By Oliver Birch - Sports Editor
The University of Brighton's Hastings Panthers suffered their first league defeat of the season in a 2-1 loss against title rivals Chichester.
The University of Brighton's Hastings Panthers suffered their first league defeat of the season in a 2-1 loss against title rivals Chichester.
Following last week's disappointing cup exit to Portsmouth, the Panthers were keen to bounce back immediately and build upon their 4-1 league victory over Roehampton on the opening day.
However, it was an all too familiar story in the first half, as Hastings began the match slowly for the third game in succession.
The away side were the better team in the opening exchanges, and took the lead inside 20 minutes.
Panny Artemiou was caught in possession as Hastings had a rare sight of the opposition's half, and the Chichester defence cleared. The wind played havoc with the ball in the air, causing Ryan Taylor's attempted header to loop kindly for the advancing striker, who coolly slotted past Matt Milne.
And Chichester pressed home their early advantage with a quick-fire second, with the wind causing problems for the Panther's defence once again.
Darcy Hollis failed to clear a looping pass, allowing the Chichester winger to pounce on the ball before finishing past Milne to double the away sides lead.
Daniel King registered Hastings' first shot on target just after the half-hour mark, with a jinking run in the Chichester area giving him space to unleash a left-footed drive which was well saved.
The away side almost put the result beyond doubt when the winger rounded Milne after being played through one-on-one, but his effort was brilliantly blocked on the line by the sliding Arnold Xhikola.
Hastings almost pulled one back moments before half-time after an in-swinging corner caused confusion in the Chichester area, but the Panthers couldn't get a clean shot away.
However, it was an all too familiar story in the first half, as Hastings began the match slowly for the third game in succession.
The away side were the better team in the opening exchanges, and took the lead inside 20 minutes.
Panny Artemiou was caught in possession as Hastings had a rare sight of the opposition's half, and the Chichester defence cleared. The wind played havoc with the ball in the air, causing Ryan Taylor's attempted header to loop kindly for the advancing striker, who coolly slotted past Matt Milne.
And Chichester pressed home their early advantage with a quick-fire second, with the wind causing problems for the Panther's defence once again.
Darcy Hollis failed to clear a looping pass, allowing the Chichester winger to pounce on the ball before finishing past Milne to double the away sides lead.
Daniel King registered Hastings' first shot on target just after the half-hour mark, with a jinking run in the Chichester area giving him space to unleash a left-footed drive which was well saved.
The away side almost put the result beyond doubt when the winger rounded Milne after being played through one-on-one, but his effort was brilliantly blocked on the line by the sliding Arnold Xhikola.
Hastings almost pulled one back moments before half-time after an in-swinging corner caused confusion in the Chichester area, but the Panthers couldn't get a clean shot away.
Hastings began the second-half in similar fashion to how Chichester began the first, and halved the deficit just five minutes in.
Ryan Taylor won the ball on the right-hand side for Callum Moriarty, who glided past two challenges before switching to Zak Jakubowski.
The winger controlled well and burst through the Chichester defence, before firing a low drive past the keeper to bring the Panthers back into the match, and score his third goal in three games.
The home side threw everything at Chichester as they went in search of an equaliser, and saw two clear handball shouts in the penalty area waved away by the referee, despite a Chichester defender catching the ball, before quickly throwing it to the floor in one claim.
King fired just wide from a tight angle at the third attempt of connecting with the shot, whilst Angus Sutton had has volley brilliantly saved, and captain Oliver Birch floated his free-kick just wide of the post, as the Panthers began to pile on the pressure.
And despite spending the majority of the second-half camped in the Chichester half, the Panthers couldn't find the equaliser and gave the away side an early advantage in the race for the title.
Hastings are not in action again until the 9th December, following New Buckinghamshire University's withdrawal from the league, when Imperial College London travel to the South Coast.
Ryan Taylor won the ball on the right-hand side for Callum Moriarty, who glided past two challenges before switching to Zak Jakubowski.
The winger controlled well and burst through the Chichester defence, before firing a low drive past the keeper to bring the Panthers back into the match, and score his third goal in three games.
The home side threw everything at Chichester as they went in search of an equaliser, and saw two clear handball shouts in the penalty area waved away by the referee, despite a Chichester defender catching the ball, before quickly throwing it to the floor in one claim.
King fired just wide from a tight angle at the third attempt of connecting with the shot, whilst Angus Sutton had has volley brilliantly saved, and captain Oliver Birch floated his free-kick just wide of the post, as the Panthers began to pile on the pressure.
And despite spending the majority of the second-half camped in the Chichester half, the Panthers couldn't find the equaliser and gave the away side an early advantage in the race for the title.
Hastings are not in action again until the 9th December, following New Buckinghamshire University's withdrawal from the league, when Imperial College London travel to the South Coast.