Daniel Hildreth has praised his Worthing Thunder battlers who emerged from their tough weekend with a semi-final ticket.

Thunder claimed a last-four berth in the National Cup by winning in overtime at Bradford Dragons today.

Victory came less than 24 hours after they suffered heartbreaking defeat on the buzzer in a league game at home to Kent Crusaders.

Coach Hildreth said: “I can’t speak highly enough of my guys.

"We had five players in double figures and everyone stepped up when we needed them to.

"We had a second wind after the fourth quarter and, especially after not just playing but losing the way we did against Kent, showed a level of character that was beyond fantastic."

Thunder claimed a 92-83 win in the extra period after clinging on at the end of regulation time.

Bradford had three shots to claim the win after Milton Chavis had tied the scores at 72-72 but were off target each time.

Thunder then scored the first six points of overtime.

Chavis finished with 22 points. Louis Allen added 18, Brendan Okoronkwo 13, Hank Rivers 12 and Dominic Baker 11 in a balanced Thunder attack.