Derby - Away, Withdean Era
Season 7 (A) 6/8/05 - 1-1 ~ Hammond
Mark McGhee had received some money from the Board for sales of Adam Virgo and Dan Harding at end of the previous season. He knew BHA was again going to be on a very tight rope in the Championship. We'd hung over the drop by fingertips at near death in May and things would be in balance right through to next spring. McGhee had so far brought in defender Jason Dodd, forwards Federico Turienzo and Colin Kazim-Richards. At this eleventh hour, on loan duo Paul McShane a central defender and goalkeeper Wayne Henderson made the starting eleven in busy high summer midlands. However, B'ton's squad was still small for such a good level of football and needed expanding immediately.
Pride Park provided a great atmosphere, with a 25000 crowd containing 1700 away supporters behind a goal. Brighton fans had more reason to make a noise when Hammond headed home Dodd's free kick inside seven minutes. Albion played in a new all-Burgundy strip, which kinda clashed with those yellow shirts among blue and white stripes in the visitors stand. Five minutes later Derby equalised with a spectacular shot. Both sides played football and this contest could have gone either way, although a draw was perhaps a fair result all in all to start '05/6.
Henderson, Dodd, McShane, Butters, Mayo, Reid, Carpenter, Oatway, Hammond, Knight, Kazim-Richards.
Champ's P 1 . W 0 D 1 L 0 . F 1 A 1 . Pt 1 Po 8

Season 6 (A) 3/11/04 - 0-3
Wednesday night in the midlands used to be at Forest but they had been visited a month earlier. Evidently a repetitive midweek fixtures computer didn't know or care, about south coast geography, where everything else is northwards anyway. Derby have got a nice stadium and one in which to take pride, as a pukka pre-Prem club like wot we'd like to be. McGhee said, 'we were beaten by a far better team on the night. Despite the reverse, it's part of a learning curve and we can use it positively as the type of performance to aspire to. We lost at a place that is very difficult to come and play at, against a side that played particularly well.' He might have eluded equally to a short but not so sweet sentence like, 'we only played in yellow.'
Going one down before 10 minutes clocked up, left yer a proverbial peak to scale in a Derbyshire district devoted to pass a way through. But it was more than merely about pretty play - Albion could probably do that in two thirds of that park pitch. It's obviously about scoring a perceived percentage from chances created. An ancient Albion fan, Albi Hove said, 'excellent progress of those kids hasn't produced a goal getter we've yet seen do the business at this level. I think that should be changed. Remember, our midfield to date don't make up any shortfall.' In fact Brighton appeared to be struggling across the field and couldn't salvage points due to basic passing errors, cheap giveaway balls and inept tackling. Quality, pace and controlled aggression of opponent's counters punished such mistakes. We lacked skill up the sharp end, where split seconds meant a shot on target - or not.
Kuipers, El-Abd (Carpenter), Cullip, Butters, Harding, Hinshelwoood, Oatway (Mayo), Hammond (Piercy), Currie, Knight, Virgo.
Champ's P 17 . W 5 D 4 L 8 . F 14 A 24 . Pt 19 Po 17

Season 4 (A) 14/12/02 - 0-1
Brighton fans had a fill of dodgy penalty decisions to date and there was a classic bramha by the Ref in this particular contest. One of those things long suffering supporters found so disconcerting from various stand points was the autocratic way in which officials remotely perceived penalised incidents. Help is also available from what we call linos who in effect, are qualified assistant referees, so it's assumed one is always up with play. Consulting a Russian or more likely a rushing one, doesn't only have to be at World Cup finals surely. Anyway, a dubious spot kick on 30 min was handed to Derby, when clearly young Hinshelwood was fouled before tripping, falling and accidentally handling. Metaphorically, it was a jobs-worth decision and one also taken from miles away. We'd been hopelessly kidded yet again by homer, as Rams er, rammed it home.
Kuipers had been in good form since returning from injury, after missing a string of similar early season debacles. He made several saves to keep Albion in it as County dominated a wearisome first half. During the second period following tea and sympathy from Steve Coppell, Brighton got their act together. Team and supporters were not in awe of 25,000 in a super duper stadium like what 1500 travelling blue and white devoted wanted. Zamora went closest urged on by a dedicated band of brothers and sisters at Pride Park, if not to also mention the passion.
Coppell said, 'I am a great believer that over the course of ten months, luck evens itself out. We have not picked up more points because of our inability to sustain the quality of our football for the full ninety minutes. The game also saw us reach the halfway point in this season. It's fairly obvious to say if we only accumulate another fourteen points we will be relegated. We are determined to approve but everybody must be committed to improving his performance.'
Kuipers, Hinshelwood, Pethick, Cullip, Mayo, Jones (Brooker), Sidwell, Carpenter (Hart), Rodger, Zamora, Barrett.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 23 . W 3 D 5 L 15 . F 22 A 44 . Pt 14 Po 23

Derby - Home, Withdean Era
Season 10 (H) 4/11/08 LC r3 - 1-4 ~ Elphick
This tie was delayed and played a week or so before scheduled r4 because r2 opponents Man City had previously been engaged in a Euro comp. On a sensational September nite when other r3 games proper got played, Brighton won the proverbial shoot-out to progress. At the time, Albion's League1 form consisted of either draws or losses and only LC and JPT ties gave positive results lately, albeit each from post-match penalty kicks. Robbie Savage had come down from Derby in October to help out for a month, although he'd now gone back when slightly injured ahead of completion. Unfortunately that elusive victory didn't come either when Sav was actually on the park. But then Micky Adams got two home fixture wins in the week before, against 4th placed Leicester and 2nd Millwall. Those were to be followed by this evening kick-off, FA Cup r1 on Saturday versus Hartlepool also at Withdean and a further k-o contest here, v Swindon in JPT area QF. Thus another series of 5 at home evolved for BHA, budgeting s-t holders, once in a while punters and stats anoraks to make what they could out of it.
Ref disallowed an Albion opener and made other 'dodgy' decisions to halt BHA's run in knockout comps. Derby went ahead (28m) after Sullivan lost out in leaping for a high ball that ended up grounded. Soon B'ton's defence was breached again (34m) to a ball down the middle. Elphick pulled one back from a corner (36m) and Albion tried to get straight back in it. Both outfits were battling to conclusion without continual goalmouth incidents. County made a sub change with 25min left and got some crosses over. They scored a third from one of these (73m) to give Albion a mountain to climb. A late fourth (89m) from a break-away made Derby's win actually appear easier than was really the case. Brighton gave good account of themselves for much of this unbalanced contest. When criticising officials, Micky Adams also said, 'we acquitted ourselves well and had 'em on the back-foot.'
Sullivan, Whing, Elphick, Hawkins (El-Abd), Richards, Anyinsah, Thomson, Thornton, Cox (McLeod), Fleetwood, Murray (Livermore).

Season 7 (H) 26/11/05 - 0-0
Our squad seemed to be getting smaller over the months as inevitable injuries took effect. Yellow cards were also mounting up and the management hadn't been able to bring in any new faces. Kuipers went out on loan, following re-hab from a long running time out and Blayney got to be regular custodian. One or two kids were on remote fringes and it was a big ask to expect them to step up to this exacting standard. McGhee said, 'coaching staff are all out looking for additions - it isn't easy finding the right person who is going to improve the squad'.
November had been cold and 6800 inside 'outside' Withdean well knew it, with knobs on. Never has there been so dreary a place to play Championship football. The match was also soul-less and goal-less. Brighton needed to win badly as stats were suggesting a huge struggle ahead. The fundamental factor was, we had not gotten a guy who could knock up a significant tally of goals. Individuals were finding the net but sum total was a deficit overall, when taking those conceded into account.
Knight had previously played in reserves and absolutely was a class act. However, something at this level was amiss. He could play as an orthodox striker but appeared equally impressive as a playmaker. Trouble was brewing when a mis-matched attack failed to form a cohesive unit. Knight was the one sacrificed and subbed on 66 minutes. Blayney saved a penalty after an hour and also prevented an og, when the ball cannoned off his shoulder. Robinson hit the bar from long range but a tap-in would probably have received more acclaim.
Blayney, Hart, El-Abd, Butters, Reid, Carole, Hammond, Oatway (Nicolas), Frutos (Robinson), Knight (Kazim-Richards), McPhee.
Champ's P 21 . W 2 D 12 L 7 . F 20 A 29 . Pt 18 Po 22

Season 6 (H) 5/2/05 - 2-3 ~ McCammon 2
A second Public Inquiry had opened into a site fit for building a community stadium. This time, those conniving councillors unrepresentative of their voters' views had to come up with a viable alternative. Though not one likely that had a distant duck pond separated by a busy Sussex main road from the local hostelry of old. There was to be a General Election in exactly three months and what price political correctness in the extreme? The short list of options included Shoreham Harbour, Brighton Station, Beeding cement works, Hove Greyhounds and Withdean - yeah right!
Defeat to Derby ended an unbeaten run of seven league matches over five weeks. It was difficult to assess this enigmatic reversal as opposed to a plain beating we got at Pride Park in November. Brighton were done by the odd goal but unfortunately in five scored. There was plenty of excitement, it didn't rain and an open, entertaining game had both sets of supporters making a noise. Mistakes abounded, flashes of brilliance an appearance of Lady Luck and a red card to complete the circus. Goals went in alternately for County at 13 minutes, 14, 42, 59 and 71 min. Their first two were due to defensive errors. The winner was a super shot to be appreciated - except by Brighton fans. McCammon dived to open his account with a header and doubled up with a second half rebound from a miscued clearance.
The superior opposition mainly played football of Championship quality standard. Hinshelwood was shadowing his marker in the first half but County flowed forward whatever the formation. It surprised Albion fans to see three goals against as that had seemingly been eradicated since an alarming visit of Crewe. This immediately followed that aforementioned midweek debacle in Derbyshire. Home and away records were now identical at W5 D4 L7 and the era of fortress Withdean was long gone. Brighton couldn't score three these days and hadn't since nearly eleven months before in pursuit of play-offs.
Yelldell, Reid (Hart), Butters, Virgo, Mayo, Hinshelwood, Carpenter, Nicolas (Hammond), Harding (Jones), Knight, McCammon.
Champ's P 32 . W 10 D 8 L 14 . F 27 A 40 . Pt 38 Po 18

Season 4 16/11/02 - 1-0 ~ Mayo
Brighton's average gate was around 6600, while Derby had approximately 27000 on any given home appearance. Most games at Withdean were effectively sold out bar season ticket holders' apologies. Albion had desires to house a bigger audience but planning permission, right of appeal, rules and regulations, political correctness and slow, deliberate democracy move in mysterious ways. Paying punters meant revenue and BHA could never afford to compete with even a half decent mid-table side under current capacity limitations, leasing and other financial restrictions at Withdean. It wasn't just extra excuses for a poor playing performance in div1 - facts showed we truly couldn't survive in tier two long-term. Stuck there season on season without a deadline for Falmer on the horizon could see us facing div3 forever. We were pot-less but at least that was preferable to pitch-less.
It was going to be a goal-less draw, with at least an Albion clean sheet against County, since that first home game back in warm August. Loads of effort and application went in to making sure we weren't beat by ex-Prem superstars. In the event they were reduced to 10 men early in the second half and lost a big time Charlie in more ways than one - he kicked the ball away, which was terribly unsporting when on a yellow card already. He had unfairly done Kuipers up like a kipper and got a yellow in the boxed set as a cure. In truth Derby were a disappointment, even though fielding some well-known ram names and being a butt of some horny jokes. Their bench was worth more than our whole squad cost.
Mayo scored a very late winner from a rebound header to send Withdean faithful and admittedly, faithless into paroxysms of delight. It was a win that made for a trio unbeaten, following a long string of reversals and people went home happy. We'd gotten used to being kicked when down and in taking a big club scalp, restored some self-esteem.
Kuipers, Watson, Pethick, Cullip, Mayo, Hinshelwood (Jones), Sidwell, Carpenter, Rodger, Zamora (Webb), Hart.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 17 . W 3 D 2 L 12 . F 16 A 33 . Pt 11 Po 24