Watford - Away, Withdean Era
Season 12 (A) 29/1/11 FAC4 - 1-0 ~ Barnes
Over 3600 Brighton fans travelled round the M25 to Vicarage Road for a full bloodied knock-out tie. Previously this term, Albion beat Portsmouth at W'dean, while also getting past non-leaguers FC Utd and Woking in replays. Gus Poyet was a bit worried about worn state of Watford's pitch, which is shared with a Rugby club. BHA were playing on a decent enough surface at home, where we were unbeaten in fixtures and led league1 by six points. So today was a useful test against Championship opposition. Everybody hoped we would be going back there next season. Gus made changes from his divisional best eleven, giving Brezovan a Cup run and Elphick a chance to show capabilities. An attacking 433 shape on a very cold afternoon, matched the local unit from kick-off.
Seagulls flew and went ahead just over a quarter of an hour in. Dicker won possession well and found Wood. He put Barnes through, whose shot from 20yards got spilled by Hornet's keeper. Those south-coast visitors gave good account of themselves in the first forty-five minutes, backed by very vocal travelling support. Watford made a better attempt at putting up a fight during the second period but couldn't capitalise on home advantage. Albion's midfield were tremendous and worked their socks off to help keep a clean sheet. Our strikers also had chances and if we'd scored more, it would have been justice for a superb performance over-all. What a victory at the Vicarage!
Brezovan, Calderon, Greer, Elphick, Painter, Sparrow (Dunk), Bridcutt, Dicker, Wood, Murray, Barnes.

Season 7 (A) 3/12/05 - 1-1 ~ Butters
Lewes District Council had chosen to challenge the Falmer decision and embarked on a course of delays, postponements, lies, scandal mongering and denials to try and break BHA before their own re-election date in 2007. The Falmer for all team would thus be galvanised into action again, like a well oiled machine with a progressive counter campaign to redress the balance.
Nearly two thousand Brighton fans gave Vicarage Road a visit. Albion employed a usual French fast raiding wing pair to augment a different strike duo. Brighton, in kick and rush mode would have shaded a goal-less first 45 min, had not Watford gone ahead on the stroke of half time. Chances were created but we failed to convert possession into goals. Just after the break, Butters back-headed an equaliser from Caroles free kick. On the hour Blayney saved a penalty, in a deja-vu psychological moment from the previous week at Withdean - spooky. A minute later McGhee subbed both front men. Ten minutes from time Carole was carried off and Albion shut up shop to bag a point.
Our lack of a cutting edge was getting a tad wearing, as tactics with an element of 424 appeared on this occasion to initially be working. The strange thing was a ninth away game unbeaten from eleven, proved home form was the real bug bear. B'ton had led at Derby, Burnley and twice in Leeds, while levelling at Wednesday, Cardiff and Watford for five 1-1 draws. Preston and Leicester had ended nil-nil on the road. That was no mean record.
Blayney, Hart, El-Abd, Butters, Reid, Carole (Nicolas), Hammond, Oatway, Frutos, Robinson (Knight), Kazim-Richards (McPhee)
Champ's P 22 . W 2 D 13 L 7 . F 21 A 30 . Pt 19 Po 22

Season 6 (A) 11/9/04 - 1-1 ~ Virgo
This match came after a 12 day interlude from early season action in August. Two thousand two hundred Albion deprived footy supporters squeezed into Watford's away end for anything but a Vicarage tea party. A wetting of the proverbial whistle on Hertfordshire ale may have helped with intense vocal responses for 90 minutes before time was called. Brighton fans did their team proud as per usual and it was nice to see the boys in Argentina blue for once on the road. There was almost a Buenos Aries atmosphere at the very end to help celebrate a flowing performance that fellow city seasiders could well appreciate. McGhee said, 'we have been looking in every possible corner of the globe. We will continue until we have the player we require.'
In the meantime Virgo added to his stock by scoring a late equaliser of some class to send B'ton fans into raptures. He leathered a Currie lob to send the ball dipping diagonally over Hornet's stricken keeper. This incident released an outburst of hugging and kissing not witnessed on mass since those sensational play-offs in May. McGhee said, 'our determination to stick with 442 and belief in ability of young players to learn quickly and mature to Championship standard has been repaid. We have a long way to go as a team to establish. But with the appetite to work, I am convinced we are slowly moving in the right direction.'
Watford tried to make it happen but the first half ended in stalemate with defences generally in charge. On 53 minutes the sort of goal an inform striker would net, went initially to the home unit. Albion had some half decent build up play but we looked a little lacking in their final third. We certainly didn't deserve to lose and justice was done in delicately balancing the scales.
Kuipers, El-Abd (Jarrett - Harding), Cullip, Butters, Mayo, Hinshelwood, Nicolas, Hammond, Currie, Knight (McPhee), Virgo.
Champ's P 7 . W 2 D 2 L 3 . F 6 A 10 . Pt 8 Po 19

Season 4 (A) 5/10/02 - 0-1
There was a lot of pressure on the club that now stayed rooted at the bottom of div1 by failing to pick up points. Fans were also very anxious to witness a turn around in a string of reversals. Believe it or not, Brighton wasn't getting hammered every week but if opposition get one more than you, it's another defeat. There just wasn't the necessary experience at this level, or in the case of kids thrown into the fray, only single figure appearance totals anyway. Kuipers and Zamora were back from injury to help prevent or score those gifted goals. However new signings Petterson, Kitson, Butters, Barrett and Piercy were something of a disappointment and it fell back to regulars to try and raise their game. The squad was small by current standards and a stock of already up-to-speed reserves, were hardly waiting on the bench. It was a steep learning curve for all concerned, a case of on the job training for many and a shock to the system for supporters.
Conceding a goal close to half-time is a bit of a problem, especially if the first, or one that actually puts opponents in the lead. Albion did not have the comfort of knowing they had held the home team to a goal-less first 45 minutes. Watford nicked a head start for second half on 40 min, when Kuipers fumbled a shot. In games to date, B'ton scored in less than half, so it was to be an uphill struggle to equalise. Crucially we never seemed to get our noses in front from the word go and lacked a certain mental strength against sides used to determined cut and thrust in tier two.
Dick Knight had said words to the effect of 10 and out... his intention had been made public to stop the rot, should a losing run stretch to double figures. A despondent group of 2600 away followers watched dejected coaches and players troop off another bloody field. Knight acted immediately and relieved Hinshelwood of further duties by promotion to Director of Football.
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Virgo, Mayo, Marney, Hammond (Melton), Carpenter, Brooker (Hart), Zamora, Barrett.
Div 1 (Champ's) P 12 . W 1 D 1 L 10 . F 9 A 21 . Pt 4 Po 24

Watford - Home, Withdean Era
Season 7 (H) 18/2/06 - 0-1
Before this game, under pressure manager Mark McGhee said, 'we have to get behind the team whoever plays. Then we can be playing in this division next season and all be proud of the contribution that we have made to that success.' Charlie Oatway remarked, 'results may have been indifferent in recent weeks but the quality is still there. As a pro, walking out onto the pitch knowing the crowd are right behind you urging you on, makes a huge difference.'
A freak goal won this fixture for lucky visitors. McGhee was thinking about his halftime pep talk, when the ball was headed in his direction by, of all people an onrushing Henderson. As if that was not strange enough, a Watford bloke hammered it straight back goal-wards, being only a few yards from our flabbergasted manager. It entered the net as defenders rushed to help their stranded goalie. Albion played their part in this pantomime in the second 45 minutes, arriving on cue as usual but missing or mucking up their lines. You might know words for an old Four Tops hit to the effect, 'it's the same old song but with a different meaning since you've been gone.' Leon Knight was no longer around but a comparable striker had not er, come forward. Brighton fans wondered how a partnership with someone like Chris Iwelumo might have fared in different circumstances. That is what would have made the difference in this year of catastrophe - somebody to hit the net regularly. One way or another McGhee had been a catalyst in denying development of a little and large combination, that actually worked in lower reaches of the Championship. He'd carried that particular can since Albion's Millennium Stadium miracle of nearly two years previously.
Henderson, Hart, McShane, Butters, El-Abd, Carole (Reid), Hammond, Mayo, Frutos, Kazim-Richards, Gatting (Robinson).
Champ's P 35 . W 5 D 14 L 16 . F 31 A 55 . Pt 29 Po 22

Season 6 (H) 3/1/05 - 2-1 ~ Mayo, Knight
The sheer quality of the winning goal after coming from behind again made us realise what we'd been missing this campaign - football. Being on the end of a tad too many defeats with scrappy ball in the air stuff had got very frustrating. Luck and pints of whisky had been with us in '03/4 right up to and through play-offs but only just. Some games in this current Championship had a similar air of desperation. So McGhee subbed three in one hit on 66 minutes. He was able to switch Virgo between defence and attack during games and use squad flexibility in other positions. Thus a 433 shape became 442 and hallelujah we scored almost immediately. Knight clipped in a sweeping low centre from Harding during a classic fast counter.
Brighton went behind on 11 mins but hit back when Mayo found himself in the six-yard box four minutes later. At the break McGhee must have been reaching for a wee dram of inspiration, following rewarding results over a busy Xmas and New Year period. McGhee had said, 'I would be satisfied with four points from four matches. I think we are going to need seven more wins to put us on the fifty point threshold that I feel will guarantee we will be playing in the Championship next season. Our Boxing Day result was also the first time in a while that the team have come from behind to win. At half-time I told the boys they had a lot of work to do.' Suddenly Albion had moved on from previously perceived end of year gloom and were celebrating under twinkling lights, a festive run of four unbeaten and eight electrifying points from seasonal Santa's footy bag.
The club's study support centre was also going from strength to strength. Manager Darren Ford said, 'this year over three hundred learners have used the centre between the ages of sixteen and eighty-four. We have already had or currently seventy people studying for a qualification.' Dick Knight added, 'it is just one of the ways the club gets involved with the local community.'
Kuipers, Watson (Reid), Hinshelwood, Butters, Virgo, Mayo, Oatway, Carpenter, Hart (Nicolas), McCammon (Harding), Knight.
Champ's P 28 . W 9 D 6 L 13 . F 22 A 35 . Pt 33 Po 18

Season 4 (H) 26/4/03 - 4-0 ~ Blackwell, Oatway, Kitson, Zamora
Dick Knight said, 'if we lose our place in the First Division this season it will be a savage blow but we'll fight back, although it will always be against the odds as long as we're at Withdean. If our efforts to win Falmer fail, it will be catastrophic for the club. Our club, supporters and our region deserve and need something bigger and better. Albion's future starts and ends with the new stadium project. I want to see more success in future, we have one real chance at that, through the Public Inquiry and Falmer. It will make us genuine regular contenders. That's why the club has to spend two million to make our planning case as robust as possible.'
Watford had been bumping around in mid-table, in a block of average clubs too good to worry about relegation but not strong enough for play-offs. They sent down a youngish side and played like an end of season unit, going through the motions. In the event Brighton scored four decent goals for what became an end of season romp. These came from all over the pitch, via a rejuvenated central defender, a gobby mid-fielder, an ex-Prem injury prone striker and our leading goal scorer. Zamora netted on average two from every five fixtures, which was reasonable return for games amounting to three quarters of the season. Danny Cullip got player of the year, having made 44 appearances in div1. Watson, Carpenter and Mayo all got to forty plus apps from a squad of fourteen regulars. Late additions Ingimarsson and Beasant had also made a difference to bolstering numbers and raising standards. Albion fans went away happy from this final home match and it was left in the lap of football Gods as to how the ending would pan out by first week of May. It had mathematically gone to the last day to decide through fate make-up of next terms fixtures list.
Beasant, Watson, Ingimarsson, Cullip, Blackwell, Mayo, Hart (Wilkinson), Jones, Rodger (Oatway), Zamora, Kitson (Barrett).
Div 1 (Champ's) P 45 . W 11 D 11 L 23 . F 47 A 65 Pt 44 Po 23