Tim Bishop and James Stedman produced superb performances to help see off Horsham by 38 runs and send Stirlands sliding to the foot of the table.

Jez Goode's men were put into bat but Mark Bamford and Tim Bishop put on 106 for the first wicket.

Bamford enjoyed a fine return to form, scoring 12 boundaries on his way to 50.

He was adjudged lbw to Will Beer (4-102) and although Chichester continued to score freely, wickets were lost at regular intervals with no other batsman making a big contribution against Beer and Andrew Thornely (4-78).

It was Bishop who provided the backbone of the Chichester innings. His superb 149 off 135 balls included 19 fours and four sixes for a declaration at 278 for eight after 57 overs.

Horsham started well and reached 49 for one in reasonable time, but lost wickets at regular intervals and were not able to compile the match-winning partnership that would have been required to reach such a large victory target.

Michael Thornely was more than happy to be one half of such a potential partnership on his way to a fine 96, but he didn't receive support.

The main reason for this was all-rounder Stedman's incredible 18-over spell which included six wickets for just 66 runs.

In fact, it was Stedman who claimed the wicket of Thornely and at that point a Chichester victory appeared an almost certainty.

However, as the overs faded away, so too were Chichester's hopes of achieving the victory.

However, Matt Geffen (2-61) opened an end up with the wicket of Endersby and with seven balls to spare the final wicket of Jabed was claimed by a delighted Steve Sedgley.