Aldershot Town slipped to a 3-2 defeat at home to ten-man Brighton & Hove Albion Under-21s in a National League Cup group stage fixture.

James Henry’s double wasn’t enough for the Shots as goals from Marcus Ifill, Josh Duffus and Caylan Vickers gave the visitors the three points in front of a crowd of 317 at the EBB Stadium.

The visitors suffered an early blow when Joe Knight was shown a straight red card in the fifth minute for a two-footed tackle on Hady Ghandour.

The Shots nearly opened the scoring on 12 minutes when Ghandour intercepted a Brighton pass in the visitors’ box and spun and hit a low left-foot shot which was well blocked by Seagulls keeper Killian Cahill.

The resulting corner was played short to Kai Corbett on the edge of the box, and Corbett hit a right-foot shot which was well parried away by Cahill.

The hosts went close again four minutes later when Henry played a short free kick to Dejan Tetek on the edge of the box and Tetek had time to take a touch before hitting a right-foot shot which was parried over the bar by Cahill.

The Seagulls created their first chance of the evening in the 34th minute when Cam Peupion’s left-foot shot from the edge of the box was well parried away by Shots keeper Jordi van Stappershoef.

Van Stappershoef pulled up injured four minutes later after trying to start a Shots counter-attack and had to be replaced by substitute keeper Marcus Dewhurst.

Peupion went close again for the Seagulls on 45 minutes when his free kick from just outside the box just missed the target.

Corbett nearly fired the Shots ahead in first-half stoppage time, but his right-foot shot from just outside the box went wide of the right-hand post.

The hosts went close again before the break when Henry drove forward from midfield and slipped the ball to Corbett on the left-hand side of the box and Corbett fizzed a ball across the box which was deflected just wide by Maxwell Mullins.

The Shots started the second half brightly and nearly took the lead in the 49th minute when Corbett’s cross picked out a leaping Dan Ellison in the Brighton box, but Ellison’s header went just wide of the far post.

The Seagulls went close three minutes later when Duffus’ fierce shot from outside the box was well pushed away by Dewhurst.

The hosts created a good opening on 56 minutes when Ryan Jones dinked an inviting ball to Lachlan Byrd at the back post, but Byrd’s header and follow-up shot were well blocked.

Jones was the Shots’ creative spark again on the hour mark when he jinked past Zane Albarus on the left wing and delivered a teasing cross which picked out Mullins at the near post, but Mullins’ flicked header went just over the bar.

Corbett tried his luck two minutes later from the edge of the box after driving forward and cutting inside, but his right-foot shot went over the bar.

The Shots got the breakthrough they deserved in the 64th minute when Jack Barham cut the ball back for Henry to produce a composed right-foot finish into the bottom left-hand corner of the Seagulls’ net.

The home side should have doubled their advantage five minutes later when a free-flowing moved ended with Aaron Jones cutting the ball back to Barham, who scuffed his shot straight at Cahill when he probably should have done better.

The Shots were made to pay for their missed chances when the Seagulls scored twice in two minutes to turn the game on its head.

Ifill tapped into an empty net on 80 minutes to make it 1-1, and Duffus showed good composure two minutes later to go around Dewhurst and fire his effort into the empty goal to put the Seagulls 2-1 up.

The hosts responded positively to going behind and nearly equalised on 85 minutes when Mullins’ header hit the right-hand post.

The Shots were awarded a penalty a minute later and Henry confidently sent Cahill the wrong way from the spot to make it 2-2.

There was still time for the Seagulls to score a winner, with Vickers working a yard of space in the box and firing into the roof of the net in the 93rd minute to give the visitors the three points.

Next up for Aldershot is a home game against Wealdstone in the National League on Saturday (12.30pm kick-off).