Hand takes heart as Littlehampton push Horsham all way in Sussex cup final – now for a few drinks

Littlehampton last won the Sussex Senior Cup in 1970 when they beat Worthing 1-0 at the Goldstone Ground but it wasn’t to be this time for the Marigolds whose long wait to re-lift the trophy goes on.

The Marigolds kept Horsham at bay for large parts of the game and it seemed destined to be heading for penalties, but James Hammond scored a sublime free-kick in the final moments to give the Hornets the win.

How the Sussex Transport Senior Cup final unfolded.

Cup final player ratings.

Despite defeat, it was an aggressive performance from Littlehampton who took the game down to the wire - and it left joint boss Hand impressed with his side.

He said: “Our physicality was really good. I felt like any time there were any 50/50 moments where we could win the ball back in open play, we did. I thought we were physically dominant and that was the bit that impressed me the most .

“I wish we had created a little bit more and got the ball into the forward players’ feet a little bit more but when you're playing against a good quality side you do whatever you can to stay in the game and I feel like we did that.”

Hand also admitted that his side could lose gracefully – and will not dwell on the defeat.

“The good thing about our boys is they don't really get deflated so we're going straight out in Brighton and within about an hour, we’ll have probably forgotten about the result.

“We're good winners and good losers so we don't mind. We've experienced both and have been really lucky over the years so for us it’s just dust ourselves down and move on.

“I think that's the best therapy after losing — to go out with the boys, have a couple of drinks, laugh about the things we did wrong, and just enjoy ourselves.”