Paul Fairclough hailed Sussex as one of the best ever hosts of the Four Nations Tournament despite his England side failing to defend their title by the narrowest of margins.

More than 2,000 fans packed into Priory Lane - the second highest attendance ever at the ground - to witness the tournament reach a thrilling climax on Saturday.

That took the total for the three England games at Eastbourne Borough past the 4,000 mark while close to 2,000 turned up for the other three games at Bognor and Worthing over the five days.

Those figures justified the FA's decision to bring the tournament to Sussex and the only thing that was missing from Fairclough's point of view was one more goal which would have seen them lift the trophy again.

A 3-0 victory for Wales over Ireland at Worthing earlier in the day meant England knew they had to match that score to finish on top on goal difference.

But despite loud encouragement from the fans they could only manage two to hand Wales the title by virtue of scoring one more goal over the three games.

Fairclough said: "I am extremely disappointed because it would have been nice to repay the people who turned up to support us by winning the trophy.

"The support has been marvellous with the best crowds for the Four Nations tournament ever in this country. I would certainly welcome bringing it back to Sussex again in the future.

"The attendances have increased for each game and it shows there is an interest in an event like this down here because people voted with their feet.

"There has been a great atmosphere at all the games and it is a credit to Eastbourne Borough for the way they have hosted the tournament."

Wales had left England with a mountain to climb with their 3-0 victory over an Ireland team reduced to ten men with just 15 minutes on the clock. Les Davies made the most of the numerical advantage with a brace and Chris Moore added the third in front of a crowd of 814 at the Gladwish Stadium.

England knew an early goal was vital if they were to retain the trophy they won in Ireland 12 months ago but, just as in the 1-1 draw with Wales on Thursday, they failed to make their dominance pay.

With a strong wind at their backs they camped inside the Scotland half in the opening 45 minutes but the closest they came to breaking the deadlock was when Michael Carr was twice denied by fine saves by Andrew Shearer.

Amazingly it was Scotland who had the best chance of the half when Anthony Low ran the length of the pitch to set up Stuart McKay with an open goal but somehow former Hastings goalkeeper Shwan Jalal got back to beat the ball off the line.

England's frustrations grew in the second half when Glen Southam hit the post in the 58th minute and that prompted a bold triple substitution by Fairclough.

It was one of the new arrivals, Justin Richards, who finally put England ahead in the 76th minute with a fierce shot which deflected off a defender to give Shearer no chance.

The fans urged England on to set up a grandstand finish but the second goal did not arrive until injury time when another of the substitutes, Craig Mackail-Smith, fired home after Shearer had failed to collect a cross from the impressive Dennis Oli.

Fairclough said: "We may have lost the tournament but I don't feel defeated because we didn't lose a game and only conceded one goal and that was from the penalty spot.

"Ultimately we paid the price for not taking the chances which came our way, not just against Scotland but across the three games.

But I am proud of the players because they gave it their best shot."