Albion Reserves 2, QPR Reserves 1.

Albion's fringe strikers served notice last night that they are still around fighting to regain a first team place.

Nathan Elder and Joe Gatting were both on the score sheet at Woodside Road, Worthing.

Bas Savage also figured prominently as the Reserves opened their combination campaign with a commendable victory.

Elder, signed from Billericay at Christmas, finished last season with a goal on his full debut at Cheltenham.

Savage had already been Albion's goalscoring saviour by that stage after moving from Gillingham.

The pair, together with youth team product Gatting, have lost out so far to summer capture Nicky Forster and Alex Revell in the congested battle to play upfront.

It took Elder only nine minutes to put Albion ahead.

Savage played him through a square Rangers defence with a delightful pass and he tucked the ball through the legs of advancing keeper Jake Cole.

Elder almost scored again in the 21st minute. He got in behind former Albion captain Danny Cullip to meet Tommy Fraser's inswinging free-kick at the far post with a firm header which Cole kept out in acrobatic fashion. Savage, operating again on the right flank, also tested Cole with shots from outside the box twice in the first half as Albion acquitted themselves well against an experienced Rangers line-up.

Along with Cullip, returning from injury, the Londoners included the likes of Marcus Bignot, Chris Barker and Marc Nygaard.

The Seagulls' young defence, marshalled at centre half by Kerry Mayo, were rarely troubled in the opening 45 minutes, although the giant Nygaard should have done better with a couple of headers wide of the target.

They looked sure to be in front at the interval when Nygaard's glancing header from a corner was nodded off the line by first-year scholar Ruben French.

But Shabazz Baidoo scored a flattering equaliser for Rangers in first-half stoppage time, slotting the rebound after keeper John Sullivan blocked his initial drive.

It was a bad time to concede but Albion refused to be shaken by the setback. They came close to regaining the lead early in the second half when Savage's hooked volley across the face of goal was almost turned into his own net by Dominic Shimmin, who was grateful to see the ball flash just wide.

Shimmin volleyed over from a corner before Gatting put Albion ahead once more in slightly controversial circumstances with 20 minutes remaining. Several Rangers players stopped, rather than playing to the referee's whistle, when Romone Rose was down with cramp on the edge of the Albion box and Sullivan launched a long clearance upfield.

Gatting strode on to beat Cole with a well-placed shot into the far corner.

Youth chief Vic Bragg took charge of the team, with boss Dean Wilkins, assistant manager Dean White and coach Ian Chapman all on scouting missions.

Albion Reserves (4-4-2): Sullivan; Cook, Pearson, Mayo, French; Savage, Fraser, Reid, Loft; Gatting, Elder. Subs: Beda, Pelling, Louis, Wills, Foreman.

Albion have an array of strikers - which two are the best combination? Let us know below.