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Season 2 (H) 2/12/00 - 2-1 ~ Zamora 2
Football is full of cliches, as any Nationwide repetitive event would be - year on year. Having said that, they are usually used as labels to associate an isolated action with an emotional response. When Bobby Zamora struck his first goal against Halifax, all those positive words in the world of footy description became available for distribution. This action was unique but corresponding response universal. Brighton fans remember that strike as fantastic, sensational, wonderful, stupendous and yes er, supererogatory. Ok then, the ball looped over to a flank from a miss-hit clearance and Zamora volleyed it home, dipping, swerving and curving, up, over and round Shaymen's helpless keeper - beaten all ends up. Priceless but worth every penny and indeed, put mega bucks on a BZ transfer tag. Alan Cork had offered 1.2 million at some stage of Cardiff's re-emergence from a Taff backwater. Micky Adams got more respect as a successful manager, coach and A1 talent spotter. Dick Knight added several zeros to a revised budget figure in the credit column of BHA books. Martin Perry allegedly rang his Falmer project architect, to incorporate a Premiership style spa bath on changing room blueprints. Halifax stayed a forgotten div3 outfit, stuck in the drop zone and cursing their luck.
Brighton went two ahead, when man of these moments Zamora headed in from a set piece - to show a variety of scoring skills. Adams made comparisons to a young Shearer and that lucky photographer who got the shot so to speak, didn't have to buy a round. Town pulled one back but Adams reshaped, to kill the rumour he was a tactical lightweight - after a previous spat with the Press. He had been away scouting in midweek when reserves disastrously went out of the Sussex Senior Cup. He said, 'people on fringes have shown a terrific attitude but if there was ever a question mark against them, then that was on Tuesday night. By all accounts the score-line flattered us and we could well have been further embarrassed. If people think all they have to do is turn up to keep a place on the bench, then they are sorely mistaken.' He wasn't exactly over the moon then but sick as a p...
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Wicks, Mayo, Hart (Steele), Rogers, Carpenter, Oatway (Melton), Jones (Crosby), Zamora.
Div 3 (League 2) P 20 . W 13 D 3 L 4 . F 37 A 16 . Pt 42 Po 2

Season 1 (H) 4/3/00 2-1 ~ Zamora 2
In a lot of respects Brighton was under achieving in its homecoming season. With nearly three quarters of '99/00 fixtures completed, we languished in lower positions of mid table. Promise of passionate good times since a fantastic start in August, now seemed further distant than that first wonderful summer of love back in 1969. As in '98/99 Halifax were still floating around in anonymity and looking as average as can be. Micky Adams had brought two new faces to our club, Bobby Zamora and Paul Brooker in a bid to provide a cutting edge up front. Brooker came on loan from Fulham, where Adams had been manager in '97 and got 'em promoted before Al-Fayed opened his wallet. Zamora was plucked from Bristol Rovers reserves for a similar short loan spell on a despondent south coast. Almost immediately they provided a kick-start and at Chester ran amok to provide BHA with a first win since celebrating Y2k and expectation of a bright future. Adams said of that performance, 'regardless of how many goals you get, you only get three points. The performance and results just go to show how frustrating it is that one player’s performance can make such a difference.'
Chris Wilder joined Brighton at beginning of this season and played 11 league games before returning north after fulfilling a short-term contract. At the end of this match he had to be restrained by ex-team mates as he sought to criticise the Referee for sending off two Shaymen. It didn't stop there because Hart also got an early shower after so-called diving in their area. Freeman had two attempts to bury a penalty but missed a fortuitous re-bound too. Wilder put Halifax ahead from a free kick and shades of another one-nil reversal, akin to that at lowly Priestfield cast doubts on recovery. In the second half Zamora found the net twice to encourage those so tested to 'keep the faith' and even a springtime sun stayed a little longer, before disappearing up Tongdean Lane. Adams said, 'it was an excellent performance.' But he really knew Brooker and Zamora had raised our game at last.
Walton, Watson, McPherson, Crosby, Mayo, Freeman, Rogers, Oatway, Brooker, Hart, Zamora.
Div 3 (League 2) P 34 . W 11 D 10 L 13 . F 43 A 40 . Pt 43 Po 16

Halifax - Away
Season 2 (A) 3/5/01 - 0-0
It had been intended to replay this fixture soon after an abortive trip to Yorkshire in early April. Micky Adams said then, 'it absolutely amazed me that a rugby match was allowed to go ahead on Friday night. Officials in charge of the game allowed it to continue in horrendous conditions. We sat watching in our hotel horrified and knew instantly our match had no chance whatsoever of being played the following day. It disappoints footballers when they train all week then don't play because of reasons beyond their control.' In the event a second postponement in late April left Adams chewing nails and spitting rust. He said, 'at the time not even Michael Fish could have envisaged the effect of a torrential downpour about an hour or so before kick-off. The ref had little alternative, his decision was correct.' This caused a proverbial backlog in matches to be completed by end of season deadline on 5th May. BHA came here two days after defeating Chesterfield at Withdean to take the div3 title outright, fair and square and all above board. Spireites had been penalised 9 points for FL financial rules & regs indiscretions and coupled with a late slump in form, were progressively pegged back by an Albion charge during the run-in. Victory had settled it without need of help from football authorities.
Brighton were applauded onto the Shay, now barely playable but ironically having a roof at that away end terrace. There were several changes to a regular first eleven line-up, just like Adams has suggested when biting the bullet, on receiving revised diary dates to windup this season. Cullip, Rogers, Oatway and Rogers were rested. Zamora and Brooker warmed the bench. Watson started, to be replaced by Virgo and similarly Stant for Hart. Wicks and Ramsay got a game following over two months absence. Steele was selected up front since appearing a full month before. Thomas got to debut in midfield alongside first choice reserve Melton. Packham played the last twenty minutes in lieu of Kuipers. This basically second eleven unit, managed to stay unbeaten and Halifax also got that point they so desperately needed.
Kuipers (Packham), Watson (Virgo), Wicks, Crosby, Mayo, Hart (Stant), Thomas, Melton, Jones, Ramsay, Steele.
Div 3 (League 2) P 45 . W 28 D 8 L 9 . F 73 A 32 . Pt 92 Po 1

Season 1 (A) 11/9/99 - 1-2 ~ Freeman
Conference football had been no stranger to Halifax, who now had got back into the league to join Brighton. There but for the grace of God go we, well perhaps to Gillingham anyway. The Shaymen had given Micky Adams a taste of defeat up in Yorkshire during April to keep '98/99 places mediocre for north and south alike. Adams was fairly new to BHA and must have had initial reservations about turning us into a life-sized representation of Dick Knight's new century dream team. Our chairman very much wanted a successful namesake club for the forthcoming millennium city. Extensive drive and determination by the board was equally matched by a political will to see both FC and B&H conglomeration thriving as the place to be. Efforts to relocate at Withdean and eventually Falmer couldn't possibly be waved through but unitary authority help would be available from Y2K, to see us finally settled in a permanent 'international' Brighton venue.
Halifax had made ground improvements during the nineties and you could get wet at the south end and see a tree lined vista if turning through 360 degrees of open air. Average div3 fare didn't exactly set the world alight for 45 minutes until a break for famed northern hospitality. A penalty converted by Freeman put Albion ahead. He had now scored in three consecutive contests to double up on a first day Withdean hat-trick. A competitive home outfit battled away and pulled one back by final moments of a close encounter of the third away weekend kind. Micky Adams said, 'in the 90th minute we had a chance to make the score 2-1 a result which would have moved us up the table. Instead Halifax scored from the resultant clearance to win the game, which left us pointless. I suppose our early season form would be classified as inconsistent. We are all working towards putting together a consistent run of results. I am sure that once we do string together a decent sequence of victories it will push us up into the top places. There is a fine line between success and failure.' He'd never said a truer word.
Walton, Watson, McPherson, Crosby, Campbell, Wilder, Rogers, Johnson, Thomas (Cameron), Freeman (Newhouse), Hart.
Div 3 (League 2) P 7 . W 3 D 2 L 2 . F 16 A 8 . Pt 11 Po 10