Gillingham 4-3 Brighton & Hove Albion Under-21s: Free-scoring Gills shoo away the Seagulls

Goals from Tom Eaves, Bradley Dack, Ethan Coleman and Louie Dayal fired the hosts into a 4-0 lead before the visitors made a game of it in the second half.

After a relatively even first 20 minutes or so, Gillingham took over and dominated the rest of the first half, creating several chances, with Eaves forcing keeper Steven Hall into a couple of smart saves.

When the opening goal eventually arrived, it did so under bizarre circumstances, with the new fad of short goal-kicks causing confusion between the Brighton players, who contrived to gift Gillingham a penalty kick.

Hall played the goal kick short to a defender, who then put his hand on the ball to set it as if he was going to take it. However, the ball was already live, and the referee blew up and immediately pointed to the spot, to virtually no protestations from the Brighton players.

Eaves placed the ball on the spot and, in stark contrast to his rolled effort at Rotherham, he slammed his penalty into the top corner to put the Gills ahead on 32 minutes.

The Gills added a second on 39 minutes via a smart finish from Dack after Andy Smith had ghosted in behind a Brighton defender. The centre-back did well to cut the ball back for Dack, who finished first-time, with a deft touch that saw the ball roll slowly into the far corner.

A well-struck free-kick from Tyler Silsby came crashing off the upright in the 44th minute, then, a minute later at the other end, Brighton keeper Hall did brilliantly to tip Jack Daley's header from a corner over the crossbar.

There was still time for Gillingham to add a third before the break, however, and a deep cross from Brophy found Coleman, who had pulled away from his marker at the back post. The returning midfielder planted his header back across goal and into the bottom corner to send the Gills into the dressing rooms 3-0 up.

Gillingham kept the pressure on at the start of the second half, and young winger Dayal added another after another defensive calamity from the visitors on 49 minutes.

Brighton made a hash of clearing their lines, and Dack sneaked in behind the defence to centre for Dayal, who had the easiest of tasks to tap home Gillingham's fourth.

Brighton pulled one back two minutes later when Kofi Shaw's shot was flicked past Rohan Luthra by Shane Nti to get the visitors on the scoresheet. Then, on 70 minutes, he added a second with a beautifully guided effort over Luthra's dive.

Hall did well to deny Sulli Booth late on as Gillingham threatened to add to the scoreline. Then, in the last minute of stoppage time, the impressive Silsby capped his performance with a goal with a brilliantly struck free-kick to bring an air of respectability to the scoreline.

In the end, it was a good night in the EFL Trophy for the Gills, who gave their young guns more valuable minutes, while also helping ease a number of first-teamers back towards full match fitness, with the likes of Coleman, Dack, Garath McCleary and the returning Conor McManus all getting useful minutes to sharpen them up for league action later this month.