Brighton & Hove Albion U18's 2 Southend United U18's 3
Report by Robert Craven
Photos by Graham Bridgeman-Clarke
Southend United's Under-18 side are just one more win away from confirming their first-ever Football League Youth Alliance title after a dramatic 3-2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.
The young Blues led on three occasions, but were twice pegged back by a very good Brighton side before Craig Calver claimed his second goal of the game midway through the second period in fortunate circumstances to confirm United's fourth straight success.
Until consecutive 1-0 defeats to Barnet and Aldershot Town in the past week the Seagulls had been in title contention themselves, although they gave no inclination of any disappointment at missing out on the South-East Conference with a spirited display.
Under-16 left-back Teddy Nesbitt was unwell and winger Justin Hazell missed out through injury, forcing boss Ricky Duncan to make two changes to the starting line-up that had scraped a 2-1 win at Rushden & Diamonds. Duran Reynolds was moved to full-back with Callum Whittaker coming into the centre of defence, whilst Marcus Milner lined-up on the left-hand side of midfield in place of Hazell.
Reynolds instigated the opening attack of the match when his lengthy throw picked out Harry Crawford. The bustling front man rode one challenge before skipping inside and hitting a low shot into the gloves of the goalkeeper.
However, Blues struggled to keep hold of the ball during the opening stages, and the hosts had already directed one shot over when Ade Osifuwa was forced to deflect a fierce shot just wide of the post after Merrick James-Lewis had misplaced a pass in midfield.
It was against this backdrop that Southend took the lead against the general run of play on 19 minutes. Craig Calver and Medi Abalimba battled hard to win possession close to the halfway line and captain Davis Abbey prized open the Albion defence with a superb through-ball, giving Crawford the space to drive a cleanly-struck shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
The lead lasted a mere three-and-a-half minutes as Brighton responded with a well-crafted move of their own. Whittaker was turned just outside the six-yard box and, although Nathan McDonald parried out the initial close-range effort, he could do nothing about the rebound, which was expertly scooped over him by the floor-bound attacker.
Two defenders traded efforts on goal as a home centre-half nodded a corner kick wide and Jamie Dennis, again appearing at right-back, smashed a searing shot straight at the goalkeeper before Southend regained the advantage in the 35th minute.
Harry Crawford scores for Southend against Brighton
Calver began the move as he spread the ball out to Crawford on the left-hand side of the penalty box. The former Tottenham Hotspur trainee tried to cross from the bye-line and, although this was cut out, he centred at the second attempt for Calver to direct a rising shot into the roof of the net from ten yards out.
Once again the Blues were in the ascendancy for a matter of minutes as a resilient Brighton levelled from a set-piece. Steve Cook, who has appeared four times for the Seagulls first-team, propelled a long throw into the six-yard box and, when McDonald elected not to come and punch, the ball fell to a forward at the back-post who turned into the net with ease.
Cook had been dominant throughout the first half as Albion pressed well and won the vast majority of the second ball, but Southend managed to edge back into the game after the break. Despite this renewed purpose, the visitors still had to weather an early storm as a sliding Brighton player smashed the ball into the side-netting and a Cook header was planted past the left-hand upright from a corner.
Then, exactly halfway through the second period, Southend moved ahead for a third time. Abalimba instigated the move with a delightful turn before offloading the ball into the path of James-Lewis. There appeared to be no danger from the rangy midfielder's cross until a defender tried to leave the ball, instead inadvertently flicking it over his goalkeeper, who looked on in horror as Calver delighted in smashing home on the goal-line.
The 20-goal front man had a chance to add to his tally, flashing a shot over from Dennis' excellent pass, whilst Crawford narrowly failed to touch the former Ipswich Town scholar's cross in at the back post and Abalimba also saw an effort charged down.
At the other end, McDonald had a scary moment as he spilled a speculative 30-yard shot over his shoulder, recovering just in time to clutch the ball on the line and, having seen out nearly four minutes of stoppage time, Blues' Youths celebrated a hard-fought victory. News filtered through that Queens Park Rangers had only managed to secure a 2-2 draw at Wycombe Wanderers, meaning that a win at Gillingham on Monday afternoon will be enough to win the League.
Southend United U18s: Nathan McDonald; Jamie Dennis, Adetayo Osifuwa, Callum Whittaker, Duran Reynolds; Medi Abalimba, Merrick James-Lewis, Davis Abbey, Marcus Milner; Craig Calver, Harry Crawford (Kyle Asante 80).
Subs not used: John Owinja, Julian Okai, George Smith.
