Albion’s youngsters are celebrating a fabulous win at the Amex.

The under-21s beat Reading’s first team squad 3-2 in a shoot out after a 0-0 draw to reach the last eight of the Bristol Street Motors EFL Trophy.

Harry Howell, 15, calmly tucked away the clinching spot kick.

It was a brilliant effort by a particularly young under-21s against a Reading side of which nine players featured in their most recent League One match.

Tom McGill saved the first Reading spot kick and two were put off target.

Mark O’Mahony and captain Jack Hinchy converted for the home side.

Albion had to defend for much of the 90 minutes but they did so admirably against a side who had scored 20 goals in their four previous Trophy fixtures.

This was the Seagulls’ fourth clean sheet in the competition this term.

They came through a particularly torrid opening spell.

McGill dived low to his left to make a sharp save from Femi Azeez.

The keeper then redeemed his own error when he blocked from Lewis Wing after gifting him the ball with a stray pass.

A longer ball out by the keeper was picked off but again he responded with a good stop, this time diving to his right from Azeez.

Tyler Bindon’s glancing header from the resulting corner landed on the roof of the net.

Reading were dominating possession but the hosts retaining both defensive structure and willingness to play out from deep.

They started to have moments of their own.

Luca Barrington curled a free-kick past the top corner from the edge of the box after a decent move led to O’Mahony being fouled.

Then it needed a swift intervention by Nelson Abbey, the last defender, when Albion appeared to have got O’Mahony in behind.

Another Barrington free-kick from just outside the box flicked off the wall and narrowly over the bar right on half-time.

Albion might have gone ahead early in the second half as efforts from O’Mahony and Jamie Mullins were blocked after a poor pass out by Reading keeper Joel Pereira.

The hosts were looking to go longer at times.

But Bindon headed against the post from a corner which had resulted from Noel Atom’s potentially goal-saving sliding tackle.

Bailey Smith, Albion’s first substitute, saw his shot deflect narrowly wide after a weaving run.

McGill, whose handling was generally excellent, held on cleanly to a well-struck drive by Charlie Savage as time ran out.

Albion were hanging on a bit at the very end.

They lost one of their main penalty-takers, the industrious Samy Chouchane, to cramp in added time.

But his replacement Howell had the final word.

Albion: McGill; McConville, Jackson, Atom, Slater; Hinchy, Chouchane (Howell 90+2); Barrington (Knight 82), Mullins (Ifill 82), Flower (Smith 65); O’Mahony.