Andrew Acott scored twice as Brighton and Hove all but ended Chichester's hopes of promotion to the National League.

Acott celebrated his recall from the seconds to help Brighton to a 2-0 win away to second-placed Chi in South Premier division one.

Defeat leaves Chichester 11 points behind Fareham and with seven games to go it is inconceivable that the leaders will slip up.

The attention will now turn to the bottom of the table and, while Lewes picked up another morale-boosting point, Brighton's battle for survival is gaining in excitement.

Victory at Chichester lifted them out of the bottom three to fourth from bottom. That still might not be enough to stay up but, with five points separating six of the bottom seven sides, they have a great opportunity to get out of trouble.

Consistency seems to be Brighton's problem as they have now beaten two top-three sides and lost to two fellow strugglers in their last four games but captain Luke Williams is still adamant they can get out of trouble.

He said: "We are aiming for another 12 points from our last six games to be totally safe and if we play like we did on Saturday I have no worries we can achieve that.

"We want to finish at least fifth from bottom as we are not sure fourth from bottom is safe. All we can do is try to win as many games as we can."

Brighton defended stoutly in the first half with goalkeeper Neil Burlinson outstanding and they seemed to gain strength from going in goalless at half-time. Acott's first was a predator's finish after a shot came back off a post and his second was the culmination of a good move which also involved Gareth Lendrum and Kevin Browne.

Williams was pleased with late call-up Acott, who has scored freely for the seconds after being dropped from the first team, and believes Brighton have more competition for places now.

Williams said: "Before Christmas we only had 11 players we felt were strong enough for the firsts. Now we feel we have 15 or 16 which gives us a lot more scope."

Chichester coach Andy Barnes said: "We probably had 25 chances and they scored two breakaway goals but they worked their socks off. I coached Brighton for four years so a little part of me said well done' and a little part said damn'.

"But it is not the end of the world. We will finish second and I will be chuffed with that. We have a young team who are virtually all our own products. We are in a healthy position."

Lewes already look consigned to relegation but they extended their unbeaten run to three matches with a goalless draw at home to Richmond.

Despite losing Colin Toovey before the game with food poisoning and Pete Thomas early on with a head injury, Lewes more than matched strong opponents and were disappointed not to take all three points, especially as Dave Roberts was taken out as he ran through on goal in the last minute.

Mike Newman continued his fine form while fellow youngsters Kenny Rogers, Matt Rickson, Roberts and Olly Callf also shone.

Coach Chris Marchant said: "What some people have to understand is that we have young guys who were playing third team level last season and this is a massive step up for them.

"They have shown what qualities they can bring to this level and we have every reason to believe there will be successful times ahead for Lewes."