Under 18 3 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion U18 - Match Report

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WHAT HAPPENED

We fought back from a goal down to secure a 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the U-18 Premier League on Saturday.

Substitute Miguel Azeez opened his account at under-18 level with a late strike, while Jordan McEneff made his return from injury.

Both sides struggled to create any clear opportunities in the opening exchanges, with Folarin Balogun’s drive inside the box being the only real chance to remember - but on the stroke of half-time the Seagulls opened the scoring.

Danny Cashman played a curling pass into the path of Ryan Longman on the counter, who twisted and turned on the edge of the box before firing into the top corner.

Balogun then went on to trouble Roco Rees with a glancing header, before Karl Hein made a stunning double save to deny the visitors a second.

The 16-year-old’s fine goalkeeping proved to be a turning point in the game - and just moments later Matt Smith’s shot was saved and the rebound fell to the feet of Sam Greenwood, who finished from a yard out.

Greenwood has now scored six league goals in 11 appearances since joining from Sunderland in the summer.

We’d been lacking composure in the final third for much of the afternoon, but with the introduction of Azeez in the 57th minute, we were able to complete our comeback.

The England youth international glided past his marker on the edge of the area to tee up Ben Cottrell, who fired past Rees from inside the six-yard box, before going on to score our final goal.

The 16-year-old midfielder timed his run to perfection and found the bottom left corner with a first-time finish following a perfectly-weighted pass from Vontae Daley-Campbell.