Burst of goals is enough for victory
Chichester 3 Plymouth Marjon 2
Conference West
Chichester struck three times in eight second half minutes to set up victory over Plymouth Marjon – their first win in four National League West Conference starts.
Chichester fell behind three minutes after the interval but turned the match on its head with a treble in the third quarter before Plymouth cut the deficit seven minutes from the end to create a nervy finish.
The hosts played far better as a side than they had in their three previous defeats and would have changed around 1-0 up had Cameron Ryall not wasted a great chance after Alex Baxter’s shot from a penalty corner had been superbly saved by Phil Carr.
Chi keeper Chris Bristow made two fine saves before a mistake by Josh Brown created the opening for Jon Tew to fire Plymouth ahead.
But the Devon visitors cracked under pressure as Chichester forced several short corners, Alex Holton equalising and skipper Matt Sewell giving his side a 46th minute lead, the first time this season they’d been in front.
As the tempo increased, Bristow beat out a Plymouth short corner and Alex Thakore was sin-binned – but ten-man Chichester from extended their lead from a fierce low Oli Baxter crossshot.
Adam Bloomfield and Joe Bugden bungled a chance to settle it with a fourth and Bristow had to make two more short corner blocks before a slip by Thakore let in Tom Hodgkins to make it 3-2 with Plymouth’s second seven minutes from time.