Chichester bounced back to winning ways at Oaklands Park courtesy of a lone Josh Clack goal in the opening 10 minutes and some dogged defending.
A 53rd minute penalty from Hastings’ Danny Parish on his debut and a second by sub James Hull deep into stoppage time condemned Chichester to a fourth league loss on the bounce and sent the U’s nine points clear at the top of the table.
Chichester suffered a third straight league loss courtesy of Hythe substitute Jack Mayhew’s strike with two minutes of normal time to go.
A second half double from Hass Ibrahiym condemned Chichester to back-to-back defeats this week.
Herne Bay skipper Laurence Harvey grabbed the winner deep into stoppage time to settle this lively Isthmian south east encounter at Oaklands Park.
Lloyd Rowlatt scored the only goal of the game as Chichester ground out back-to-back league wins in the same week for the first time this season.
First half goals from Callum Overton and Lloyd Rowlatt, and a resilient defensive display after the break, helped Chichester to an impressive win against in-form Burgess Hill.
January ended for Chichester, as it began, with a 1-0 defeat against a fellow Sussex side.
An 81st minute Lloyd Rowlatt equaliser snatched a point for Chichester against county rivals Whitehawk in a frenetic match that Hawks boss Ross Standen described as a “basketball game”.
Chichester were knocked out of the Velocity Trophy by Folkestone Invicta as the Isthmian premier division promotion contenders grabbed five second half goals.
