Burnley - Away, Withdean Era
Season 7 (A) 24/9/05 - 1-1 ~ McShane
Brighton played in all dark Palookaville blue, which was kinda apt because Turf Moor isn't the most upbeat place, even in an Indian summer in them northern hills. They appeared to be a typical middle of the road outfit, one we needed to be like in terms of establishing in the Championship. Clarets weren't in form and had slipped to the bottom three but it was early days for any real worry. Seagulls wanted a win desperately and were going with an attack minded formation with two flying wingers.
The opening period had been a bit pedestrian, although we'd got forward on the break. From a short corner routine, Burnley's defence was pulled out and McShane found space to nod in an opener. B'ton had scored first and historically for two such low scoring sides, a clean sheet would seal a second win of the season. Before half time, Ref had given Burnley a dodgy penalty, a life-line and thus effectively scuppered our chances. A good looking set of cheerleaders entertained an eleven thousand crowd during coffee break. Mr McGhee had to re-jig for the second forty five, after losing Carpenter to injury. Henderson, back from missing a match (Coventry) played a blinder to keep Blayney bench bound and B'ton level. Up front it wasn't really happening for forwards of any description - now that was a worry.
Henderson, Reid, McShane, Butters, Mayo, Carole, Carpenter (Kazim-Richards), Oatway, Jarrett (Frutos), Robinson (Nicolas), Knight.
Champ's P10 . W 1 D 6 L 3. F 11 A 14. Pt 9 Po 20

Season 6 (A) 16/4/05 - 1-1 ~ Hammond
Brighton fans saw this vital contest as the proverbial game of two halves. McGhee said, 'we were below par in the first half and terrific in the second. The first forty-five minutes was down to the shape of the team. That was the only problem. It certainly wasn't anything to do with attitude, determination or lethargy.' Albion fan Albi Hove said, 'we were losing the plot and so apparently was Mark at halftime. I don't know if it was effects of moorland snow scenes but everything was lack lustre. A mini holiday for the lads midweek made 'em look washed out.' Old adversary Akinbiyi got a header on target and Albion were one down after 23 minutes. It appeared another pointless long journey would be the result. Things were going horribly wrong after inching toward safety with one draw from seven - six others being consecutive losses.
After coffee break, where allegedly cups were disassociated with flying saucers, boys in Palookaville blue were kicking towards their devoted fans. Hammond followed in a useful forward move from Reid and suddenly we were level. McGhee said, 'it wasn't anything I said or did, it was all about individuals. El-Abd and Reid had better performances. Hammond had an excellent game. McPhee had a terrific second half and Robinson was outstanding in the forty-five minutes played.' Meanwhile McCammon had been substituted early when rowing with the boss. Albi Hove said, 'we forced a draw. Came back from the dead. Stopped the rot. We turned up in numbers for a freezing ninety minutes in some poxy Pennines valley town, miles from anywhere. It's sometimes a less than grim experience up north.'
An incredible situation at the foot of the table was developing. Six struggling fellow clubs who closely positioned below 17th place, were now covered by only two points. So there was little margin for error by any outfit in attempting to gain the magical 50 points for probable survival.
Blayney, Reid, El-Abd, Virgo, Butters, Harding, Oatway, Carpenter, Hammond, McCammon (Robinson), McPhee.
Champ's P 43 . W 12 D 10 L 21 . F 36 A 62 . Pt 46 Po 22

Season 4 (A) 10/8/02 - 3-1 ~ Melton, Brooker, Zamora
It only takes a little imagination (some might say delusion) to think what might have been, had this opening result represented more a norm for the season. It was to be our only three pointer until November and a long losing run cost new manager Hinshelwood his job. Talk about start on a high. The springboard that had launched Brighton in with the big boys, was of course back-to-back championships. Confidence must have oozed from lace holes as Albion undid an established div1 outfit. Happy memories.
Truth be told, we were to meet much tougher opposition in those following weeks and pay a heavy price in bridging a skills gap - mentally and physically. That is not to say B'ton suddenly became a bad team. We could play football and had rank bad luck, including usual suspects in Refs and penalty decisions. However, strikers in this league had an edge over our defence and we couldn't score many in reply. Single goal victories, prominent in '00/1 and '01/2 reversed to register as losses and we'd gone from near top to hit rock bottom by early October. A glance at results in these first twelve fixtures (Q1 stats) usually reflects a trend, that is set for a campaign. Oh my God!
Kuipers, Watson, Pethick, Hinshelwood, Mayo, Melton (Rogers), Oatway, Carpenter, Brooker, Hart (Wilkinson), Zamora.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 1 . W 1 D 0 L 0 . F 3 A 1 . Pt 3

Burnley - Home, Withdean Era
Season 7 (H) 31/1/06 - 0-0
It was a Tuesday night, freezing cold and the pitch was heavily sanded but in name only was a Championship contest held. Brighton forever struggling in the relegation zone had one big problem - lack of a goal scorer. Defensively we had enough effort to keep a lack lustre average northern unit at bay. How do they manage season after boring season at this level, with only memories of a glorious past? Anyway Albion went long ball and maybe wasn't quite on song, as two up front weren't the tallest targets. Clarets put 10 behind the ball and more or less said, 'come on then'. We did but it didn't do much good.
Mr McGhee realised he was in for a bleak winter as he couldn't get a big centre forward to do the Virgo role, that had kept us up in the year before. He was looking to a successful Youth team for salvation but they were just too young and inexperienced to make a real contribution in desperate weeks ahead. His French connections had shown some ability, although they flattered to deceive and also liked to wear gloves when working the channels. McGhee's survival worries really depended on the Brits showing some true grit.
Henderson, El-Abd, McShane, Butters, Lynch, Reid, Carpenter, Hammond, Frutos, Hart, Carole (Kazim-Richards).
Champ's P 31 . W 5 D 14 L 12 . F 30 A 47 . Pt 29 Po 22

Season 6 (H) 20/11/04 - 0-1
Mark McGhee said, 'I was very disappointed with that run of results. I think some people still aren't being realistic about our chances in this division. I think so far we're making the best of it and what I ask of the fans is, to judge at the end of the season and in between times trust my decisions.' There had also been a lot of talk in the media about a lack of atmosphere at Withdean and at one stage 'Sussex by the sea' was to be surreptitiously scrapped. South-standers would have therefore been even more dumbstruck.
For twenty-five minutes Albion played good football and might have scored. Burnley got back into it and hit the woodwork. In the second forty-five, a typical tough it out Championship game slipped away from B'ton and we couldn't make the grade. A majority of matches were going to end 1-0 or 0-1 and that first goal was always crucial. Burnley made a breakthrough with twenty minutes left. They were too solid and savvy to let in an equaliser after that, although B'ton did at least try to cancel their lead. Some of these recent matches were like a re-run of fateful '02/3 and we sort of got bullied into defeat again in another tight contest. Albion had to toughen up a bit and quit crying to the Ref for every tackle. There didn't seem to be a purposeful method of breaking down defences. A lot of the time, balls were actually going backwards, returned to keeper and then a kick forward meant back to square one. A counter attacking style of play, after absorbing pressure was sorely lacking. We just burned out after a flicker.
Kuipers, Reid, Hinshelwood, Butters, Harding (Mayo), Knight (Jones), Carpenter, Oatway, Nicolas (Hart), Currie, Claridge.
Champ's P 20 . W 6 D 4 L 10 . F 16 A 28 . Pt 22 Po 20


Season 4 (H) 28/12/02 - 2-2 ~ Sidwell 2
Coppell said beforehand and not knowing turn of events, 'Xmas and New Year look on paper very difficult. It will be a real test of resources. I have tried to supplement the squad but cannot compete against teams in terms of financial offers.'
Brighton fans regulars know people who leave Withdean early and upset those seated immediately by the gangways. It has gone on since '99 and will always be so. On this particular Saturday afternoon after Xmas, these premature er, ejaculators shot off again when they heard two massed cheers before the climax proper - in the space of a mere minute! Yes, Brighton were two down and approaching stoppage time when ho-ho, we suddenly got a point.
Burnley took a lead, with a couple of late festive gifts from rebounds, courtesy of keeper errors. Could have been just luck of a Santa's bran tub scrimmage but they snatched those presents anyway. After an improbable Christmas Fairy miracle story on Boxing Day, we now looked party'd out - to be heading for a sick bucket hangover. Then her wand waved yet again and all Brighton fans curiously became Christian once more.
Kuipers, Watson, Pethick, Cullip, Mayo, Jones (Brooker), Sidwell, Carpenter, Oatway (Hart), Barrett, Zamora.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 25 . W 4 D 5 L 16 . F 25 A 45 . Pt 18 Po 23