Haywards Heath are the last Sussex survivors on the long road to Twickenham but they were given a tremendous battle by Brighton in their latest tie.

A second-half try from Henry Goodburn finally helped clinch a 19-11 win for Heath in their Powergen Intermediate Cup fourth round tie at Whitemans Green and take them into Thursday's draw.

They will be joined there by ten other London division clubs plus another 21 nationally.

Brighton, however, took great credit from the contest and will be in good heart for next Saturday's key league clash at Sidcup, the new leaders of London Three South East.

They certainly bridged the two division gap for long periods on Saturday with their pack in particular catching the eye.

Heath skipper Alex Meredith admitted: "It was a tough game. Brighton used their lineout to good effect in attack and defended well.

"We're through to the next round though and that is what matters."

Goodburn was a key figure in the contest. He scored the crucial second half try after Heath had taken a scrum against the head and got in a crucial tackle to prevent Vic Jones grounding the ball just before half-time.

That would have sent Brighton into the break with a 16-11 lead.

Julian Hutchens scored their try after Mark Gibb's penalty had hit a post. Gibb also kicked two penalties as well as hitting an upright again in the second half.

Stuart Charnley rounded off a series of attacks for Heath's first try with Owen Ashton's two penalties ensuring half-time parity.

Ashton also kicked a late penalty which finally killed off the Brighton challenge.

Their skipper Mark Jenkins said: "We take away more from that game than Haywards Heath. They are a good side but we showed that does not count for so much if you can't get the ball."