Matt Smith used a famous old commentary line as his pay-off while presenting Worthing’s big game on TNT Sports.

“Goals pay the rent,” he said of Danny Cashman, whose fine strikes secured a 2-2 draw with Bath City.

It was a nod to David Coleman’s line about Kevin Keegan in the 1974 FA Cup final.

Worthing will hope to cash in on a brilliant showcase for their club, and the football their team play, across almost three hours of TNT’s schedule on Sunday afternoon.

As Worthing boss Aarran Racine made clear, the result was not quite what they wanted.

But their first live TV game could not have gone much better and interviews with club owner George Dowell, interim coach Dean Hammond and star players Cashman and Ollie Pearce were part of telling their story.

Former Albion skipper Adam Virgo was on co-commentary duty and felt TNT’s coverage did the occasion proud.

Virgo said: “It’s unprecedented coverage of sixth-tier football, not just in England but all over the world.

“We are advocates of non-league and we set up like a Premier League game.

“For instance, there’s a guy with a steady cam which is basically attached to the side of his hip. That’s not cheap, using those cameras.

“I thought it helped give really good coverage.

“They put the scaffolding up fir the commentary position.

“We had two guests, a presenter, pre-match interview with the managers.

“We did a pre-match interview with the chairman and gave that a lot of coverage.

“It was half-an-hour build-up when you usually get 15 minutes in the National League.

“The production meetings before are exactly the same as if we were doing a Champions League game or Brighton v Roma.

“It also covers great stories. The owner at Worthing is a great story.

“I know what it means to these clubs to get the television coverage and we give it everything.

“Matt Smith is a lead presenter. I see myself as a lead co-commentator. Aaron McLean is a regular pundit.

“We go away and we do our research beforehand and we get our stat packs as normal.

“Don’t get me wrong, not every game is going to be a cracking game.

“My Kings Lynn v Tamworth game was tosh. I’ve done PSG v Monaco, which was also tosh.

“Any game you go into, you don’t know what it’s going to be like.

“But, in terms of the stories, Matt loves it.

“Aaron gets into it as well and we all do.

“We care about what we do because we know what it means to people.

“This is what frustrates me with people having a go at commentators, saying we have a bias to certain teams.

“We just want to give the best insight possible. We don’t care who wins or loses.”

Virgo said TNT enjoyed their day at the Sussex Transport Community Stadium and the welcome they received.

He added: “Worthing were so accommodating.

“I spoke to Tom Hamilton, who was producing the game.

“For some reason there are teams who can be difficult.

“But Worthing really embraced us.

“They enjoyed the cameras being there and opened the doors.

“They even let Aaron into the changing room at half-time to sit in on the team talk.

“Dean and Aarran let me go to the training session on Thursday.

“All the staff there couldn’t do enough for us.

“It was a really good day and I’m glad the game went well.”

If there was any secret about Worthing’s weakness against set-pieces, it won’t be a secret anymore.

They will have to live with that on the pitch.

But Virgo is a huge admirer of the footballing style developed by former boss Adam Hinshelwood and now being carried on.

He said: “I enjoyed the game.

“I thought in the first half Joe Felix was decent, Ollie Pearce started the game well.

“They play their stuff and for that level you have to commend them for that.

“They can’t defend set-plays, which is an obvious thing.

“But Danny’s first goal was a quality goal and the second was even better.

“Bath set up to respect Worthing and they capitalised on set-plays.”