals in two games with the winner against the visitors.

Reds boss Ian Dawes was back in the dugout although his leg is still in plaster after a knee operation.

Dawes said: "Over the last few weeks we have been playing a lot better. We battled well and I don't think our keeper had a save to make until the last couple of minutes."