Jakub Moder returned to action but Albion’s under-21s fell to an enthralling 6-3 loss to Arsenal in Premier League 2 on Sunday.
Bradley Ibrahim fired through a crowd of bodies to give the hosts an early lead and moments after Moder nearly set up Luca Barrington the Gunners went 2-0 up through Khayon Edwards.
Arsenal striker Edwards got his second in clinical fashion before the half-hour mark and Jack Henry-Francis made it 4-0 inside 40 minutes, before Mark O’Mahony powered in a header in first-half stoppage time.
Albion’s fightback was checked by Amario Cozier-Duberry’s strike but O’Mahony’s second and Josh Duffus’s goal restored some respectability to the scoreline, only for a Cozier-Duberry stunner to condemn Shannon Ruth’s side to a heavy defeat at Boreham Wood.
The visitors were on the back foot right from the off and the hosts deservedly took the lead in the sixth minute through Ibrahim from 12 yards out.
Moder, who played for a planned 32 minutes as he makes his comeback from an ACL injury, showed touches of class during his display, particularly when he slalomed past two players and then threaded a delicate through ball into Barrington, whose effort was saved by goalkeeper Karl Hein.
Brighton’s profligacy in front of goal was punished soon after as Edwards controlled Ibrahim’s rifled pass into the area, before curling a shot into the left-hand corner in the 23rd minute.
Four minutes later, Edwards made it 3-0 as his excellent turn and finish gave Killian Cahill no chance and it seemed the floodgates were well and truly open when an unmarked Henry-Francis nestled his shot into the corner.
Irish forward O’Mahony gave Albion a glimmer of hope just before the interval as he nodded in Duffus’s classy cross with the outside of his right foot but the lively Cozier-Duberry restored their four-goal lead just after the break with an incisive run and shot into the net.
O’Mahony grabbed his ninth goal of the season when he swept in substitute Sammy Chouchane’s pinpoint delivery into the box in the 52nd minute as the contest’s basketball-like flow continued.
The dangerous Duffus was rewarded for his performance as he jinked past defender Taylor Foran and then slotted home with aplomb.
Both teams fashioned good chances in the final quarter of the game but Cozier-Duberry, who was unplayable at times, scored the goal of the match with a magnificent finish past a helpless Cahill two minutes from time.
O’Mahony nearly grabbed a hat-trick in second-half stoppage time and substitute Louis Flower headed inches wide as Albion suffered their second loss of the league campaign. Next up for Ruth’s side is a home clash against Aston Villa on Friday.
Albion: Cahill; Nilsson, Jackson, Kavanagh, Samuels; Hinchy, Moder (Chouchane 32), Duffus, Baker-Boaitey (Slater 61), Barrington (Flower 71); O’Mahony.
Subs not used: McConville, Reid.