Rugby: Worthing hang on for historic double

Skipper Imrie and his Worthing side added the Sussex Trophy to their London South East Three title by beating Chichester 19-13 in Sunday's final.

They were hanging on at the end against the Sussex One champions.

Chichester outscored the favour-ites by two tries to one in Sunday's final and might have been in a position to force extra-time had it not been for the bewildering award of three points for a Ben Coulson penalty which appeared to go wide.

They certainly contributed fully to a contest which, while not a classic, did enough to keep about 1,000 fans entertained at sunny Saint Hill.

Imrie, whose side scorched into an early 10-0 lead, admitted: "Obviously we are happy but it's more because we have done the double.

"Our performance was a little bit of an anti-climax because they outplayed us in every area of the game. Chichester will go straight through London Four if they play like that. They will be delighted with how they played but a bit gutted not to have won it."

Imrie need not have felt too guilty about the result. His side have played the role of gallant cup final losers before, but their 25 minutes of no-frills pressure at a crucial time in the second half ultimately proved decisive this time round.

Chi, produced the most expansive rugby once they had got over the shock of Worthing's excellent 15th minute try.

Strong running centre Adam Holloway, who caused problems throughout, was the architect with a blistering break from his own half.

He fed wing Alistair Coombe, who cut inside and kept clear of Richard Johnson's challenge.

Coulson added the simple conversion to his earlier penalty and, though Nick Stanton's penalty rewarded a bold response by Chi, they were still 10-3 adrift at the break.

That changed within a minute of the re-start. Immediate pressure saw Ben Polhill make a dart though the middle and, when the ball, was spun right, hooker Liam O'Hagan found himself in the line and helped create room for Tim Rogers to dive over.

Worthing steadied things with 25 minutes of territorial advantage in which they only once threatened a try but bagged nine precious goal points.

Coulson scored six of them and also hit the post before going off injured and seeing Tony Cruz make it 19-8.

The second of those successes was particularly contentious. Coulson appeared to have sliced the ball wide from inside the 22 but both flags went up and Chichester sportingly offered no protest.

Those points took on new significance when Richard Johnson's dummy and outside break took him to the line after a bout of Chi pressure.

Worthing nerves increased when Grant Gatford was sin-binned for a high tackle on Rogers. Knox would have fancied the centrally placed penalty from around 30 yards had the margin been three points.

Instead, his touch finder set the scene for a hectic last few moments, in which Stuart Brandon's jinking run might have forced a dramatic winning try.

Chi skipper Polhill said: "If we had played the entire match like we played the last ten mintues then we would have been there.

"This is the level we aspire to play at. Now we need to build on that and aim for promotion and another run in the Sussex cup."

Worthing: Cruz, Todd (rep Kimmer 79), Coulson (rep G. Piggott 76), Holloway, Coombe, Quirk (rep Sawyer 51), M. Imrie; Bruce (rep Lucas 69), Howard (rep Wilcox 79), D. Piggott, C. McGowan, Dove (rep Squire 63), Levett, Cox, Davies (rep Gatford 79). Yellow card: Gatford 80.

Chichester: M. Johnson, Rogers (rep Young 80), Smith, Kyffin, Brandon, Stanton (rep Knox 36), R. Johnson; Corby (rep Clarkson 70), O'Hagan, Chandler, Adfield (rep Hutchings 48), Butt, Jones (rep Benfield 75), Turner, B. Polhill.

Worthing scorers: Coombe 1T (15), Coulson 1C 3PG (2, 51, 61), Cruz 1PG (76).

Chichester scorers: Rogers 1T (41), R. Johnson 1T (79), Stanton 1PG (22).

Sequence: 3-0, 10-0, 10-3 (ht), 10-8, 13-8, 16-8, 19-8, 19-13.

Referee: David May (Cornwall).

Men-of-the-match: Holloway (Worthing), Turner (Chichester)