Chichester Falcons racked up a crucial win against Itchen Knicks on Wednesday, to put themselves top of Solent League Division One.

The Knicks, three-time league champions and having dropped a game the previous week, were keen to get back to their normal winning ways. But the Falcons, knowing this was a must-win game, had ideas of their own and set out a strong outfield to try to contain the big bats from Southampton.

A quiet first inning saw neither team score as the plan began to pay off - Cary Chen at shortstop was effective immediately as he smothered two hard hits toward left and gunned down his runner with perfect throws to Lucy Morris on first base.

Right-fielder David Morris got Chichester on the scoreboard with a single past second base, to be brought in moments later by a solid thump to right by James Wheeler. 3-1 ahead by the end of the second inning, the Falcons were to stay on top for the remainder of the game.

Pitcher Dave Piesse was excellent on the night; typically clinical with his strike zone and dealt with all his comebackers perfectly, as the Knicks huffed and puffed but couldn't get past third base. Molly Rayner, still a rookie at second, was rock solid and scooped up several outs from Oliver Howley to her right while Wheeler executed a remarkable catch sliding on his knees to keep the sheet clean.

Chichester chipped away and added a few runs each inning, as Taylor Campbell doubled and debutant Chen-an Yu shook off an early mis-hap at bat to go two for three.

Finding themselves 10-1 up going into the final inning, Chichester did allow two runs in on a couple of fielding errors but held on to see Piesse fittingly take the last out of the game with a simple flip to first base.

The Falcons are now perched at the top of the first division and two points clear of Southampton Spitfires, who they face on July 13th.