Sussex coach Mark Robinson today sympathised with Championship runners-up Lancashire but declared: "The best team won."

In one of the closest finishes in the history of a competition which began in 1890, the county finished just 4.5 points ahead of runners-up Durham after Lancashire's gallant bid to chase down a fourth-innings target of 489 against Surrey ended just 25 runs short.

The Red Rose, still waiting for their first outright title since 1934, did not even have the consolation of £40,000 second-placed prize money. The champions will receive £100,000.

Robinson said: "It was a great chase by Lancashire and I can't imagine how bad it was in their dressing room. My heart goes out to them.

"The drama of Saturday afternoon and the waiting we had before we knew we had won almost made it sweeter because of the elation which followed it."

Sussex and Durham both won seven games but Robinson's men only lost three - all away from home - compared to Durham's five. They have now been unbeaten at home for three years and 24 games.

Robinson added: "Over the season I think the best team has won and even if we hadn't I would have said that. It has to be the case when your are playing in a competition which lasts for five long months.

"Every side can play the bad luck cards during a season and perhaps that is us more than most this year because of what we have had to deal with in terms of injuries and illnesses and even illness to loved ones, which can affect the squad."

Sussex have won back-to-back titles and the C&G Trophy since Robinson replaced Peter Moores at the end of the 2005 season but the coach believes they could have had more cause for celebration.

They reached the finals of the Twenty20 Cup for the first time and lost only twice in the Pro40 League. The only disappointment was their failure to get out of the group stage of the Friends Provident Trophy as defending champions.

Robinson said: "At one point I couldn't work out whether we had underachieved or overachieved this year.

"I felt we should have won the Twenty20 because we went into finals day with all bases covered and were playing the best cricket but we blew a great position against Kent.

"In the Pro40 we played some outstanding cricket only to underestimate Worcestershire and Essex and lose games when we were in winning positions."

Invariably, though, Sussex produced on the big occasion in the Championship. They beat both Durham and Lancashire, long-time leaders Yorkshire and Shane Warne's Hampshire as well as doing the double over relegated Worcestershire.

And Robinson believes their victory over Lancashire at Liverpool in August gave them the belief that they could become the first county since Surrey in 2000 to successfully defend the Championship.

He said: "When we face a team which we concede are better or bigger than us we always step up. At Liverpool we were always slightly behind the game but we hung in there and what is good about this team is when there is a sniff of winning we pile in."

Typically, Robinson refused to acknowledge his own contribution to an era of unprecedented success for the county and he was back at his desk today preparing for a hectic week of contract negotiations and a de-brief of the season.

He said: "The club has achieved something, not me. We do all this together. It sounds romantic and cliched but it's the truth. Yes, you have a captain and senior players but you also have youngsters coming through. Yes, you have a head coach but you also have a second-team coach and an Academy director."