Blackburn Rovers Youth 2 Brighton And Hove Albion Youth 3 (after extra time): Blackburn Rovers bowed out of the FA Youth Cup in disappointing fashion last night after Brighton and Hove Albion pulled off a shock 3-2 victory at Ewood Park.

The Championship club, who were the surprise conquerors of Chelsea in the previous round, claimed another notable Premiership scalp on their way to securing a place in the last eight of youth football's premier knockout competition.

Striker Joe Gatting, the nephew of former England cricket captain Mike Gatting, was the hero for Albion, scoring a dramatic winner five minutes from the end of extra time.

Earlier, Rovers looked to be on their way into the quarter-finals after goals from Ryan Woods and Dean Winnard had seen them overturn a 1-0 deficit in normal time.

But Gatting then forced this fifth round tie into extra-time when he grabbed an 87th minute equaliser before going on to snatch a winner for the Seagulls, who were cheered off the pitch at the final whistle by a sizeable away following.

The first chance of the evening fell to Jamie Clarke, Rovers' two-goal hero in the previous round, but the speedy striker screwed his shot wide of the post.

It wasn't long, however, before Brighton demonstrated the kind of determination that saw them overcome Chelsea and they took a surprise lead in the 15th minute.

A lofted ball over the top found the Rovers defence wanting and David Leach and Tom Fraser both missed opportunities to score during a goalmouth melee before the ball finally crossed the line via Fraser, who inadvertently got in the way of an attempted clearance.

Rovers were shellshocked by that early set-back and they might have conceded a second before they recovered their composure, Gatting shooting narrowly wide following a neat swivel on the edge of the box.

Parity was finally restored in the 50th minute when a shot from Stephen Thomson struck Fraser on the hand and Woods confidently dispatched the subsequent penalty.

Sensing the tie was there for the taking, Rovers' team boss, Gary Bowyer, threw on Keith Treacy and Joe Garner and within sixty seconds, the former set up what should have been the winner.

Treacy's free kick from the left that was fumbled by Brighton keeper Richard Martin and Winward showed great anticipation to stab home the rebound from two yards out.

After that, Rovers' Alan Judge then rattled a post with a cross-shot before Gatting grabbed a lifeline for Albion in the 87th minute following a bad mistake by keeper Frank Fielding.

Both sides had chances in extra-time but it was Gatting who scored what turned out to be the winner when he muscled his way past a couple of defenders and beat Fielding with a low drive into the far corner.

Rovers (4-4-2): Fielding, Bateson, Olsson, Hodge, Winnard, Thomson, Judge, Pezzoni, Clarke, De Vita, Woods. Subs: Treacy (for Pezzoni, 60), Garner (for De Vita, 60) Not used: King, Ahmed, Somodi