Coventry City’s youth side kept alive the club’s dream of an FA Cup double by squeezing through to the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup at Highfield Road last night.

They now face Notts County at home next week and the club is still in with a chance of repeating the feat of 1987 when the youth team won the FA Youth Cup three days before their seniors won the FA Cup at Wembley by beating Tottenham.

The youngsters were below par last night but took the lead in the 54^th minute when the right full back Robert Betts flung himself full length to head in Nick Hegley’s corner kick which was flicked on from the near post.

City took a measure of control after that and scored their second goal two minutes from the end when Hegley hooked a right foot shot high into the net after the Brighton goalkeeper Will Packham failed to gather a centre.

Steve McPhee almost snatched a third in the remaining seconds, but in the end City’s youngsters were content with a two goal margin against a powerfully built side which was well in the game until the first goal.

Brighton’s centreback Matt Ottley was sent off with ten minutes remaining for a second bookable offence, but they were looking a beaten side already at that stage.

Richard Money, director of Coventry’s soccer academy, said afterwards:

"I thought our goalkeeper Chris Kirkland and centreback Mark Burrows did well, but I have told the others that they can do better than that.

"From speaking to other soccer academies I know that the Youth Cup is catching out many clubs this season. The academy sides are all under-17 or under-19, but the Youth Cup is under-18 and we have not been working with that age group. Some of the biggest names in English football have been knocked out of the cup already and this may have something to do with it."