Jeremy Boyse scored his 100th National League goal but his Lewes team were unable to close the gap on the first division leaders.

Boyse finished off good work by Will Champness and Carl Wright with five minutes to go, but Lewes had to settle for a 2-2 draw at home to Stourport.

Ben Hawes got the home side's other goal from a penalty flick but Lewes missed the chance to go second after defeats for Chelmsford and Doncaster.

Manager Peter Boyse said: "We gave away two scrappy goals, but Stourport are a decent side although we did have control of most of the game."

Failure to score from any of their nine short corners ultimately cost Lewes although Jon Hill nearly grabbed a dramatic late winner only to see his shot cleared off the line.

Lewes visit Saint Hill on Saturday for the Sussex derby against an East Grinstead side desperate for points in their battle to avoid relegation. Grinstead went down again on Sunday, losing 4-1 at Beeston despite a goal in the first ten minutes from Dominic Male.

Lewes won 7-0 when the teams met earlier in the season, but Boyse is expecting a much tougher afternoon in the re-match.

"We are going to have to pick up our game again," he said. "East Grinstead are desperate for points so we will need to improve our performance."

Chichester eased their relegation worries in the Southern Premier after coming from behind to win 4-2 at High Wycombe.

On their way to Buckinghamshire, Chi stopped off at Seaford College in Petworth to practice on their water-filled pitch. And it seemed their preparation had off when Neil Pendle gave them an early lead after running half the length of the field.

But Chichester went to sleep at the back and conceded two sloppy goals before launching a second half fightback.

Clive Dunn's powerful short corner strike brought him a goal for the fourth successive game, Richard Juniper put the visitors in front before Dunn got his second near the end to cap an impressive performance in the last 20 minutes.

Coach Andy Barnes said: "In the last three or four games we have started to play really well. Our target is to finish above City of Portsmouth and I think we will."

Horsham pulled off one of the results of the season in the Kent/Sussex Regional League after toppling previously unbeaten Holcombe 3-2.

Goals from Mark Ansell, Robin Sims and Andy Simmonds put Horsham in dreamland against a side who started the day on top of the table.

But Holcs pulled two back in the second half and it needed man-of-the-match Neil Burlinson to make some good saves to ensure his team held on.

Skipper Burlinson said: "The whole team played really well. We produced the sort of performance we know we are capable of."

Tulse Hill's 6-1 win at Folkestone means they are now on top while Brighton kept the pressure on the top two with a 4-2 home win over BBHC.

Brighton were always in command thanks to goals from Paul Daniels, Steve Edmonds, Richard Lowe and Terry-Allan Toohey. But the big talking point in the home dressing room afterwards was Toohey's failure to add a second flick late on.

BBHC's goalkeeper got injured with two minutes to go, but they had no substitute and had to call on a player who had never kept goal before and needed some persuading to go between the sticks after spending 15 minutes pulling on the protective gear.

But it was all worth it when he saved Toohey's effort.

Terry Higgs was on target against his old club Mid Sussex, but his Crawley side had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

The outcome was about fair, according to Mids' Phil Middleton. "We were happy with a point because we didn't play particularly well," he said.

Mike Dovey and Andy Green were Mid Sussex's marksmen, while debutant Barry White netted Crawley's other goal.

Middleton and Bognor improved their survival prospects with a 7-1 win over rock-bottom Marden Russets.

Brian Lock scored a first half hat-trick as the combined side opened up a 5-0 interval lead. Richard Warnett, Rupert Langmead, Mark Pacey and Simon Morgan were their other goalscorers.

JUST one point separates the top four in the Kent & Sussex League, but Worthing remain in the shake-up after sharing four goals with second placed Burnt Ash.

John Massie put the EHA Vase quarter-finalists ahead from the penalty spot after a foul on Colin Dand, but the visitors hit back to lead 2-1 with goals either side of half-time.

Mark Duncan came to Worthing's rescue, picking up the pieces close in after the goalkeeper had parried his shot.

Worthing are fourth, one of three teams on 45 points - one behind Ashford.

Skipper Simon Holloway said: "We have three games left and if we won all three we would definitely be in there with a shout.

"I would say we had a slightly easier run-in than the others, but our goal difference isn't as good and that may count against us."

Sussex's other teams in the division all lost.

Eastbourne went down 2-1 at Sutton Valence, while Penguins lost 6-1 away to Maidstone.

Penguins did not get going until the second half, by which time they were 4-0 down.

Consolation came in the shape of a goal from Neil Watkins who swept home a short corner switch.

Newhaven goalkeeper Mark Patton had a day to forget as his side lost 4-1 at Cliftonville.

Steve Kent scored his debut goal at first team level to equalise after the home side had gone ahead inside 15 seconds.

But unfortunate stand-in Patton let in three goals through his legs.

Newhaven suffered another blow on Sunday when key defender Mark Lambert broke his elbow in three places as Newhaven finished fifth out of six in the South East regional finals of the national mixed competition.

l THE top two sides in the Sussex Open League won again. South Saxons beat Sussex University 6-0 while Crowborough crushed Brighton IV 10-1.