Under-23s held at Brighton

In-form Dilan Markanday struck again, but our Under-23s were forced to settle for a point after a dominant display at Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday night.

Having fallen behind inside five minutes to Jack Spong's free-kick, we began to control the game from the mid-way point of the first half and deservedly got back on level terms at the start of the second period when Markanday drilled home from a tight angle on the right.

Hammering on the door in search of a winner, Nile John and Jack Clarke both hit the woodwork and Malachi Fagan-Walcott planted a header wide, but we couldn't find the finishing touch in front of goal and missed the chance to leapfrog the Seagulls into the top four of the Premier League 2 table.

Brighton grabbed the upper hand early on at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre when Kallum Cesay was harshly adjudged to have fouled Andrew Moran on the edge of the box and Spong curled the resulting free-kick over the wall and into the top corner. Todd Miller's rising shot was clawed behind by Thimothee Lo-Tutala with Ed Turns heading narrowly off-target from the corner, but we soon got a foothold in the game and Markanday's dribbling in particular caused the visitors real problems in the wide areas - the midfielder exhibited some dazzling footwork to set up Yago Santiago for a great chance on the half-hour mark, but he shot straight at goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen from six yards out.

John's fierce shot deflected up off Turns and forced a sharp save from Scherpen while Markanday almost guided a low shot into the far corner in the lead-up to half-time, only to see it creep just wide after taking a touch off his marker. But he was on target five minutes after the restart when Harvey White swept the ball out to him on the right side of the box and he drilled across Scherpen into the far corner for his sixth goal in as many Premier League 2 games.

From there it was largely one-way traffic as a host of chances came and went, Brooklyn Lyons-Foster firing over, John hitting the far post after breezing through into the box and Cesay's shot deflecting off Turns and forcing Scherpen to bundle the ball behind. As the hour mark passed, Santiago was denied by the goalkeeper at his near post and Fagan-Walcott towered over everyone in the box to meet Lyons-Foster's cross but steered his header wide, although the introduction of Cameron Peupion gave the hosts an outlet with his pace on the right and he almost forced another breakthrough for his side against the run of play, but his effort hit defender Tobi Omole and Lo-Tutala was on hand to pluck the ball out of the air as it veered towards goal.

Marcel Lavinier had tried a couple of shots after getting forward from left-back but as the game went on, Clarke became more and more influential in pockets of space down that side and he almost scored a wonderful goal 18 minutes from time when he guided a precise shot through a crowded area, only to see it spin back off the inside of the far post. The same player arrowed over from 18 yards in the closing moments while Brighton had a chance to steal it deep into stoppage time, but Moran's free header from Peupion's cross went spinning harmlessly wide without troubling Lo-Tutala.

'We feel disappointed that we haven't scored more goals'

Under-23s Coach Wayne Burnett said: "Based on the amount of chances and opportunites that we created for ourselves, we feel disappointed that we haven't scored more goals. We've hit the inside of the post twice and probably deserved to score more than one goal. I was pleased at how much we dominated the ball and I think that if we continue to do that and play that way, we'll continue to create chances. As I said to the players afterwards, the most difficult thing is to score goals. We just need to be a bit more clinical and maybe a little bit more focussed at key moments, but in terms of dominating the ball, dominating possession and playing in our style, we've done that tonight.

"We started disappointingly and they've scored with one of their only shots in the first half. After about 10 minutes, the majority of the game was played in the opposition's half, we sustained and maintained pressure throughout both the first and second halves and we limited Brighton to very few chances. Our work ethic off the ball was also very good and that allowed us to have the majority of possession."

Match data

Goals: Brighton - Spong 5; Spurs - Markanday 50.

Yellow card: Spurs - Lavinier 33.

Referee: Daniel Lamport.

Venue: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, Lancing.

Weather: Light cloud, gentle breeze, seven degrees.