CHICHESTER BACK ON TOP AFTER KNOCKING FOUR PAST ARUNDEL

Chichester City returned to top of the County League after cruising to a 4-1 victory over Arundel at Oaklands Park on Easter Monday.

Championship rivals Peacehaven and Whitehawk fought out a goalless draw at the Sports Park which leaves Chichester one point clear, although the Hawks do have five games in hand and will be hungry for success after losing their FA Vase semi-final against Wroxham.

Callum Cutler opened the scoring for Chichester on 32 minutes with a 25 yard effort which deflected past former City keeper Ben O'Connor in the Arundel goal.

A minute later O'Connor brought down James Temple on the edge of the box and Barry McCoy made no mistake in doubling City's lead from the penalty spot.

Arundel pulled one back 5 minutes before the interval when the referee penalised McCoy for pulling down Scott Tipper in the City area and Tipper himself stepped up to score the penalty.

James Temple created Chichester's third goal on 52 minutes with an inch perfect cross that James Ford willingly slotted home at the far post after Cutler had somehow missed the ball when better placed.

Former City winger Russell Hardwell was the one shining star in Arundel's lacklustre performance and he produced two inch perfect crosses around the 60 minute mark. Howard Neighbor blasted the first chance over the bar and Tipper wasted the second chance when heading wide from six yards out.

Richie Towers went for broke soon after when introducing all three substitutes but it was Chichester substitute Matthew Cooper that made the bigger impact when he came on for Jason Minton after 65 minutes. Cooper's first touch was a 25 yard effort which O'Connor pushed around the post and then Cutler's corner was glanced home by James Temple at the near post.

Temple pushed another effort wide in the final minutes but the game was already over by then and Arundel now find themselves deep in relegation trouble with a backlog of fixtures to complete.

Report written by Martin Smith

Chichester Team: Harding, Minton, Ford, Bryan, Benjamin, Mullen, Searle, Cutler, Temple, Vassallo, McCoy.
Subs Used: Brockway, Cooper
Not Used: James
Scorers: Cutler, McCoy, Ford, Temple

Booked: Mullen
Sent Off: -
Man of Match: Temple
Attendance: 90