Under-21s suffer late slump against Seagulls

It turned out to be a miserable night on the south coast for our 10-man Under-21s on Friday as four goals in the last quarter of the match gave hosts Brighton & Hove Albion a 4-0 victory.

Having taken the game to the Seagulls throughout the first half, even after the dismissal of central defender Alfie Dorrington with just over 20 minutes gone, we eventually came unstuck mid-way through the second period when Andy Moran headed the hosts in front, with further goals from Cameron Peupion, Todd Miller and Ed Turns - the latter two slightly fortuitous - sealing our misery amid strong winds and swirling rain at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.

Indeed, the conditions were challenging throughout, but we competed well in the first 45 minutes and were perhaps unlucky not to have gone in at half-time ahead, Jamie Donley latching onto a loose ball in the box and rounding Brighton goalkeeper James Beadle, only to see his 19th-minute shot blocked by a defender, while Brooklyn Lyons-Foster was inches away from connecting with a free header at the front post from Harvey White's corner three minutes before the break.

Moments after Donley's attempt, though, we suffered a real blow as young centre-back Dorrington, who had impressed with some incisive forward passes in the opening exchanges, slipped on the rain-soaked surface, was robbed by Moran and was then deemed to have brought the forward down as the last defender, consequently picking up a straight red card. Jack Spong curled the resulting free-kick into the side netting but although Moran was twice denied by blocks from Max Robson in our box and the unmarked Peupion arrowed a shot over, we continued on the front foot in search of a breakthrough at the other end.

Brighton began to turn the screw at the start of the second period, though, and after having a number of chances, they forged ahead on 65 minutes when substitute Luca Barrington stood up a cross from the left and Moran nodded home from inside the box. It was 2-0 thanks to another header nine minutes later, this time Peupion craning his neck to send a glancing effort into the top corner from Moran's left-sided delivery, with Miller's deflected shot putting the hosts out of sight 11 minutes from time.

We should have pulled one back when Romaine Mundle forced a mistake from Beadle and set up Yago Santiago to shoot towards the empty net but he was denied by the recovering keeper and after a couple more attempts from distance for the hosts, including one from Turns that forced a fine save from Josh Keeley, Brighton added a fourth in the 86th minute when Turns' header hit defender Marqes Muir but fell kindly for him to have a second bite of the cherry and prod inside the near post.

One piece of good news saw the return to action of Alfie Devine for the first time since the second game of the season after a hamstring injury, the midfielder replacing White in a planned change at half-time.

Highlights on SPURSPLAY

Match data

Goals: Brighton - Moran 65, Peupion 74, Miller 79, Turns 86.

Yellow cards: Brighton - Moran 73, Furlong 90+1; Spurs - Lyons-Foster 8, Cesay 52, Mundle 59.

Red card: Spurs - Dorrington 22.

Venue: American Express Elite Football Performance Centre, Lancing.

Weather: Strong winds and heavy rain, 15 degrees.