Captain Ricky Mitchell brought the curtain down on his football career with a rock-solid display at the heart of the defence to help Peacehaven lift the County League Division Two Cup.

Peacehaven clinched promotion and the runners-up spot the previous Saturday and the diminutive Mitchell was delighted to end his playing days on a high with the cup victory at Wick's Crabtree Park ground.

He said: "It was always my intention to retire at the end of this season. It is nice to go out having helped them get promotion back to division one and winning the cup is a bonus."

Mitchell tasted success in the Nineties under Alan Pook's stewardship at all-conquering Peacehaven.

On the evidence of Saturday's performance he will be hard to replace by current manager Peter Edwards, who was Pook's assistant in those glory days at Piddinghoe Avenue.

Mitchell said: "I'm 34 next week. The body is getting too old for football and I am feeling the aches too much after games now."

On Saturday it was Mitchell's brand of faultless, no-nonsense defending alongside Graham Agg, as much as the goals by Jon Lockhart and Leighton Allen, that clinched victory.

Oving dominated possession for lengthy periods, knocked the ball around well at times, and in Alex Stay upfront, had a skilful player capable of causing problems.

Peacehaven, however, hardly gave Oving a sniff of goal for all their approach work. The defence and midfield formed a wall of white shirts, leaving Oving too often trying their luck from distance.

Oving were chasing the game from the five-minute mark as Ashley Jones' angled pass came to Lockhart and the frontman fired across Oving keeper Lee Conway to find the far corner.

The West Sussex side, in only their second season as a senior club, responded well to the setback, worked hard but hardly troubled Peacehaven keeper Phil Reid, although Stuart Partrick did flash a header across his six-yard box from Stay's corner on 12 minutes.

Chances of note were few and far between in the first half, while the second followed a similar pattern followed with Paul Gilbert's Oving again having most of the ball without turning their possession into clear opportunities.

Their hopes of turning the cup final round suffered a major blow on 65 minutes when Keith Pondayi's free-kick picked out Allen, who unchallenged powered his header past Conway to give the keeper no chance.

Oving threw players forward for the final minutes but it was not to be their day and it was left to Mitchell and boss Edwards to collect the cup.

Edwards said: "I thought we were solid. We got the early goal but it didn't really settle us down.

"But our defence has been so good recently, with Phil behind them, that if we are keeping sides to long-range shots then it has to be a good goal to concede. We trust our back four at the moment and if we score two goals we win games.

"I have sympathy for Oving because I thought they played some good football and they knocked it around well. But not being disrespectful, I also thought we were comfortable, even in the first half when we were not playing too well."

Oving L. Conway, Macintosh, Burch, Embleton, Brown, Ward, Partrick (Rishman 79), Hasler (G. Conway 80), Turnill (Clark 70), Mandry, Stay. Booked: Hasler.

Peacehaven:Reid, Laycock, Griffith, Mitchell, Agg, Gilmour, Pondayi, Preece (Castrechino 61), Allen, Lockhart (Brady 90), Jones. Booked: Pondayi.

Men-of-the-Match: Ricky Mitchell (Peacehaven), Alex Stay (Oving).

Final score: Peacehaven 2, Oving 0