Goals from Lorent Tolaj, Cam Peupion and Andy Moran see Brighton breeze past Worthing to win the 2022 Sussex Challenge Cup despite a late comeback.
Brighton started the stronger of the teams forcing the first save of the match, however, after a great bit of interplay between Reece Myles-Meekums and Oliver Pearce, Myles-Meekums was through on goal but was brought down cynically by Jack Hinchy which resulted in a penalty to Worthing, converted comfortably by Pearce.
Brighton came up with the perfect response shortly after through Lorent Tolaj who finished emphatically past Harrison Male following a lovely ball inside from Zak Sturge. Todd Miller then saw his headed effort skim off the crossbar which left Male motionless in goal. Before the break, Tolaj doubled his tally after a through ball from Miller saw him one-on-one with Male. Tolaj made no mistake and slotted it calmly into the bottom corner.
Brighton doubled their lead early into the second half as Jack Spong put the ball on a plate for Cam Peupion who couldn’t miss from six yards out. The Seagulls made it four after 62 minutes as semi-final goal scorer Andy Moran added his name to the scoresheet with a cool finish after a cute ball inside from Tolaj.
Worthing started a comeback in the 82nd minute when Pearce’s corner found Joel Colbran who slotted it out of the reach of James Beadle. Jasper Pattenden then saw red just before the full-time whistle blew, an unfortunate end to the competition for Worthing.
Stats: (Brighton & Hove Albion – Worthing): Goals (4-2), Shots (11-16), Shots on Target (6-5), Offsides (6-2), Fouls (10-9), Yellow Cards (2-3), Red Cards (0-1).
Brighton & Hove Albion: 1. James Beadle, 2. Cam Peupion, 3. James Furlong, 4. Ed Turns, 5. Ben Jackson, 6. Jack Spong ©, 7. Todd Miller, 8. Jack Hinchy, 9. Lorent Tolaj, 10. Andy Moran, 11. Zak Sturge.
Subs: 12. Benecio Baker-Boaitey, 13. Fynn Talley, 14. Marcus Ifill, 15. Jack Hinshelwood, 16. Samy Chouchane.
Worthing: 1. Harrison Male, 2. Joel Colbran, 3. Patrick Webber, 4. William Seager, 5. Aarran Racine ©, 8. Marvin Armstrong, 11. Jesse Starkey, 15. Callum Kealy, 10. Oliver Pearce, 17. Reece Myles-Meekums, 19. Jasper Pattenden.
Subs: 6. Darren Budd, 7. Dean Cox, 9. Dayshonne Golding, 14. Ollie Starkey, 16. Alex Parsons.
