Sam Francis believes the good times are on their way back to Whitehawk after firing them to their first piece of silverware for 15 years.

Francis scored twice as the Hawks beat Horsham YMCA 2-1 to lift the John O’Hara Challange Cup at a sodden Culver Road yesterday.

It ended Whitehawk’s barren run without a trophy and striker Francis is confident it marks the start of a new era of success at East Brighton Park.

He said: “Winning a trophy is a nice way to finish the season and shows the potential we have at the club.

“The club is very ambitious and next year the aim will be to win the league and gain promotion. Everything is geared up to achieving that so hopefully we can push on from here.”

Whitehawk were expected to challenge for the title this season after finishing as runners-up to Eastbourne Town last year.

The club showed their hunger for success by disposing of manager Russel Bromage in the summer and bringing in former West Ham and Albion midfielder George Parris in his place.

Things have not gone exactly to plan with the Hawks stuck in mid-table but Parris believes he is slowly putting together a squad capable of challenging for the title.

Parris said: “We have let ourselves down a bit in the league but I’m delighted to win a trophy in my first season at the club.

“What we did today is possibly what we should have done on a more regular basis this season. We were comfortably the better side and it would have been an injustice if we hadn’t won.

“It’s been a long season and we’ve huffed and puffed at times but this is the icing on the cake. Now we will be looking to make a better fist of challenging for the title next year.“ The weather was partly to blame for a scrappy game in front of a decent crowd at Lancing. Both sides struggled to put many moves of note together on a pitch which was firm underneath but had puddles in the centre circle from heavy rain during the morning.

The difference was that Whitehawk posed a threat whenever they got the ball in the area while YMCA lacked a cutting edge.

Francis went close in the sixth minute when he headed over from a Kevin Townsend free kick while Tom Rand did well to deflect a shot from Jorge Lopez on to the bar.

The breakthrough arrived 12 minutes before half-time as Francis beat Rand to a lofted pass from Townsend and the ball looped over the line despite Martyn Flack’s desperate attempt to clear it.

Rand had to save from Francis early in the second half but was beaten again by the former Worthing striker in the 65th minute. Townsend was the provider once again as his cross picked out Francis at the far post to head home.

Francis almost completed his hat-trick when his shot was saved by the legs of Rand and then headed wide from the resulting corner.

That would have killed the game off but instead Hawks tried to sit on their lead and let YMCA back into the game.

Referee David Spain ensured there would be a nervous finish when he awarded YMCA a penalty with six minutes to go when no one else in the ground seemed to spot any infringement.

Tom Manton made no mistake from the spot but it was only a consolation as Hawks held on to reclaim the cup they last won back in 1994.

For YMCA it was another blow in a season which promised so much but is threatening to end in disappointment with their title challenge also faltering.

Boss Chris White said: “We never really got going and you can’t wait until you are 2-0 down to start playing. We have got to pick ourselves up now and win the title. They are a good bunch of lads and deserve something from the season.”