Brighton & Hove Albion 4-2 Worthing FC
20-year-old Lorent Tolajs’ eight-minute brace sparked a resounding Brighton comeback in an exciting end to the Sussex Senior Challenge Cup at the Amex Staduim.
Tolaj thumped the ball past a helpless Rebels keeper after latching onto a pinpoint Zak Sturge cross for his first and dispatched his second effortlessly after being slipped through by Todd Miller.
Enduring a relentless Worthing crowd for close to forty-minutes, Tolaj was keen to get his own back cupping his ears for his first and taking his shirt off for his second.
Brighton’s under-23’s top scorer in the league this season, could it be a matter of time before we see this deadly Swiss striker in the Premier League?
Worthing looked set to add a fourteenth competition win to their tally after taking an early lead from top scorer Oliver Pearce’s coolly dispatched penalty.
However, at full-time this was merely a consolation.
In the second-half, Cam Peupion and Andy Moran’s close range finishes put to bed any hope of a magical Worthing FC comeback despite a late goal from Joel Colbran who stabbed home from a corner.
This was further ensured by Jasper Pattenden who rightly saw red late in the contest.
After watching his team ship four goals, Worthing boss Adam Hinshelwood endured a cameo from his son Jack Hinshelwood who came on as a substitute for the Seagulls to celebrate their Sussex Challenge Cup victory.
Stats: (Brighton & Hove Albion – Worthing): Goals (4-2), Shots (11-12),Shots on Target (6-6),Offsides (5-2), Fouls committed (8-11),Yellow Cards (2-3), Red Cards (0-1).
Brighton & Hove Albion: Beadle, Peupion, Furlong, Turns, Jackson, Spong (Captain), Miller, Hinchy, Tolaj, Moran, Sturge
Subs: Baker-Boaitey, Talley, Ifill, Hinshelwood, Chouchane.
Worthing: Male, Colbran, Webber, Seager, Racine, Armstrong, Starkey, Kealy, Pearce, Myles-Meekums, Pattenden.
Subs: Budd, Cox, Golding, Starkley, Parsons.
