Peacehaven & Telscombe beat Broadbridge Heath thanks to a late goal from Max Hollobone to win the Sussex Principal RUR Charity Cup Final in front of 302 fans at Culver Road last night.

Peacehaven started the game strong with a high intensity press right from the first whistle. Broadbridge Heath chose to defend firmly in the opening stages and looked to play long passes out from the back.

Mason Doughty was a livewire for Chris Simmons' side and appeared to be the biggest threat for Heath throughout the majority of the first-half.

The first chance of the game fell to Charlie Parmiter, whose shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Peacehaven skipper Ross Barclay. 

However, the ball was only cleared as far as Heath’s Alex Barbary, who then also saw a well-struck effort hit a body before Nathan Stroomberg-Clarke could be called into action. 

Despite the best efforts from both sides, a cagey first-half ended in a deadlock.

Adrian Todd and Ryan Brackpool kept trying to split the Peacehaven defence with aerial passes once the second-half began. 

Heath almost opened the scoring when Doughty pounced on a scuffed pass from Emmanuel Osei-Asomah and charged into the Peacehaven box, but was unable to get proper purchase on his shot at goal.

Brackpool produced a gem to release Doughty down the wing before he beat a defender and played a low cross in for Barbary who just wasn’t able to get the shot away. Jamie Chesworth followed up with an acrobatic effort on goal that was cleared off the line by Osei-Asomah.

Peacehaven grew into the contest in the final 20 minutes of the match when Barclay played a flat cross into the box for Mikey Lloyd, but the latter's header was off target. 

Lloyd had another chance moments later after the ball fell kindly for him in the box following a corner kick, but his effort was clawed off the line by Charlie Weller.

Doughty tried to seize the initiative for Broadbridge Heath late on with a couple of stepovers to get past his marker but his shot on goal was straight at Stroomberg-Clarke. 

Just when it seemed the game was destined to be decided by spot-kicks, Hollobone turned up in the six-yard box to slot a low effort beyond Liam Matthews into the Broadbridge Heath goal, for first time in the tournament, and hand Peacehaven the cup.

Following the win, Peacehaven manager, Mark Shutt and assistant manager, Dan Norwood, shared their thoughts following a memorable win for the side.

"My heart has not stopped the whole game,” said Norwood, “It was one of those games which was cagey the whole time. 

“Everything we asked them to do, it just didn't seem to go to plan. It was one of those 90 minutes of a cup final where anything could happen."

Shutt added: "I was pacing around in the technical area because everything we worked on the whole week going into this game didn't replicate out on the pitch which was a bit of a shame. 

“But it just goes to show that at the end of the 90 minutes, they go and score the goal and win the game - so what do we know?"

When asked about how stressful it was to keep Broadbridge Heath at bay, Shutt said:

"I didn't have a problem with our defence. That's our 31st clean sheet of the season. So, we know we can defend. We've got Nathan [Stroomberg-Clarke] in goal and he's an absolute superstar. 

Eman [Osei-Asomah], Drew [Matthews] at the back and Dochers [Harry Docherty] and Ross [Barclay] dropped in at the end. The four of them, and Nathan, they've been amazing all season in doing those jobs. 

“I knew there would be moments where we would have to weather it, and that didn't stress me out. It was the lack of creation going forward that frustrated me as a coach."

Norwood also revealed that the team was in preparation for penalties when Hollobone struck the decisive goal. He said: "I was already talking about who's coming on, who's taking them, what order we are going in.

“We've been in so many penalty shootouts this season, you just have to be prepared and know who's going to take them, and we just left it late again. The feeling was unbelievable."

Shutt was also full of praise for Peacehaven's fans who sang from the first whistle to the last. 

"They're absolutely barmy! We've got a massive youth set up here and they all buy into what we're doing so they come and support us on matchdays. 

“The boys have got a good rapport with them as well, so they’ll go in and they share the trophy with them, and I’m sure they’ll be coming back to clubhouse tonight to enjoy the evening!”

(Video highlights are available above and on YouTube - courtesy of Your Instant Replay)

(A selection of photographs can be found on Facebook - courtesy of Simon Roe Photography)

Stats (Peacehaven & Telscombe-Broadbridge Heath): Goals (1-0); Shots (11-8); On Target (7-4); Corners (7-3), Fouls (9-10); Offsides (1-2); Yellow Cards (2-1), Red Cards (0-0).

Peacehaven & Telscombe: Stroomberg-Clarke; Rogers; Barclay, Matthews, Docherty; Oliver, Hollobone, Edwards, Osei-Asomah; Lloyd, Cheta, Wiltshire.
Subs: Massen, Hendrie, Deen, Marshall, Brown.

Broadbridge Heath: Matthews; Terry, Chesworth, Weller, Sim; Brackpool, Penfold, Todd, Barbary; Parmiter, Doughty.
Subs: Taylor, Waddingham, Frankland, Carvahlo, Hadfield.