With a victory needed to ease relegation fears, our development squad delivered at the Amex stadium this evening. Two goals either side of half-time were enough to secure victory.
Our young Blues surrendered possession in the first half with only a 34 per cent share, but they focused on countering the Seagulls and pressing them into mistakes. Indeed, it was through this that we took the lead through Lewis Hall who headed in from a Josh Brooking cross.
The second half required much more concentration from a defensive perspective and again despite conceding some chances to our opponents, a counter led by Thierno Ballo allowed Harvey Vale to drive at his man in the box and Odeluga Offiah fouled him, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot.
Jayden Wareham stepped up to score from 12 yards out.
There was late pressure as a Xavier Mbuyamba mistake at the back allowed Andrew Moran to fire at goal and his shot deflected over Ted Sharman-Lowe into the net.
We managed to handle the pressure and see the game out as the three points moves Chelsea within a point of third-from-bottom Leeds United with a game in hand.
Team news
Andy Myers made a couple of changes from last week’s game against the Toffees as in came Sharman-Lowe, Hall and Ben Elliot as our development squad were seeking their first victory in three games.
Positive start
The first 15 minutes of the game saw the home side control proceedings with a greater share of possession as our young Blues looked to exploit the Seagulls’ high line.
Hall and his team-mates had penalty appeals turned down by the referee as good running down the wing led to Ed Turns pulling him back but with Hall not falling over, the referee did not seem convinced.
With all their possession there had been no shot on goal from Brighton until the 25th minute when a lofted cross towards the edge of the area was volleyed goalwards by Andrew Moran who scored in the reverse fixture of this game, but his effort did not trouble Sharman-Lowe’s goal.
A loose ball in midfield was picked up by Hall and he found Ballo in a nice pocket of space. After driving forward, he ignored the runs being made and went for goal but his shot just outside the penalty area was held comfortably by Thomas McGill.
Decisive blow
Our positivity paid off as half-way through the first period we opened the scoring through Hall. Vale picked up the ball from the right-hand-side and cut in well following that with a nice reverse pass to the overlapping Brooking. He delivered a delightful ball towards the back post for Hall to head past McGill.
We had a big opportunity to double our lead as a lovely combination down the left-hand side released Ballo who did well to beat his man and lay the ball to Simons who unleashed a venomous shot that flew over.
The Seagulls created their first major chance of note, and it was a huge let-off for our development squad as Jeremy Sarmiento escaped his marker and laid the ball off for the on-rushing Benicio Baker-Boatiey but he could only shoot straight at Sharman-Lowe.
Another good move from the home side saw Sarmiento released down the left and his shot flew past Sharman-Lowe but veered away from the goal.
Defensive organisation
It was a slow start to the second period from both sides as Sarmiento going off injured was the most notable event.
The home side did create the first opportunity through Moran who tried to pass the ball into the net after a cut-back into the area, but his controlled effort just went wide of the post.
After a number of half chances from the home side, they almost took the lead through substitute Tod Miller as good work from striker Evan Ferguson gave Miller a shot at goal in the area, but he could only scuff his shot wide after pressure from Brooking.
Miller had a massive opportunity to level the scoreline as he was played through on goal with only the keeper to beat and with the ball sitting up nicely, he attempted the lob over Sharman-Lowe but could only put it over.
Another opportunity went the way of the home side as Ferguson unleashed a powerful shot which Sharman-Lowe did well to parry.
Lead doubled
With 20 minutes to go we were awarded a penalty with our first threatening attack of the second period when Vale was tripped in the box by Odeluga Offiah.
Second-half substitute Wareham stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and double our lead.
Shaky end
Without much pressure and our young Blues seemingly heading towards the points, Mbuyamba made a mistake at the back and as the home side pounced, Moran’s shot took a wicked deflection which flew over Sharman-Lowe.
The team from East Sussex pushed hard for an equaliser as Myers’ men needed to show huge resolve and togetherness to see the game out.
It was our boys who had a fantastic opportunity to seal the game as Haigh smashed a free-kick from 25 yards out onto the crossbar.
We did enough to withstand the Brighton pressure and secure a massive three points. Next for our development squad is an away trip to Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
Chelsea (3-4-3): Ted Sharman-Lowe; Josh Brooking, Xavier Mbuyamba, Bashir Humphreys; Dylan Williams, Xavier Simons, Ben Elliot (Charlie Webster 76), Harvey Vale; Lewis Hall (Joe Haigh 68), Thierno Ballo, Jude Soonsup-Bell (Jayden Wareham 63).
Unused subs: Lucas Bergstrom, Dion Rankine.Scorers: Lewis Hall 30; Jayden Wareham 75 (p).Booked: Xavier Simons 20; Lewis Hall 34.
Brighton Hove & Albion (4-2-3-1): Thomas McGill; Odeluga Offiah, Ed Turns, Haydon Roberts, James Furlong; Marc Leonard (c), Jack Spong; Benicio Baker-Boatiey (Cameron Peupion 67), Andrew Moran, Jeremy Sarmiento (Todd Miller 48); Evan Ferguson (Lorent Tolaj 82).
Unused subs: James Beadle, Jack Hinchy.Scorer: Andrew Moran 81.Booked: Marc Leonard 49; Haydon Roberts 75.