Danny Hinshelwood, who saw his side concede two goals in each half, admitted the best side went home with the trophy.

"No-one likes to lose a cup final and we have, so it's not a nice feeling," he said.

"To be fair to Three Bridges they deserved to win – we never really got going."

Selsey contributed to their own downfall by making the worst possible start.

With the game just seven minutes old, Scott Hinshelwood headed a Three Bridges free kick into his own net, when under no apparent pressure.

After both sides had seen penalty claims waved away by Barnham referee Nigel Baker, Selsey found themselves two down.

Warren Whitely's pinpoint cross was met by Brendan Sebuliba, who directed a downward header past Selsey goalkeeper Ryan Chard.

While Selsey managed to work the ball into promising positions, they lacked a cutting edge and always looked susceptible to the pace of Three Bridges' counter attacks.

Scott Hinshelwood almost got on the scoresheet at the right end, only to see his header brilliantly saved by Mark Fox and the assistant's flag raised for offside.

Chard was then called into action, diving low to his left to keep out Sam McVicar's free kick.

Tempers flared right on half-time as Mark Lee and Aaron Hay squared up –the latter having gone to ground very easily on more than one occasion –and referee Baker had to intervene as the players headed down the tunnel.

Three Bridges could very easily have added to their tally immediately after the break, with Hay and Nathan Davis both missing when it appeared easier to score.

Efforts narrowly off target by Lee and Alun Morey hinted at a Selsey recovery but the result was put beyond doubt in the 62nd minute.

Davis, running on to a through ball, outmuscled Lee and made no mistake, sliding the ball coolly past Chard.

Davis doubled his tally and heaped more misery on to Selsey two minutes later, rising to head home Hay's corner at the far post.

Hinshelwood, while bitterly disappointed, was keen to take the positives from the season as a whole and promised his side would be back better than ever come August.

"It's hard to take because I don't like losing," he said. "However, since losing 8-0 to St Francis we've only lost two of 15 games and we've reached a major cup final."

"I'll add a few young players to the squad and hopefully we'll be challenging for a top three finish next season."

- STEVE TERVET