ALBION 0WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0
Brighton & Hove Albion’s under-21s played out a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion at Culver Road.
Five changes were made to the side that drew with AFC Wimbledon last Tuesday, as Adam Chicksen returned to the team in defence while Jeffrey Monakana and Shamir Fenelon are also included in the line-up.
Will Collar and Charlie Harris were in midfield, while Brad Barry and Jimmy Muitt were on the bench.
West Brom created the first opportunity of the game in the fourth minute when Albion keeper Harry Doherty was forced into a fine reaction save to deny Tyler Roberts from close range.
Monakana then showed his trademark pace down the right-hand side, but experienced centre back Jonas Olsson was one hand to clear the danger.
Harris was next to pose the Baggies backline problems after he skipped past a defender and subsequently fired an effort straight at Alex Palmer before Jason Davis fired the rebound wide of the near post.
Chicksen then tested Palmer with an effort from distance after cutting inside from the left prior to Monakana striking the ball wide from a Davis cross.
Both sides came close to breaking the deadlock during the closing moments of the first half, as Sami Nabi forced a fine fingertip save from Doherty before Kemar Roofe headed a follow-up strike straight at the shot-stopper.
Harris ended the first-half action with a stunning strike from distance which the Palmer could do nothing about, but the effort cannoned off the crossbar.
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The Baggies tested Albion two minutes after the restart when Roberts got beyond the home defence, but Doherty was out quickly to block the forward’s attempt.The next 15 minutes saw few chances for either side until Monakana teed up Harris with a perfectly-weighted cross from the right-hand side, but the midfielder’s header was comfortably saved by Palmer.
Substitute George Cole was next to test try his luck from distance, but saw his strike take a nick off a West Brom defender and went just over and onto the roof of the net.
Chicksen then drilled a dangerous cross into the area, but Monakana and Fenelon both miscued their efforts before the latter had another effort saved by Palmer.
The West Midlands side had chances to steal the points in the final ten minutes, as Nabi and Roberts both saw their efforts from distance go narrowly wide while Alex Jones’s attempted lob beat Doherty, but went over.
Starkey was involved in the final two chances for Albion after shooting an effort straight at Palmer before racing to the byline and narrowly failing to find Monakana with his subsequent cut-back.
ALBION: Doherty; Hunt, Dallison, Rea, Chicksen; Monakana, Collar, Harris; Fenelon, Starkey, Davis. Subs not used: Smith (GK), Deen.
[h=3]ALBION V BIRMINGHAM
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[h=3]ALBION V LEEDS
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[h=3]ALBION V DERBY
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