Lewes Ladies were four minutes away from retaining the Sussex County Cup this evening, but eventually lost out in extra time to Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Rooks made a fine start when Janine Daly put them into the lead in the eleventh minute, capitalising on some lack marking at the far post from a corner.

Eleven minutes later, the lead was doubled in spectacular style when Helen Whitton scored direct from a free kick fully 30 yards out, neatly placing it out of Albion keeper Lucy Mangan's reach.

A confident Lewes side were on top for much of the first half, with few chances being created by Brighton.

However, the lead was halved just three minutes before the interval when Vicky Vickery latched on to Kim Whitcombe's through ball and her early shot beat Lewes keeper Trish Gower's hopeful dive.

Brighton's first goal was key as they began the second half with more focus, despite neither side creating many chances of note.

As the game wore on though, the Albion's role became more significant as they searched for an equaliser, but fine defending, particularly from Whitton and key saves from Gower kept the Rooks in the lead until the 86th minute.

Brighton sub Kim Stenning found herself in space 25 yards out on the right hand side and her powerful strike sailed past Gower to draw Brighton level, although Vickery missed a superb chance to snatch glory just a minute from time when she blasted a cross high over the bar with the goal gaping.

Despite the introduction of Kirstie Spice alongside Claire Trafford, Lewes struggled to make any inroads towards the Brighton goal during the second half, and this was the case for much of extra time.

Brighton took the lead five minutes in when Gemma Fraser managed to squeeze the ball past Gower under Whitton's challenge, but Lewes had little to offer in the closing stages, despite fighting until the very end.