Under-18s dumped out of FA Youth Cup by Brighton

Our Under-18s fell at the first hurdle in this season’s FA Youth Cup, suffering a 5-2 home defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday night.

We’d led twice during an at-times chaotic opening half-hour through Reiss Elliott-Parris and Tynan Thompson at Stevenage’s Lamex Stadium but were pegged back each time, conceding in sloppy fashion to Harry Howell and Adam Brett, before the latter struck again to give the visitors the upper hand going in at the break.

We struggled to meaningfully threaten after the restart, Luca Williams-Barnett going closest to a reply when he fired just wide of the far post after a trademark solo run, but it was game over when Howell netted his second from the penalty spot on 87 minutes after Jun’ai Byfield’s foul on Jackson Morby.

Substitute Billy-Ray Cullinane added insult to injury with a stoppage-time fifth for the Seagulls, firing home from distance as his side marched on to a round four date with Queens Park Rangers, leaving us to ponder what might have been.

There was plenty of optimism at the start of the game with both teams naming strong starting sides and we duly made a positive start, Elliott-Parris with a low angled shot repelled by William Rutter before the same player latched onto a wayward back-pass and fired us into a ninth-minute lead.

Brighton equalised five minutes later after a slick move which ended with the unmarked Howell nodding Morby’s cross inside the near post, but at that point you still sensed we were in control and after Oliver Boast’s effort from distance sailed just off-target and Elliott-Parris swiped a tame effort straight at the keeper, we restored our lead on the half-hour mark when Thompson collected Elijah Upson’s long ball out from the back, cut inside from the left wing and fired home via a deflection off the heels of Brighton’s Jesse Middleton.

Back came the Seagulls again six minutes later, though, Brett’s effort from the left angle floating over goalkeeper Dylan Thompson – who got a touch on it – and bouncing fractionally in off the far post, the assistant referee on the far side deeming the ball to have crossed the line despite the keeper’s subsequent clearance. The contest’s key moment then arrived three minutes before the break as Younes Ibrahim’s diagonal free-kick was met at the back post by Tate Ferdinand, his effort was blocked on the line by keeper Thompson but Brighton kept it alive and Brett found a gap in a congested six-yard box to force home from close range.

In truth, we never really recovered from that and struggled to penetrate the visitors’ back line during the second period outside of a couple of half-chances, Rutter with an impressive double save to deny substitute Miracle Adewole and Elliott-Parris in quick succession on 73 minutes before Williams-Barnett took matters into his own hands six minutes from time when he collected Upson’s diagonal ball out from the back and broke forward, only to see his angled low drive creep the wrong side of the far stick.

Brighton made sure of their win three minutes later, Byfield impeding Morby as he came across to the side of the box with Howell converting the resulting penalty, before Cullinane ran onto a loose ball to curl home and compound our misery in the 98th minute.

Match data

Goals: Spurs – Elliott-Parris 9, T Thompson 30; Brighton – Howell 14, 87 (pen), Brett 36, 42, Cullinane 90+8.

Yellow cards: Spurs – Beggs 41, Tye Hall 48, Muslika 80, Moncur 90+2; Brighton – Anah 12, Howell 16, Simmonds 76, Morby 79

Referee: Chris Poole.

Venue: Lamex Stadium, Stevenage.

Weather: Cloudy, gentle breeze, five degrees.

Attendance: 533.