Brighton & Hove Albion U18's 4 Southend United U18's 1
Robert Craven reports

Southend United's Under-18 side continued their winless run with a 4-1 defeat at fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion, a scoreline that was indicative of the lack of confidence around the team at the moment.

For fully 40 minutes of this encounter on the south coast, the Blues dominated both possession and chances, but having failed to create any clear-cut openings of their own, two sloppy goals conceded on the verge of half-time saw the side walk off at the break with their heads bowed, and a further brace of strikes in the opening minutes of the second period left them searching for a consolation.

Richard Priest was added to the injury list after picking up a knock in the 0-0 draw at Barnet last weekend, joining Jamie Forshaw on the sidelines, the ex-Scotland Under-16 international trialist expecting to return to light training inside the next fortnight. Davis Abbey, the midfielder, was happily available again after his nasty-looking injury in the home fixture with Luton Town.

Also in the team was captain Tom Hopkins, back after a two-match spell at BGB Southern League Premier Division Cheshunt, where he had appeared alongside fellow Blues youngster Rhys Henry in a 3-1 defeat against Bashley and a 7-1 reverse to Yate Town.

A sunny morning in Falmer, where Brighton hope to build their new stadium, began slowly, with an attempted early volley from the hosts only threatening the corner flag. Instead it was Ricky Duncan's youngsters who looked likely to score, Stuart O'Keefe marking his return to the side with a left-footed strike just past the right-hand post on 13 minutes.

On the half-hour, another excellent move on the right-hand side of midfield saw O'Keefe strike a fierce shot goalwards, only to be denied on this occasion by the Seagulls shotstopper. A further opportunity arose when Jack Morris' wayward header from a Higgins cross was cleared only to Medi Abalimba, who struck a dipping volley from 25 yards just past the upright.

However, in the 40th minute, Blues slipped behind. Abalimba failed to win a header in midfield, and both Brighton forwards were able to break free. Kane Louis was given the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area, and he blasted his shot high into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Southend attempted a quickfire response, and Johnny Herd's long throw was flicked into the path of Higgins by Ronnie Jones, the former Millwall forward slicing his shot off target. The Albion goalkeeper was then tested again, this time O'Keefe's low effort making him dive low to his left.

Just seconds before half-time, Brighton extended their lead as more careless defending helped Louis to jink past Jack Morris and guide his shot across Nathan McDonald into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.

Ricky Byrne replaced Jones at half-time, but the hosts were now on top, and a rising shot from just outside the penalty area narrowly cleared the crossbar. The third goal did arrive on 55 minutes, Louis completing his hat-trick by pouncing on a defensive mix-up between right-back Dan Harvey and custodian McDonald to fire low into the goal.

The forward was involved again midway through the second period as his intricate footwork finished with a square pass to left-sided winger Matthew Foreman, whose shot eluded both Hopkins' desperate slide and McDonald's dive to make it 4-0.

Duncan continued his policy of blooding the club's Under-16s ahead of their inductions to the scholarship scheme for 2008/9 by introducing Merrick James to the midfield in place of Abalimba, and Blues were rewarded for their earlier persistence twelve minutes from time. Jack Morris was brought down on the left, and first-year O'Keefe's excellently directed cross picked out Higgins, who just beat Hopkins to head in at the near post.

A frantic scramble just seconds later almost resulted in a second Blues goal, but the quartet of Higgins, Abbey, Tashan Adeyinka and O'Keefe all saw shots blocked or deflected inside a ten-second spell sparked by Morris' left-wing centre.

To compound United's worries, full-back Harvey was forced to limp off five minutes before the end of time after a challenge on the right touchline, and they will be hoping for better fortunes when Gillingham visit Boots & Laces on Saturday.

Southend United U18s: Nathan McDonald; Dan Harvey, Tom Hopkins, Ronnie Jones (Ricky Byrne 46), Johnny Herd; Stuart O'Keefe (Fredrik Ljungström 80), Medi Abalimba (Merrick James 65), Davis Abbey, Jack Morris; Sam Higgins, Tashan Adeyinka. Sub not used: Gordon Rieck.

Goal: Higgins 78