Bognor closed the gap on Lewes in Division One South after a deserved 2-0 home win over mid-table Croydon Athletic.

The Rocks are now a point behind Lewes ahead of tomorrow night's Sussex derby at the Dripping Pan, although Lewes still have a game in hand.

Boss Jack Pearce said: "The lads have responded to recent criticism in the best possible way and now that's two wins on the trot which puts us right back in the picture."

Although their win was thoroughly deserved, Athletic still forced home keeper David Kirby to maintain his recent good form.

Bognor had the better of the early chances and Matt Russell's volley flew straight at visiting keeper Rob Frankland. Croydon settled and almost caught Bognor on the counter-attack when John Fowler broke the offside trap only to see his effort turned behind by Kirby.

Dean Lock then blasted his effort well over the top for the visitors, but after Lee Stevens had been denied once by Frankland he got the better of him to put the home side in front, racing on to a ball over the top from Michael Birmingham in the 26th minute and shrugging off a challenge from Jason McDonald before rifling home from an acute angle.

Birmingham was forced to leave the pitch after a clattering challenge from Frankland who remained the busiest player on the pitch, clawing away a lob from Stevens as he back-pedalled furiously towards his own goal.

It was 2-0 on 53 minutes when on-loan striker Michael Harper made it four goals in as many games, racing onto a ball down the line from Jodey Rowland and rifling a low effort past Frankland at the near post.

The only scare for Bognor came late in the game when James Gibson was allowed to meet a Billy Jackson cross, but his effort was superbly tipped onto the bar and over by Kirby.