Baxter and Strudwick are Chichester's hockey hat-trick heroes

The hosts started with a few personnel changes but this did not dampen their enthusiasm and took the lead through an Alex Baxter goal.

There were soon other chances for the forwards and Lewis Strudwick slotted a second. This seemed to wake up Croydon & OWs and they put Chichester’s defence under pressure.

Their pressure was rewarded with a short corner that Croydon’s drag-flicker put away. Clever play from Ben Barnes in the Chichester goal allowed Baxter to score his second.

The second half started with Palmer firing home to give Chichester breathing space at 4-1. They pressed forward with Lunn, Baxter and Woodruff getting in behind the defence.

After good play down the left between Powell-Jones and Strudwick, Strudwick tapped in his second of the afternoon.

Croydon stirred again and netted their second before the four-goal lead was restored with good passing between Pywell, Woodruff and Lunn resulting in a penalty stroke. Baxter calmly strode up and dispatched it for his hat-trick.

Croydon & OWs managed a third but Strudwick hit the home side’s seventh and his hat-trick.

CHICHESTER: Strudwick T, Dougal, Beales, Gammon, Pywell, Veltom, Woodruff, Barnes, Powell-Jones, Lunn, Palmer, Strudwick L, Baxter.

Chichester’s first team remain ninth in south open premier division one after a 6-4 defeat away to London Wayfarers.

Richard Blakesley, Jason Collins, Martin Gough and Alex Holton were the Chichester scorers.

Centurions 2 Crowborough Ladies 1

Ladies’ Sussex League

Centurions were quick to dominate the first half. Well-connected passes and sound tackles gave the team a good start.

Williams took the ball to the D, but Crowborough slipped it to safety. The first Centurions goal came from a break, with Mealing skilfully slotting the ball through the Crowborough defence to Thew, who dodged the keeper to score.

Crowborough had some attacks but Hedge made excellent saves with sound clearances and Edge frustrated them with successful tackles. Brooker worked solidly down the wing and Johnston was unlucky not to score.

After the break Harris took the ball forward and forced it into the D. A corner followed with Mealing’s shot denied by the keeper, but Proctor was on to the rebound and converted.

Centurions’ defence were being pressed and Crowborough gained a short corner and while this was not converted, they were rewarded with a goal shortly after.

Centurions remained solid in defence and ended with a pleasing win for Centurions.

CENTURIONS: C Hedge, L Harris, N Edge, D Brown, L Proctor, L Thew, A Pordage, C Mealing, K Eames, N Williams, M Johnston, M Harbord.

Chichester IV 4 Fareham V 2

Chichester went behind to a well-worked Fareham goal, only for Lutton to grab one back, deflecting in White’s attempt at goal after a short corner.

Another lapse in concentration allowed Fareham to score from a short corner but Chichester immediately hit back as a great move from Gammon and Richardson left MacCartin with an open goal.

Waves of Chichester attacks saw Jenkins, White and MacCartin go close, but the pressure told when Lutton grabbed his second after Gammon and Richardson combined down the left.

The final goal came when Jenkins exchanged passes with Richardson to find Gammon at the back post to grab his seventh of the season.

CHICHESTER: Torrence, Farr, White, David, Jenkins, Lyons, Worthen, Gammon, Cootes, Simmonds, Richardson, Macey, Whittle, MacCartin, Lutton.

Chi Cherubs 2 Mid Sussex Colts 0

Sussex Development League

The Cherubs delivered their best performance of the season to take their revenge on Haywards Heath.

The first half was tight but Hetherington, Creswick and Palmer kept the larger and stronger opposition strikers at bay. The efforts of Troy, Woodruff and Hutchings in midfield established dominance on the pitch.

The second half saw numerous short corners earned by the strong running of C Gibbons, Donaldson and Shaw; from one Stemp opened the scoring with a vicious shot.

Robson went close and L Gibbons played well in a number of positions.

Pendle scored the goal of the season so far, weaving from the halfway line and beating four players before sliding the ball past the wrongfooted keeper.

CHERUBS: Hetherington, Palmer, Gibbons R, Stemp, Creswick, Woodruff, Troy, Donaldson, Hutchings, Shaw, Gibbons L, Robson, Pendle, Gibbons C.

Brighton & Hove V 4 Chichester Chipmunks 1

Chichester lost a feisty game at Brighton, with the scoreline not reflecting the effort the team put in.

Chichester looked to nullify Brighton’s strength in midfield, limiting their options while creating chances on the break. They fell behind to a goal against the run of play with a suspicion of feet in the build-up.

Chichester pushed forward to win a penalty corner. But the ball broke to Brighton, whose superb long ball found their centre-forward in space and he deftly slotted home to extend the home team’s lead.

Chichester looked most likely to score and eventually found the net to put themselves back in it.

But a defensive error gifted the ball to Brighton to extend their lead again. Heads dropped and Brighton wrapped up a convincing win.