Albion under-18s fight back to draw with Arsenal

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Youngsters draw 2-2 with the Gunners to stay third in Premier League U18 table.

Matt Bishop

2022-10-24T13:04:00Z

Bailey Smith scored a late equaliser on Saturday afternoon.

Albion’s professional development phase coach Arthur Brammer said it was our men’s under-18s “togetherness” that earned them an impressive point at Arsenal on Saturday.

The young Seagulls twice came from behind against Jack Wilshere’s side to claim a well-deserved 2-2 draw at London Colney, with goals from Joe Knight and Bailey Smith keeping Albion third in the table.

Arsenal opened the scoring through Omari Benjamin after 19 minutes, but were pegged ten minutes later when Knight coolly dispatched a penalty when Elliott Jenks was brought down in the box.

The Gunners went ahead again in the 73rd minute when Benjamin won his side a spot-kick of their own, which Seb Ferdinand put away, but Smith tapped home Jenks’ low cross in the final minute of stoppage time to earn Albion a point.

Arthur Brammer has overseen a run of three matches unbeaten.

Brammer said, “We were really happy with the performance. We’ve been speaking about staying together, playing with joy and sticking to our identity – and we showed that.

“The equaliser late on was something we’ve been working on which was pleasing. The basics were done well, players were breaking forward and it was an excellent assist and finish.

“To come from behind twice against a good side is not easy, but we stayed calm when the pressure was on. We played the way Brighton teams want to play and we were really pleased with the outcome.”

Albion are now unbeaten in their last three games following Saturday’s draw and back-to-back wins against Leeds and Leicester.

Harry Mills's brace set Albion on their way to victory against Leeds.

It’s been a positive run of form after disappointing defeats in September to Spurs and Crystal Palace, and Brammer is confident going into this Saturday’s match against West Ham at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.

“Momentum is building,” he said. “Our form has been good and we keep emphasising our togetherness because it will be massive for us going forward.

“We speak to the boys every day about working together and having good habits – whether that’s in education, the gym or out on the pitch. We showcased that on Saturday, I’m really happy with the squad.”