U23 Report: Saints 1-4 Brighton

A swift Albion counter-attack saw Alex Cochrane break the deadlock just past the quarter-of-an-hour mark, before another breakaway allowed Danny Cashman to double the lead.

With a challenging second half pending, Kornelius Hansen reduced the arrears just before the break, only for captain Callum Slattery to be shown a straight red card just nine minutes after the restart.

Making the most of their man advantage, victory was ensured for the visitors when Taylor Richards netted a brace deep into stoppage time. 

In action for the second time in four days following Tuesday’s Premier League International Cup meeting with Feyenoord, Saints had their best chance of the half as early as the sixth minute.

Good work from Michael Obafemi allowed Jack Turner a shot on goal from the edge of the box, but his effort lacked the power necessary to trouble Tom McGill.

Battling swirling wind and rain at Staplewood Campus, the visitors dampened the hosts’ spirits with a goal from their first meaningful attack.

After Cochrane broke with pace on the counter, his one-two with Peter Gwargis ended with the Albion captain coolly drilling a low finish into the bottom corner from just inside the box.

Crossing the line with 16 minutes on the clock, it was to be another 16 minutes before the game would see another chance of note.

In fact, it was to bring another clinical Brighton attack, as the visitors netted on the breakaway once again.

Led by Richards, his clever reverse ball spotted the run of Cashman who kept his composure to blast into the roof of the net from close range.

Despite Southampton seeing plenty of the ball, it continued to be the Seagulls who flew forward with efficiency, as Archie Davies was denied a third by an alert Jack Bycroft.

With Saints lacking any reward for their spells of possession, the creativity was to come from captain Callum Slattery as the hosts gave themselves a lifeline just before the halfway stage.

The midfielder’s cutting through ball set Obafemi through on the right, with the striker showing good awareness to square for Hansen who poked past an onrushing McGill.

Ending the half with the impetus in their favour, the pendulum of momentum swung back towards Brighton on 54 minutes.

Lunging into a challenge on the by-line, Slattery was given his marching orders by referee Matthew Russell to leave Saints a man down for the remainder of the match.

With Bycroft already doing well to keep out Cashman’s latest effort with a full-length diving save, it was to become an interesting duel between the two.

Into the final 15 minutes it was the keeper again who came out on top, standing tall to block the striker’s attempt from 12 yards.

Battling hard despite their man disadvantage, Saints continued to frustrate Albion but as the rain worsened, Richards compounded an evening to forget with a quick-fire double deep into stoppage time.

Head to Head Stats

• Possession (%)
  38

  62
• Shots
  6

  17
• Shots on target
  2

  8
• Corners
  2

  7
• Passes Complete
  239

  429