Albion will play Eastbourne Borough in the final of the Sussex Senior Cup after an extra-time 3-2 win over a spirited Worthing at Culver Road.
Teddy Jenks scored the winner in the second period of extra time as Albion took advantage after Worthing had been reduced to ten men just before the end of normal time when Alfie Young was sent off.
The Rebels had taken the lead but goals from Lorent Tolaj, who scored a hat-trick in the quarter-final against Bognor, and Haydon Roberts seemed to have put Albion in control. However, Worthing scored a second goal from a corner before they ran out of steam in extra time.
Under-23s assistant coach Shannon Ruth said, "We started quite slowly and it took us a bit of time to get into the game. But we regrouped and from the second half onwards we dominated the game but were quite wasteful and that can leave you open to conceding, especially from a set piece which any senior non-league side will consider an opportunity to score.
"It was all hands on deck at times, but we stayed calm and in my mind it was a fair result."
Albion were looking to reach their third final in four years but it was Worthing, flying high at the top of the Isthmian League premier, who carried the greater attacking threat in the first third of the contest.
Hugo Keto was called into action in the ninth minute when he parried a powerful shot from Reece Myles-Meekins and reacted quickly to push over Ollie Pearce’s effort when the ball ran loose.
Keto blocked an effort from Jesse Starkey six minutes later then Pearce sent a half-volley just wide.
It was a different test to those Albion’s youngsters normally face in Premier League 2 with Worthing hitting their front men early and little opportunity, certainly in the first half hour, for Albion to get their foot on the ball in midfield.
Kato made another decent save from Starkey’s free kick but as the first half wore on the Seagulls began to get on top.
Taylor Richards robbed Starkey in the 34th minute and his curling left-foot effort was pushed round the post by Jack Fagan. Then just before the break Richards found Romaric Yapi who pulled the ball across the face of goal but Peter Gwargis cushioned his effort the wrong side of the left-hand post.
Albion carried their momentum into the second half only to go behind in the 63rd minute. Keto did superbly to push Ricky Aguiar’s 35-yarder powerful round the post but when the resultant corner was flicked on, Myles-Meekins nodded the ball past Keto from close range.
It had been against the run of play but Albion’s response was impressive. After Roberts had hit the bar from 20 yards they levelled in the 70th minute when Tolaj worked a yard of space and found the top corner with a grerat right-foot shot that gave Fagan no chance.
Albion went ahead four minutes later. Romaric Yapi thought he had scored when he dispossessed the keeper only to see his angled effort cleared off the line by Alfie Young, but from the corner Roberts reacted quickest in a crowded six-yard box to make it 2-1 from close range.
The lead didn’t last long. Worthing equalised in the 77th minute when Aaran Racine headed home unchallenged from another corner and we’d had four goals in 13 minutes.
The Rebels were reduced to ten men with four minutes to go when Young pulled back Yapi as he raced clear and was shown a straight red card and the ten men were happy to let Albion have the ball in extra time and try and counter-attack.
The normally lethal Gwargis wasted a great chance in the 104th minute when he side-footed wide from ten yards after Teddy Jenks’ pass deflected into his path but Albion finally broke through three minutes into the second period of extra time when Jenks’ shot from the edge of the box took a deflection past a motionless Fagan and into the bottom corner.
Albion saw out the rest of extra time with reasonable comfort and can now look forward to playing at the Amex in May in Sussex’s showpiece final.
Albion line-up: Keto, A. Davies, O’Hora, Roberts, Cochrane, Jenks, J. Davies, Richards (Spong 74), Yapi (Packham 118), Tolaj (Wilson 105), Gwargis.
Subs not used: Desbois, Leonard.
Attendance: 946