Credit: Maidenhead United FC
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Maidenhead United 2, Brighton u21s 1
Tristan Abrahams scored twice as Maidenhead United took a big stride towards qualifying for the knockout stages of the National League Cup with a 2-1 win over Brighton u21s at York Road last night (Wednesday).
Bouncing back from Saturday's heavy league defeat at York City, this was a more controlled performance from the Magpies, and they had the edge over their young Premier League 2 rivals throughout.
Their opener arrived in the 13th minute after Abrahams was fouled while shaping up to take a shot in the area. The referee pointed to the spot and Abrahams dusted himself down to take it, seeing his initial effort saved by Hugo Fisher before firing home the rebound.
The Magpies continued to dominate through to half-time, with Jadyn Dundas seeing a header well saved by Fisher in the 17th minute and Ruben Carvalho going inches wide with a well struck volley in the 26th minute.
Maidenhead handed debuts to both of their new loan signings - Manny Onariase, who has joined from Hartlepool United - and Aidan Coyne, who has joined from Watford. Both are here on short term deals initially, and Coyne had a chance to mark his debut with a goal, but his clever header was clawed out by Fisher as United were thwarted again.
It mattered little as United stamped their authority on the tie in the early stages of the second half when Abrahams collected a pass through the middle and calmly ran through to chip the ball over Fisher.
Brighton improved in the final stages. Will de Havilland - who will miss Saturday's FA Trophy tie at Slough Town through suspension - picked up another yellow card for a foul on Lewis Flower in the 54th minute and Onariase got down well to make a block from Cameron Peupion's powerful effort in the 67th minute.
Harvey Collins then made a great save from Caylan Vickers in the 73rd minute, with Onariase sweeping away the danger in the aftermath.
United were then reduced to 10 men for the final 15 minutes of the game when Joseph Ajose was sent off for a challenge on Marcus Ifill.
Vickers did manage to get Brighton back into the game with a goal in the 87th minute, but the 10-man Magpies held on for victory.
In fact, Abrahams and Nathan Ferguson may well have extended their advantage with shots in the closing minutes.
The result sees the Magpies back up to first in Group A with eight points from their three matches so far. Below them are league rivals Aldershot and Wealdstone on six points, while Fulham's u21s side also have six points from three matches.