Arundel boss Wheatcroft forced to pull on the boots again

And Wheatcroft, who played as a professional for Portsmouth and Southampton, helped Arundel to a 3-2 win over bottom-of-the-table Eastbourne UA by winning his side two penalties.

Mullets had just one substitute, keeper Rhys Griffiths, but started brightly and Matt Axell was denied by Eastbourne keeper Grant Fitzgerald and Josh Biggs shot wide.

Eastbourne went ahead on eight minutes through Tony Russell’s 18-yarder which flew into the top corner.

Arundel drew level on 26 minutes with a hotly-disputed penalty after Wheatcroft went down in the area under a Steve Stacey challenge.

In the protests that followed, Eastbourne’s Jamie Buckett was sent-off for foul and abusive language and Scott Tipper then netted from the spot.

Wheatcroft and Lewis Hamilton went close to giving Arundel the lead before Eastbourne went 2-1 ahead in first-half injury-time through Jamie Andrews’ calm finish.

Howard Neighbour levelled on 55 minutes and Hamilton and Neighbour then went close before Arundel got the winner on 69 minutes.

Wheatcroft’s cross was handled by Russell and Tipper scored the resulting penalty for his 20th goal of the season.

Mullets almost added a late fourth but Hamilton’s lob hit the bar.

Arundel assistant manager Simon Butler said: “With what we had available, we did very well.

“The important thing was to not drop any points and I felt we deserved the three points, although it helped with them going down to 10 men.

“We had quite an empty changing room before the game but all the lads were fired up for it and the effort and commitment was really good.

“And full credit to Gary for playing. He got two assists but, at 51, must be one of the oldest players in the league.”

Mullets hope to have Steve Sneller, Alex Biggs, Dave Burton and Dave Walker back available for Saturday’s trip to Selsey.

ARUNDEL: O’Connor; Meaney, Gardner, Grove, R.Biggs; Hamilton, Axell, Neighbour, J.Biggs; Tipper, Wheatcroft. Sub: Griffiths (Wheatcroft 89).