Barnsley - Away, Withdean Era
Season 5 (A) 23/8/03 - 0-1
Football is full of ups and downs and Barnsley were going great guns while Brighton got gutted when the Goldstone Ground was demolished. We hadn't met for any number of years and crossed like ships in the night when Albion first gained promotion to div1 in '01/2. The Tykes were one of a number of clubs to go into administration and had fallen to lower levels as a result. Coppell said, 'with past problems Albion had with near extinction, that situation will never occur here. The financial prudence which may frustrate some supporters will guarantee a healthy club that local people can be proud of.'
On a warm sunny afternoon, Barnsley played with wingers and caused Brighton to get a little hot under the collar. Cullip sustained injury inside the first five minutes, which didn't exactly help for perfect defence either. The game also proved to be a tad physical, which clearly seemed to be the norm for this tier of team skills. Mayo of all people found the net but had his effort disallowed. Further chances were created and although Albion didn't play that badly, a goal just wouldn't go in. What made it worse was conceding from a set piece in the box. Ben Roberts had come back to sign permanently after a short spell on loan in div1 but couldn't do much about preventing the home outfit leading on 68 minutes. Two minutes later the dirty northern Oakwell orphans had a bad lad legitimately sent off, for two late challenges and... cheerio! A crowd of nearly eight thousand, less seven hundred travelling support were not too happy but by 'eck managed to stay seated until celebrating a tough it out win. This result made it clear we wouldn't stroll through this league quite like last time. Coppell realised his new signings had to prove to be significantly successful.
Roberts, Watson (Harding), Cullip (Pethick), Hinshelwood, Mayo, Hart, Carpenter, Rodger, Jones, Knight, Henderson
Div 2 (League 1) P 3 . W 2 D 0 L 1 . F 5 A 3 . Pt 6 Po 4

Barnsley - Home, Withdean Era
Season 5 (H) 24/1/04 - 1-0 ~ Knight
Brighton were just about getting 6000 into a converted athletics track next to a nature reserve. There should have been more but many thought the div1 dream bubble had burst. Albion had dropped to eighth place going into this fixture and had won one from our last seven, including two defeats at QPR. They were in an auto promo spot and our target had pulled away and dumped us out of the LDV Trophy too. Mark McGhee said, 'the lads can't be faulted for their endeavour, so we have to find a way of channelling that into better performances and results in particular. Defeat saw us slip out of play-off places. But all I can say is that it is more important to be there at the end of the season. At home we've been difficult to beat but not convincing in terms of scoring goals.'
Trevor Benjamin arrived on loan from Leicester. Believe it or not he was a seventh for BHA and the limit was eight! Knight didn't count but returned Henderson, Flitney twice, Rehman twice and Yeates did. Virgo came in for his first start in defence. Watson surprisingly appeared in midfield in a 433 formation. Brighton set out to win but it didn't happen without Ref's assistance when Benjamin got floored in the area. Knight converted a twice taken penalty on 32 minutes to break deadlock. The front line of little, larger and largest was worth a try but not an instant success. Kuipers replaced Roberts for the second period and got a great reception. He didn't have to do too much for decent dosh and certainly not errant dribbling in our area like Roberts party piece earlier. McGhee switched to 442 via sub Hart. We needed a second goal but the old guard do not historically deliver in collective numbers. This is where kids are hungry to have a go and Virgo nearly made a name for himself with a close header.
Roberts (Kuipers), Virgo, Cullip, Butters, Mayo, Oatway, Carpenter, Watson, Knight (El-Abd), Benjamin, McPhee (Hart)
Div 2 (League 1) P 27 . W 12 D 6 L 9 . F 39 A 29 Pt 42 Po 7