When your folks have flown all the way from Australia to watch you bat at the home of cricket it is worth putting on a show.

Murray Goodwin did just that at Lord's yesterday, scoring his first one-day hundred of the season and eighth for Sussex in front of proud parents George and Penny.

It was enough to ensure that, like last season, Sussex finished their FP Trophy campaign with a victory at headquarters.

Winning the battle to finish seventh instead of eighth in the South Conference is not quite the same as lifting the trophy.

But a nine-run win will give the Sharks a bit of confidence to take into the Twenty20 Cup campaign which starts at Chelmsford a week tomorrow.

They lost seven wickets for 43 in six overs yesterday, although at least this collapse came at the end of their innings rather than the start.

Middlesex lost two early wickets in their pursuit of 272 but Owais Shah and Nick Compton posted the second third-wicket record of the match to seemingly put them back on course.

With 85 needed off 12 overs, Mike Yardy brought James Kirtley back into the attack and Shah was superbly caught by the sprawling Ollie Rayner at extra cover trying to hit over the top.

It signalled a collapse almost as bad as Sussex's earlier in the day.

From 187-2 Middlesex slumped to 210-6 as acting captain Yardy saw three bowling changes pay off with wickets straight away.

Eoin Morgan was caught behind trying to run Robin Martin-Jenkins down to third man, Jamie Dalrymple was run out second ball and David Nash held on the mid-wicket boundary to give Carl Hopkinson a rare success.

Chaminda Vaas and Tim Murtagh both perished in the deep as the required rate climbed to more than ten an over and although Compton finally reached his maiden one-day hundred in the 49th over he could not lead his side over the line.

Compton finished on 110 from 140 balls but, tellingly, did not hit a boundary between the 21st and 47th overs.

The crucial wicket, as it was always likely to be, was Shah's. His 88 off 97 balls was full of his shots played with wristy elegance and included eight fours and sixes swung over the short boundary on the Tavern side off Hopkinson and Ollie Rayner.

It was a commendable effort by a Sussex attack without Mushtaq Ahmed, Rana Naved and Luke Wright, who played as a specialist batsman because he did not want to risk a sore heel ahead of tomorrow's important Championship match against Yorkshire.

Yardy employed his depleted resources well and encouragingly got through another ten overs of left-arm spin himself, going for four runs an over when Shah and Compton were at their most fluent.

Hopkinson, who is trying to develop his medium pace, also deserves credit for holding his nerve when he came back for a second spell.

But the day belonged to Goodwin whose perfectly-paced hundred off 99 balls was only the third by a Sussex batsman in the competition this season.

The other two were lodged by Richard Montgomerie and together they put on 172 in 32 overs, a new third-wicket competition record for the county beating the 155 by Paul Parker and Alan Wells at Hove in 1989.

Goodwin was doubly delighted to impress in front of his parents. He said: "I got out on 99 at Arundel on Friday and they arrived that day which was disappointing so I wanted to do well at Lord's in front of them. To make a hundred is a bonus and to help the side get a victory made it even better."

Montgomerie seemed to be using the innings as an extended net ahead of tomorrow's Championship game early on. His first 22 runs, which included a swept six off Murali Kartik, were made off 55 balls.

In fact, the two hit just three boundaries between them in reaching their fifties. But apart from Vaas, a Middlesex attack lacking both Chris Silverwood and Alan Richardson struggled for penetration on a flat pitch and there were always plenty of easy singles.

It was a surprise, therefore, when Montgomerie lost his off stump trying to slog Ed Joyce into the Tavern Stand after scoring 88 from 123 balls.

Sussex gave Wright another chance at the top of the innings and his 28 off 34 deliveries can be considered a partial success.

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