PUBLISHED
11:36 5th August 2013
by James Hilsum
Albion’s development squad suffered a heavy defeat, after being comfortably beaten by a rampant Southampton side at Culver Road.
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Saints took the lead in the 13th minute, when Omar Rowe drove into the Albion box and curled his shot past the outstretched keeper Christian Walton.
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They doubled their advantage just three minutes later, as Corby Moore’s deflected strike beat Walton at the near post.
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The Seagulls struggled to get a decent grip on the game, as the away side continued to press forward, with Rowe being the main threat down the right-hand side.
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Keeper Walton kept the scoreline down with a superb point-blank save to deny Dominic Gape’s header from nestling into the bottom corner.
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But Saints’ third goal arrived soon afterwards in the 33rd minute, when Rowe waltzed through the Seagulls back line to coolly slot the ball past Walton.
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The winger could have completed a hat-trick before half time, but Walton produced another fine stop to prevent Southampton from running away with the game.
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Albion improved after the interval and reduced the deficit two minutes into the second half, as substitute Emil Asmundsson took advantage of some slack Saints defending and poked his shot past keeper Cody Cropper.
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The Seagulls then had a golden opportunity to get right back into the match when the referee awarded a penalty for a tug on George Barker inside the box. Barker stepped up, but saw his spot-kick tipped round the post by Cropper.
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Southampton responded by clinically securing the victory, thanks to a deflected strike from Harrison Reed with 20 minutes remaining and a fine volley by Jake Sinclair in the closing stages.
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Albion: Walton (GK) (Smith 45); Barry, Richards, Rea, Trialist (Asmundsson 45); Trialist (Hunt 45), Ince, Trialist; Trialist, Barker, Dickenson.***
Original article