Arundel claim vital victory in fight for survival

Simon Hull’s men picked up a crucial three points at East Preston on Tuesday night, winning 3-1 against their local rivals.

And the win now puts them three points clear of the bottom two - Eastbourne United and Shoreham - going to the final game at home to Broadbridge Heath.

Despite going 1-0 down after eight minutes due to Lucas Pattenden’s strike, goals from Dion Jarvis, Harry Russell and Benjamin Gray gave the Mullets the important win.

Speaking before the Tuesday night game, manager Hull insisted confidence was still high going into the final two games of the season, with their fate still in their own hands after other results fell kindly at the weekend.

Having lost to Chichester on Saturday, Arundel found themselves in the bottom two on goal-difference, but had a crucial game in hand over both Shoreham and Eastbourne United AFC.

After the defeat to champions Chichester, Hull was left wondering what could have been after individual mistakes and a missed penalty led to a third consecutive defeat for his side.

He said: “We started very sloppy and very poor.

“Two gifts and we find ourselves two down in less than ten minutes and that makes a very difficult task even harder.

“We’ve been offering too many gifts this year and that’s why we find ourselves where we are.”

However, Hull knows that having clawed themselves back into it, the outcome could have been very different.

He continued: “That said, we got back into it. Dave Crouch got a good goal and we got an equaliser just before half time. Two minutes after the restart, yet another mistake, we’re 3-2 down. That’s compounded with a missed penalty later. We’ve missed our share of penalties this year and 3-3 it’s a different game.”