Gary Croydon turned up the heat on rivals Sidley after his Burgess Hill team dropped two points by declaring: "Let's see how Sidley handle the pressure."

Burgess Hill wasted a 2-0 lead at Chichester to only draw 2-2 but Croydon believes Dickie Day's men could find the championship cauldron a bit too hot to handle.

He said: "Sidley might well have cut our lead and have three games in hand on us, but let's see how they cope when they get even closer to the top. There will be a lot of pressure on them and we're used to things being hot."

Croydon was happy with a point despite being two in front.

He said: "I always knew Chichester away was going to be a dodgy one, but we've now gone 17 matches without defeat and 14 of those were wins."

Zak Newman weighed in with two goals after the break to hand Hillians a healthy advantage, but Chris Rustell pulled one back for Chichester before James Butlin levelled late on.

Sidlesham manager Ian Hillman thinks his team might do Burgess Hill a favour by beating Sidley twice.

Hillman's men won 2-0 against Redhill with goals from Wayne Eastman and Lee Mould and are still to play the title challengers twice.

He said: "We will try and do them a favour by winning those games. There's so many points to play for and I think it will take another few games until we get a true look at the table."

Sidley seem to be standing up to the pressure after they picked up another three points at Horsham YMCA but cracks could be begin to appear, according to beaten boss John Suter.

Suter said: "Sidley were playing under a bit of stress and it is starting to show. But they came here and got three points and they defended well.

"I think Burgess Hill are the better side but, having said that, Sidley have the best record in the league. Over the season the table does not lie.

"A few months ago we were in a position to win this league but we have not done the business when it mattered and Sidley have continued to do so."

A Brad Poole goal on 51 minutes after a scramble and a bit of luck in the YMCA penalty area gave Sidley maximum points as they closed to within five points.

At the other end of the table, Lancing did themselves a massive favour as they climbed above Whitehawk following a 2-1 win at Hassocks.

Second-half goals by Dave Schneider and Danny Griffin after a half-time talk from Andy Gander produced the three points after the Robins had led through a James Laing header.

Gander said: "It is nice that we have won and that other results have gone our way."

Eastbourne Town manager Pete Cherry was not happy with a point from a 1-1 draw against high-flying Pagham, who have all but kissed their hopes of taking the title goodbye.

Cherry said: "We outplayed them for long periods but they came back at us in the end because I think we had given so much early on we could not maintain that effort.

"We regard it as two points lost, but if the players continue to show that spirit and effort then we can still get something out of our remaining six games."

Central defender Matt Jones had put Town ahead but Pagham equalised through Paul Morby in the final minutes.

Whitehawk dropped into the relegation zone after only managing a goalless draw against Eastbourne United.

Manager Steve Richardson insisted his team were robbed of a penalty for the second week running and knows victory is a must at East Preston on Thursday night.

He said: "One of their defenders handled in the box in the second half, even their manager Micky French admitted as much, but the ref's given a free-kick. That's our luck at the moment.

"We must beat East Preston with Burgess Hill and Horsham YMCA still to play."

Littlehampton were indebted to 17-year-old Steve Davis when he popped up at the far post to score their equaliser in a 2-2 draw with Three Bridges after they had twice trailed.

Earlier, Carl Lloyd equalised from the penalty spot after Doug Cashman had given Bridges the lead against the run of play and it looked like the game had gone beyond them with four minutes to go when Steve Banks scored to put the hosts ahead again before Davis came in right on cue.

Marigolds manager Andy Taylor said: "We set ourselves a target of 40 points and are on 39 now so we are pretty much out of the relegation fight. If we hadn't come away from there with something it would have been an injustice."

Wick cruised to a 3-0 win at Saltdean. Darren Annis opened the scoring shortly after the interval and Annis doubled the tally with a few minutes left. But there was still enough time for Ben Milford to add a third.

Ringmer picked up a 1-0 win at Selsey thanks to a Shaun Grice goal.