Hastings United assistant manager Norman Kane today saluted his side for maintaining their bid for the automatic promotion spot with a 3-1 victory against fellow high-flyers Fleet at the Pilot Field.

Second-placed United remain two points behind leaders Maidstone, who won by the same scoreline at Molesey.

It was their eighth win in an 11-match unbeaten run and they have now suffered just one defeat in their last 21 games.

But the performance differed from many of those matches as Hastings made a quick rather than a slow start.

They were 3-0 up by half-time through goals by Ade Olorunda, Russell Eldridge and Sam Adams.

Olorunda headed home an Eldridge cross in the third minute, then Eldridge nodded the second from a Danny Ellis cross 11 minutes later.

Adams fired the third from the penalty spot after Lee Carey was adjudged to have been fouled 12 minutes before the interval.

Hastings took their foot off the gas in the second half and influential midfielder James Field reduced the arrears from a Will Salmon pass on 53 minutes.

The hosts weathered a storm of pressure from Fleet, who had Michael Douglas sent off for a second bookable offence after 75 minutes.

Kane said: "It was one of our best first-half performances. We have struggled to get started in quite a few games but managed to find our rhythm swiftly this time.

"We were abysmal at the start of the second half and conceded a poor goal. One of our players was nutmegged and they were in on goal.

"Fortunately we did enough to stop them doing any more damage.

"Overall I'm delighted. We want that automatic spot. The victory also opened up a gap on Fleet and Tooting and Mitcham, who are the two teams just outside the play-off places."

Jose Goncalves scored a wonder goal as Horsham YMCA overcame rock bottom Corinthian Casuals 4-1 at Gorings Mead - but his newly born son slept through it.

The Portuguese winger helped YM keep in touch with the play-offs with a solo effort to put his team 2-0 up four minutes before the interval after Matt Russell had given them a tenth-minute lead.

Manager John Suter said: "It was one of the goals of the season. Jose beat about four players before rifling it in from about ten yards. But it didn't excite Diogo, who was asleep in his mother's arms.

"I was amazed his partner was there any way. She only gave birth to Diogo a few days before the game."

Andre McCollin reduced the deficit for the visitors, who were cheered on by football pundit Jimmy Hill and former England cricket captain Alec Stewart.

But Russell bagged his second nine minutes from time and substitute Steve Davies secured the points in the last minute. Suter said: "We didn't play that well and they played better than you would have thought for a team at the bottom but we scored good goals at the right times.

"A mathematician might tell you we've for a chance of the play-offs but a football person would point to a tough run-in."

Burgess Hill manager Gary Croydon believes his side are all but safe from relegation following a 2-1 win over Chatham Town at Leylands Park.

Hillians are now just three points short of the 41 Croydon believes will be enough with 11 matches left.

Albion scholar Lloyd Skinner netted his first goal for the club to give the hosts a sixth-minute lead. Former Hillian Darren Smith equalised on the hour before Ashley Jarvis scored a controversial winner ten minutes from time with the visitors claiming the ball had gone out of play in the build-up to the goal.

Croydon said: "It was a decent result. We still had plenty to do before Ashley scored."