But they were pushed all the way by their opponents in the final, which was eventually settled by the drama of a sudden death penalty shoot out.

Horndean unusually found themselves going into a game as favourites but US Portsmouth were to prove worthy opponents.

US Portsmouth seemed happy to put 10 men behind the ball and let Horndean enjoy all the possession in midfield.

On 34 minutes Deans won a corner which was cleared as far as Jimmy Cuthbert, whose first time low shot was saved well by the US keeper Nathan Ashmore.

On 40 minutes a cut back cross by Rory Williams found Steve Warwick whose strike was brilliantly tipped over by the keeper.

US Portsmouth had their first real attack of the game just after half time, forcing Luke Douglas to make an excellent fingertip save.

On 57 minutes, and against the run of play, a defensive mix-up allowed the Portsmouth striker in to finish well past Douglas.

Portsmouth’s lead lasted only three minutes when the keeper brought down Graham Lindsey in the box. He made no mistake from the spot to make it 1-1.

After this Horndean had all of the play and Adam Rudling headed just over. With four minutes remaining Horndean were rewarded for their efforts when Graham Lindsey put a defence splitting pass through for Adam Rudling, who finished well.

As the game drifted into injury time US Portsmouth pushed forward but couldn’t break through the Deans defence.

Then out of the blue an excellent low shot from 35 yards out found the corner of the net to make it 2-2.

The first period of extra time saw US Portsmouth exert pressure on Deans. On 98 minutes their striker missed a golden chance when he was unmarked in the area but scuffed his shot and it went straight to Luke Douglas.

A bad tackle in the Horndean penalty area on Eddy Emery and a resulting scuffle saw the US Portsmouth number 12 and Eddy Emery shown red cards.

Both sides had their chances in the closing minutes of extra time when Rory Williams was brought down in the penalty box. Graham Lindsey stepped up but his shot was saved by the excellent Nathan Ashmore.

In the penalty shoot-out Horndean stepped up first and Graham Lindsey made no mistake. Paul Baker, Jimmy Cuthbert and Lawrence Wall all scored for Horndean but the third penalty taken by Rory Williams was saved.

Luke Douglas pulled off a great save on US Portsmouth’s third penalty to make sure the shoot-out ended 4-4.

In sudden death, Adam Rudling and his Portsmouth counterpart both scored.