Gunners strike late to sink Albion

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Albion suffered their first defeat of the Premier League 2 season.

Neil Moxley

2025-08-29T21:10+01:00

Josh Robertson went close to putting Albion in front against the Gunners. 📷 by James Boardman.

Shannon Ruth’s youngsters suffered defeat in the penultimate minute as they were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in Premier League 2.

The visitors had done everything but find the net as the game headed towards a stalemate.

One moment of goalkeeping brilliance, a ‘goal’ ruled out for offside and the crossbar all conspired to deny them.

And they suffered a harsh penalty when Sebastian Ferdinand tapped home a low cross at the far post to sentence the Under-21s to their first league defeat of the season.

But it was a night at Boreham Wood that offered plenty of encouragement as a composed performance failed to reap rightful reward.

The game took time to warm up. But when it did, Arsenal keeper Tommy Setford excelled to deny Josh Robertson as the half-hour approached.

The midfielder’s well-struck shot looked all the world like it was heading for the net only for Setford to throw up an arm and deflect it over the crossbar.

The rest of the opening half belonged to Albion.

A block tackle on the edge of the area cannoned off Albarus and into the upright.

Brighton’s No.6 then saw a shot cleared off the line after Jacob Slater’s underlap down the left from Shane Nti’s pass.

After the break, the pattern of the match continued. The visitors could count themselves unlucky not to have taken a lead in the 58th-minute when Shane Nti converted from just inside the area from Charlie Tasker’s low cross only for the assistant’s flag to rule out the strike.

And Arsenal managed to find a way through in the dying stages - Charles Sagoe drilling in a low centre from the left that Ferdinand finished.