- Albion’s under-18s end their season with defeat
- Goals for Shamar Moore and Khalid Simmo secure a win for Reading
- Jack Spong on target for the Seagulls
- The Seagulls finish eighth in the U18 Premier League South table
Brighton & Hove Albion’s under-18s ended their season with a narrow 2-1 defeat to Reading at the Hogwood Park Training Ground.
Shamar Moore and Khalid Simmo were on target for the Royals, before Jack Spong scored what proved to be a consolation strike for the Seagulls.
Albion created their first chance of the game when Alex Cochrane and Ryan Longman set up Mamadou Kone in the box, but his effort was blocked.
Matt Everitt had an opportunity just moments later following Longman’s cut-back across the area, but his strike went over the target.
The hosts took the lead with 24 minutes on the clock thanks to Moore, who volleyed the ball in past George Bentley.
Their advantage was doubled shortly before the break through Simmo, whose strike from distance beat Bentley in the 42 minute.
Albion looked to get a foothold in the game straight from the second-half kick-off, but Cochrane saw his speculative strike saved by Royals keeper Jokull Andersson.
The deficit was halved on the hour mark courtesy of Spong, who calmly slotted the ball home from Kone’s cut-back across the box.
Hayden Roberts could’ve earned Albion a point, as he made a good driving run forward, only to see his strike go narrowly wide.
ALBION: Bentley (McGill 46); Kone, Weaire, Clark-Eden, Tutt (Tanimowo 74); Everitt, Roberts, Cochrane; Ljubicic, Spong (Packham 62), Longman.