Worthing produced their best display in years to beat the odds and defeat London One high-fliers Canterbury.

The cost of victory, however, could be high after Ben Coulson suffered a broken arm and Sean Bennett was sent off.

Bennett's dismissal after just ten minutes made Worthing's 18-13 success all the more creditable.

They did not have too many complaints abut the red card for retaliation, but were angry a home man was not dismissed for landing the first blow.

Coach Ian Davies said: "It was six of one and half a dozen of the other so it was surprising to only see one man sent off.

"The performance was tremendous. We were 8-0 down, going up the hill with 14 men against the league leaders. It doesn't get any tougher.

"The players crawled off the pitch at the end. They put in so much effort and some of the refereeing decisions galvanised them even more."

Coulson, who was injured making a brave tackle, is likely to miss the rest of the season while Bennett could face a lengthy ban.

Worthing were already three points down when Bennett was sent off.

The hosts then scored a try to lead 8-0 but Coulson kicked a penalty and strong defence led to turnover ball from which Terry Butler scored a try as the referee played a good advantage.

More super work by Butler, who was outstanding, led first to a chance for Coulson to make it 11-8 at the break, then to the penalty from which Grant Gatford took a quick tap and scored a try. Coulson converted for18-8.

Yellow cards for Paul Cox and Mike Imrie left Worthing with 13 men for the last quarter but they conceded just one try and survived a lengthy period of added time to secure a prized win.