Chichester are in ninth position in County League Division One after beating bottom side Sidlesham on Tuesday night, with the match being a fair reflection on the standings between the two clubs in the league table.
The hosts took the lead on 23 minutes, when a diagonal run towards goal by Roger Moore pressurised defender Andy Lunn into hooking the ball into his own net. It could have been 2-0 just moments later, when a great cross by Russell Hardwell failed to get a touch by the waiting Scott Tipper.
Five minutes before half-time, a dipping shot by Tipper hit the post and Moore made no mistake from the rebound to extend Chichester's lead.
City continued to dominate at the start of the second half, and Sidlesham could have been in all sorts of problems were it not for some poor finishing.
There was a let-off in the 84th minute, when defender Sean Towers made a spectacular block on the goal-line. Within moments, there was a breakaway to the other end, and substitute Toby Stares guided the ball past Alex Hards before firing home to make the final score 2-1.
"It's just nice to win two games in a row," said a relieved Adie Girdler afterwards, "our superior fitness was a deciding factor, although we lost our way a little bit in the second half."
Despite this latest setback, Sidlesham manager Joe Laidlaw remains optimistic that he can get the club out of the relegation zone: "Chichester were head-and-shoulders above us in the opening 45 minutes and the game was won by half-time," he said, "but I was pleased with the way we kept playing right to the final whistle.
"As I've said right from the beginning, when I took over as manager the week before the season started, it was always going to take until the end of November to rebuild and settle down the team - there is no doubt that we'll end up outside the bottom three."
Report written by Chester Browton
Chichester Team: Hards, Hickman, Wright, Price, Jackson, N. Murfin, Thomas, Osborne, Hardwell, Tipper, Moore
Aidie Girdler watches on as Chichester attack
Subs: S. Murfin and Stephens (all used) Hitchman (not used)
Sidlesham Team: Watson, S Towers, Lunn, Jones, S Davy, Spurway, Brown, C Davy, Salter, Coates, Emery
Subs: Stares, Martin, Cooper (all used)
Chichester Scorers: Moore, Own Goal
Sidlesham Scorer: Stares
Attendance: 64