Horsham YMCA boss John Suter was angry as his side's title hopes were dented by a 1-1 draw with Whitehawk.

Suter believed his team threw away two points. YMCA took an early lead through Nick Flint, but missed a stack of chances before Hawks stole a point.

He said: "I was very cross. We just didn't seem able to find the net. We should have been four goals ahead in the opening 20 minutes. I was disappointed and we need to keep winning to take advantage of any Pagham slip."

Flint scored from close range and twice hit the crossbar and Warren Tilley struck a post.

Horsham YM goalkeeper Jason Dumbrill saved an Andy Packham spot-kick.

But YM fell asleep when defender Peter Durrant steered the ball past his own keeper to level the scores before half-time.

YM dominated and Phil Churchill completed a frustrating day when he had a penalty saved.

Lancing's fears of a quick return to Division Two worsened when they twice threw away a lead and crashed 3-2 at home against Hassocks.

Hassocks boss Dave John said: "We just about shaded it over the 90 minutes, but we were made to work for the points."

Don Shepherd put Lancing ahead after four minutes with a spectacular volley, but James Laing equalised with a low shot from the edge of the box. Danny Griffin restored Lancing's advantage after the break before Laing equalised with a diving header.

Micky Turner struck the Hassocks winner.

Bottom club East Preston suffered a 6-0 thrashing by a rampant Eastbourne United and also had winger Terry Withers sent off in the second half.

United manager Micky French said: "We had our goalscoring boots on and played some great football. We passed the ball into the net at times.

"It was pleasing as we concentrated on our finishing on Thursday at training."

French has set his side a target of ten points to be sure of staying out of the relegation zone and goals by Ian Dickens, Steve Latuske, Tobi Hutchinson (2), Dino Dozgic and Nick Barden put them on course.

Second-bottom Eastbourne Town also picked up a vital win in a "six-pointer" at Littlehampton with a Steve Dalloway volley on 45 minutes giving them maximum points against their fellow relegation battlers.

Eastbourne Town boss Pete Cherry said: "We were tremendous for the first 20 to 30 minutes but after that the pitch cut up and it was just a slog. They hit the bar and had appeals for a penalty but the referee gave a free-kick outside the box."

Ringmer slipped closer towards the relegation dogfight as Chichester City United bounced back to winning ways to rattle up a 7-2 victory at the Caburn.

The goals were shared among midfielders and defenders. Chris Male (2), Adam Stallard, Simon Barnard, Sid Sanderson, James Butlin and Simon Barnard netted as the forwards missed out after Ringmer had taken a 16th-minute lead through Wes Tate. Jason Reid got Ringmer's other goal.

Victory elevates Chichester to fifth.