Seagulls pinch a point from Under-23s

Shayon Harrison secured a share of the spoils – but it could and perhaps should have been more as our Under-23s were held by Brighton & Hove Albion at Stevenage on Friday night.

In our first meeting with the Seagulls at Premier League 2 level following their promotion last term, we dominated the game for long spells, especially in the first half, but were undone by a counter-attack just before the interval as Viktor Gyokeres gave our opponents the lead against the run of play.

Waves and waves of pressure saw Jaden Brown repeatedly get in down the left flank, only to see his cut-backs come to nothing, while Josh Onomah rattled the crossbar in his first action of the season.

Harrison curled home a deserved leveller just before the hour mark but despite our best efforts, Brighton held firm. They might even have won it themselves in the latter stages.

Still we pushed forward in search of a winner, but time ran out and the game ended 1-1.

After a thunderstorm subsided early on, we controlled the first half with Marcus Edwards, Oliver Skipp and Onomah orchestrating things, feeding the ball out wide and testing the visitors themselves through the middle.

Edwards in particular twisted and turned away from his markers time after time, but some resolute defending from the visitors meant we weren't able to meaningfully trouble ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Hugo Keto.

Onomah's fierce strike at the mid-way point of the half was blocked with Brighton's Aaron Connolly curling wide at the other end on the break, while Luke Amos' low shot through a crowded area following a short corner was spilled and frantically cleared as we turned the screw.

We were pushing as high as the six-yard box at times, Brown darting in from the left on more than one occasion, but either he was unable to get a shot away himself or his attempt to slide the ball across goal was denied at the near post.

Two minutes before half-time and following another frustrating end to a high press where the ball ran agonisingly away from the feet of both Brown and Troy Parrott six yards out, Brighton once again hit us on the counter – and they made it count. Connolly carried the ball clear, he fed Gyokeres and the visitors' number 10 buried it past Alfie Whiteman from the right angle.

Onomah curled a well-struck effort over the wall but onto the crossbar five minutes after the break after great commitment from Skipp earned a free-kick but with Brown often bursting in behind substitute Brighton right-back Archie Davies down our left, you sensed he would be the supplier of any opportunity for an equaliser.

Sure enough, after Edwards ran onto one of his cut-backs but clipped over, Brown fed Harrison from that flank, he roamed into the middle and curled home from 18 yards out, a neat finish to restore parity.

Gyokeres, Jordan Davies, Andres Dreyer and Will Collar all tried their luck in the latter stages for Brighton, but a winner for the visitors seemed unlikely as our lively play continued. Onomah shot straight at keeper Keto while substitute Jack Roles cued off-target, but a lack of clear chances created in the last quarter-of-an-hour left us still waiting for our first win of the new Premier League 2 season.

Key moment

Two incidents in the 43rd minute proved to have a big influence on the overall result.

At a time when we were really trying to press home the upper hand to fashion an opener, left-back Brown cut in from the side of the box but, frustratingly, as he tried to combine with striker Parrott, the ball just wouldn’t sit up for either player to shoot.

That’s when Brighton saw their chance. Dreyer seized on the ball and broke forward at pace down the left, switching the play to Gyokeres in space in the right channel. He lashed high into the net to give Brighton the lead and that goal ultimately led to the visitors leaving the Lamex Stadium with a point, Harrison later equalising for us.

“When you’re pushing and you have so much possession, you’re sometimes most vulnerable when you have the ball,” explained Under-23s Coach Wayne Burnett. “We’re disappointed with the goal that we conceded because we were in their box to start with, then all of a sudden we haven’t anticipated the counter, we haven’t focused enough, they’ve broken away and within five seconds the ball is in the back of our net after dominating the first half.

“Brighton were hard working, showed some real endeavour and had some good chances towards the end but we dominated the game, dominated possession, dominated the penalty box entries and on reflection we’re disappointed that we didn’t take all three points.

“At times we didn’t attack the box with enough conviction. We got into some really good areas, positions in the box where we should have done better and had some shots on target that have gone straight at the goalkeeper, but they defended their area really well, let’s not take anything away from them. I felt we could have been more aggressive at times when we were attacking.”

Match data

Goals: Spurs - Harrison 59; Brighton - Gyokeres 43.

Yellow card: Brighton - A Davies 49.

Referee: Martin Woods.

Attendance: 391.

Venue: Lamex Stadium, Stevenage.

Weather: Heavy rain, moderate breeze, eight degrees.