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Previous encounters (Blackburn )
Blackburn Rovers - Home, Falmer Years: C'ship 12/13-16/17, Seasons 2-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. ground: Ewood Park 31.3k . nickname: Rovers . shirt: light blue & white halves. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 19 P, 17 8 9 15 22 C / 2 L1, 15 11 15 8 7 19 C @ 4/5/24. relegated - '12 P, '17 C . promoted - '18 L1. Season7 (1st) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Albion v Rovers (H) from 11/12 @ C: - 1-1 3-0 1-1 1-0 1-0 . . W = 3 D = 2 L = 0 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season3 (H) - some progress in the C'ship under Oscar Garcia. Season6 (H) Championship 1/4/17 - 1-0 ~ Murray. There were 8 fixtures to go thru the run-in but respective Championship promotion & relegation battles had been previously interrupted for a fortnight by the international break. Now it was back to business and on all fools day too. BHA hadn't played hosts to Rovers in over 18 months but of the side that turned out here in the summer of 2015, merely Greer (released 2016) was no longer on the payroll, although O'Grady, LuaLua & Ince were now on loans elsewhere. Chris Hughton had once more gotten Seagulls to within striking distance of the Prem, an ongoing project which originated full of enthusiasm during those warm afternoons of two years ago. He was also almost glad of having a late lull in the long campaign as several players were now available again after injury. Seagulls needed a vital home victory from a fit squad to get the bandwagon rolling toward the Prem once more. More Brighton fans turned up than ever to boost a near full stadium on a sunny spring afternoon. * match report: Albion got past Rovers to put the promo push back on track but there was a lot of huff & puff about this result. Visitors came to press rather than sit back but their tactics were effective in keeping BHA at arms length for most of the match. Early chances went begging and Rovers keeper had a good one on the day too. In the second period Hughton brought Hemed & March on after 15 minutes to liven things up a tad. Soon afterwards Rosenior crossed and Knockaert headed down for Murray to slot round the keeper (67min). Seagulls couldn't add another and kept a clean sheet to the end as fans nervously waited for the final whistle. Hughton said, 'I am far more pleased with our result than others that have gone our way. It's about staying calm and getting the right message across. We need to be as normal as possible. The way you conduct yourself should be exactly the same as when there's 17 or 27 games to go.' And so say all of us! Stats; h-t 0-0, goals 67, poss 47%-53%, on target 7-0, off target 2-2, blocks 2-5, corners 5-6, o/s 8-0, fouls 14-11, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3, att 30,216 Stockdale, Rosenior, Huenemeier, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert (Murphy), Stephens, Kayal, Skalak (March), Akpom (Hemed), Murray. Champ's P39 . W24 D8 L7 . F64 A33 . Pt80 Po2 . W = 61.5% L = 17.9% Season5 (H) 22/8/15 - 1-0 ~ LuaLua. Albion had made a good start to the season, being unbeaten in three fixtures and progressing into round2 of the League Cup. Chris Hughton was still adding to the side, having already brought in a number of signings during July and into the August window. Also he had nearly a fully fit squad from which to select the match-day eighteen players. And there was optimism among supporters for a successful campaign ahead. But this day will be remembered for tragedy at the annual Shoreham Airshow that cast a shadow over all fans in Sussex. The game was delayed for 15mins to allow more journey time for those caught up in closure of the A27 at scene of the plane crash. It was a very warm, blue sky afternoon and around 22k arrived at the community stadium. * match report: Albion ground out another victory but there was a sense of relief by the end. To date, Seagulls had made a fast start in matches and put opposition under threat immediately but today Rovers nullified this tactic and took the game to locals. The breakthrough came deep into the first half when LuaLua was free to shoot, after a cross-field ball from the right was helped on by Baldock (35min). During the second period both teams had chances and defences were tested. Hughton left it late to make changes, introducing March on the flank with a little over 10mins left. Then he shored up rearguard with Ince and wasted time by putting O'Grady on in very last moments of the ninety. He said, 'they caught us on a day when we weren't at our best on the ball. Then you are looking at other qualities, being defensively strong and resilient and a goalkeeper that can pull out a couple of really important saves - and that's what we did.' So it was another tight win but older fans know that those fine margins in this division mean, by law of averages, a defeat is only just likely around the corner. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Huenemeier, Bong, Murphy (March), Kayal, Stephens, LuaLua, Baldock (Ince), Hemed (O'Grady). Champ's P4 . W3 D1 L0 . F5 A2 . Pt10 Po2 . W = 75% L = 0% Season4 (H) 8/11/14 - 1-1 ~ Gardner. This fixture came immediately prior to the international break and beforehand Albion were struggling in a big group of mediocre clubs that covered lower half of the table. With a third of the campaign already completed Sami Hyypia still didn't know his best match-day side because it was different every week - since injuries, suspensions, rotation, loss of form and extra loan signings arriving altered events. Albion didn't concede more goals than teams higher up the table but there was a serious shortage of scoring by all the strikers and forward players we possessed on the books. Elliott Bennett had come back on loan to try and reverse that trend, although he was far from match-fit. There was concern among supporters that Seagulls were lightweight up front in more ways than one and that Bloom & Burke urgently required to fund & recruit a proven Championship goal getter - now! * match report: The result was again something of a disappointment, although the performance wasn't totally abject. The same old problems resurfaced and Sami Hyypia said, 'we need to accept what has happened, take responsibility and be positive.' From word go Albion went looking for the opening goal but it was until just before h-t that the breakthrough came about. Gardner converted a JFC corner as the ball bounced thru the area (42min). In a fairly even contest, Rovers equalised not long into the second period. Seagulls didn't stop a cross and the big striker got a free header that found the top corner (51min). Hyypia sent McCourt on with twenty mins left but the match was set up for stalemate as visitors shut up shop. Tony Bloom got his PR statements going in the following week, to down play speculation about everything from sacking Hyypia to signing Wayne Rooney. Apparently neither option was a realistic choice he would readily admit to publicly. Brighton fans had a fortnight to think about what would happen next, one point above the drop zone - surely not a subject to dwell on? Walton, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, J Bennett, Gardner, Ince, Forster-Caskey (McCourt), E Bennett, Baldock (O'Grady), LuaLua. Champ's P17 . W3 D8 L6 . F17 A20 . Pt17 Po20 . W = 17.6% L = 35.2% Season3 (H) 9/11/13 - 3-0 ~ Barnes 2, Forster-Caskey. Brighton's home form had been variable to say the least. Defeat to Newport in the initial CCr1 tie at the Amex was followed by loss against Derby in the Championship. Two more wins versus Burnley and Bolton interspersed draws with Millwall, Wednesday and Watford, plus reversal against Forest. Oscar Garcia had to scratch his Spanish locks in order to find a consistent winning formula. Injuries had played a part in finding a settled team and players had to step-up if BHA was to emulate progress under Gus Poyet in years one & two. In fact Seagulls had probably over-achieved last term when in theory, were heading the table for Jan-May '13. Now the new coaching arrangement was gathering momentum, so it was probably time to measure what progress had been made in real time. On the day a regular 27k crowd attended. * match report: Albion put a below par northern outfit to the sword and netted three to boot in successive fixtures H&A. After half an hour or so Conway was brought down in the box and Barnes stepped up to the spot to wrong-foot the Rovers keeper (35min). Seagulls fans know a one goal lead is never enough at home or away and were excited when BHA doubled the lead after the break. JFC netted when getting forward and receiving from Conway with a header (56min). Bridcutt then got on after the hour for his first app since long-term injury. Albion piled on the chances and netted a third goal with the clock running down. Barnes bagged a brace after goalie spilled Crofts volley - so Ash chipped him (77min). Seagulls had 57% of possession, 14 shots and a ratio of 5:9 for on/off targets. Things were looking up at last and Garcia & co and Amex support all went home happy from seeing a right result. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Crofts, Ince, Forster-Caskey, David (Bridcutt), Barnes, Conway. Champ's P15 . W5 D6 L4 . F18 A14 . Pt21 Po11 . W = 33.3% L = 26.6% Season2 (H) 12/2/13 - 1-1 ~ Vicente. Well, we were originally gonna play 'em twice in just over a month when the fixture list got issued back in summertime. But the initial away leg, immediately before Xmas, was postponed due to wet-winter waterlogging. So what happened next was FA Cup ties got in the way and the scheduled home match got shifted from late January into February. Therefore we ended up against Rovers twice in three weeks anyway. Gus Poyet wanted Albion to take more risks in the chase for a play-off place and go get the necessary points. He said, 'to win, that's the word now. To do that we need to be better at the back. We conceded three at Sheffield and I was not happy with those situations. To summarise, we need to be stronger in both boxes. That's the key from now on.' On a very cold night, over 24k attended and got to see Vicente make his first home start after long-term injury. *** match report: Vicente took MoM honours and gave a display of craft, skill, guile and quality above and beyond level two standard. Albion were off the blocks fast and in the first twenty minutes played magnificent football. God only knows how we failed to convert chance after spectacular chance. But Rovers took the lead from a corner when heading past a flat-footed TK (24min). Hoskins was carried off injured just before halftime as Seagulls struggled to get into the air again. Not long into the second period Vicente's cross was handled and he stayed calm amid visitors protests to ram the spot-kick home (57min). BHA continued to press and on final stats had two-thirds of possession. LuaLua came on with fifteen minutes left but B'ton couldn't completely break thru as the clock ticked down. However Rovers held out and with a certain amount of luck defended well enough to pinch a point. Gus said, 'you would have to spend heavily at any in any country level to have those first twenty minutes. Tactically, technically, speed, position, chances, it was absolutely spectacular.' Kuszczak, Bruno, El-Abd, Upson, Bridge, Hammond, Bridcutt, Vicente, Buckley (LuaLua), Ulloa, Hoskins (Orlandi). Champ's P31 . W11 D13 L7 . F43 A34 . Pt46 Po7 . W = 35.4% L = 22.5% Season1 - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean Era - from 1999 to 2011. no meetings in 12 seasons.
Blackburn Rovers - Away, Falmer Years: C'ship 12/13-16/17, Seasons 2-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. Season7 (1st) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Rovers v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: - 1-1 3-3 0-1 0-1 2-3 . . W = 3 D = 2 L = 0 For Home Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season6 (A) - Murray & Greer mentioned... but for different reasons. Season6 (A) Championship 13/12/16 - w 2-3 ~ Duffy, Stephens, Murray. Albion were close on heels of Newcastle, being 1&2 in the table at this stage prior to Xmas & New Year fixtures. The north-east giants were expected to stroll thru second half of the season and go on to take the Championship title with ease. So if BHA could hang on to their coat-tails then all to the good for us with possible auto promo come next May. In fact Magpies were currently the only team to have bettered Seagulls on the road, from a 2-0 reversal. Our form was W4 D4 L1 F8 A5 with a series of; ddl wdw wwd to date. Chris Hughton more or less had a fully fit squad and fielded a regular starting eleven, bar the odd change from among subs off a strong bench. Therefore our Sussex outfit travelled to Lancs on a Tuesday evening in good heart, full of confidence and with all to play for. * match report: Albion won the game but maybe should not have conceded at all. Duffy opened the scoring when heading home from a Norwood corner (17min). Seagulls resumed to press after the interval and Stephens volley from a Norwood f-k put visitors two ahead (61min) on the hour. But within minutes Rovers pulled one back after Stockdale's punch allowed them back in to strike (66min). Murray came on (72min) and was chopped by ex-BHA defender Greer, who was immediately sent off for a second yellow (74min). Then Dunk tried a shot and Murray was on hand to chip in the keeper's rebound (79min) for his first away goal. Sidwell took to the field to have & hold (83min) and with time running down, March turned up (89). At the death Rovers netted again as travellers backed off in stoppage (90+). Hughton said, 'there's a bit more know-how in the squad now. We've got real competition for places and the bench is very strong.' Brighton fans returned home pleased with victory, although quite surprised there were five goals shared in proportion on the night. Stats; h-t 0-1, goals 66, 90-17, 61, 79, poss 44%-56%, on target 4-10, off target 8-8, corners 4-2, o/s 0-3, fouls 11-9, yellows 3-3, red 1-0, subs 2-3, att 9,976 Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert (March), Stephens, Norwood, Skalak, Hemed (Murray), Baldock (Sidwell). Champ's P21 . W13 D6 L2 . F33 A13 . Pt45 Po2 . W = 61.9% L = 9.5% Season5 (A) 16/1/16 - w 0-1 ~ Zamora. The wheels were beginning to come off Albion's rollercoaster, after such an exciting ride throughout first half of this season. Just prior to Xmas, Seagulls were unbeaten in 21 games, in the top two places and going well. But since, had not now won in eight matches, including being knocked out of the FA Cup. And they'd not scored for six contests in a row either - setting another outstanding record after 45 years! Talk about a season of ups & downs in two halves! Brighton fans had seen the squad bolstered by a trio of new signings but it seemed obvious to all that we badly needed a striker in form. Whether these were available at affordable prices in the transfer window was yet to be decided. But the BHA strap line of, 'one club, one ambition,' was being surely tested to destruction. It was assumed Tony Bloom & friends had the cash, so perhaps now was time to up the ante. * match report: Albion won the match in the first couple of minutes. Stockdale punted a long ball up field, Murphy ran on and hit a post and Zamora (on his 35th birthday) slotted home the rebound (3min). After that it was largely backs to the wall as Seagulls defence ground out a clean sheet. As snow showers swirled around Ewood Park, visitors were sure footed at the back, where the young pairing of Dunk & Goldson were outstanding throughout ninety plus minutes. Zamora had another trio of chances prior to being subbed after completing 3/4 of the game. As Albion hung on to take all three points, Hughton also withdrew both wingers Knockaert & Murphy, electing to shore up rearguard action. Hughton said, 'these are the sort of games where you have got to show the horrible side, defending, getting bodies back behind the ball, showing a real rugged desire and being competitive. It was a big win for us today and one that we needed.' The 600 travelling support that turned up in chilly Lancs, were very warmed to witness victory once more, after feeling the cold draught of winter during Xmas & New Year contests. Stats; poss 55-45%, on target 2-3, off target 11-5, blocked 4-1, corners 5-6, fouls 12-16, o/s 1-3, yellow 2-1. Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Ridgewell, Knockaert (Calderon), Kayal, Stephens, Murphy (Crofts), Zamora (Wilson), Hemed. Champ's P27 . W12 D11 L4 . F32 A27 . Pt47 Po5 . W = 44.4% L = 14.8% Season4 (A) 21/3/15 - W 0-1 ~ og. Albion form on the road had been tailing off since Xmas & New Year when taking 7pts from 9 and also a useful victory away in the FA Cup r3. Latterly the league sequence was ldd lld - with merely one single goal scored and that a penalty! Chris Hughton still needed 8pts to reach a target of 50 and some of those were anticipated to come from remaining visits up north; here today versus Rovers, after Easter at Rotherham, then Wigan & Middlesbrough. Following midweek games prior to this fixture, Albion were fortunate to maintain staus quo when drawing at relegation threatened Millwall, while all four other clubs below Seagulls actually lost their contests. On the day, over 500 intepid BHA fans made the journey, albeit some exiles had arrived from the north anyway. * match report: An own goal gifted Albion all three points as the old Lancashire outfit were below par and probably thinking about their FA Cup glories against Prem opposition. Brighton played well in the first half and took the game to locals. O'Grady hit a post before his later cross was headed home by a hapless defender (26min). During the second period Rovers reversed the trend but Seagulls defended well and Stockdale kept a clean sheet with a couple of useful saves. Despite only one shot on target and being well behind on possession & corners etc, visitors held out for a first win there in 25years. Hughton withdrew attackers late in the game in favour of extra defensive quality and saw the match out successfully. Hughton said, 'our game management was very good. Distances between back & front were quite big and reliant on somebody to hold the ball up. We kept the ball well in the periods we had to and got a bit of fortune. We're delighted with the progress made.' So were Brighton fans - who saw the club open a ten point gap above the third from bottom side. The next two away contests were also against relegation threatened teams. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Halford, Bennett, Kayal, Ince, Stephens, Ledesma (Calderon), O'Grady, Teixeira (Forster-Caskey). Champ's P39 . W10 D15 L14 . F43 A46 . Pt45 Po16 . W = 25.6% L = 35.8% Season3 (A) 1/4/14 - 3-3 ~ Rodriguez, Greer, Stephens. This fixture was originally programmed for mid Feb but FAC5 got in the way with Albion entertaining Hull at the Amex. So it was a Tuesday night in the north instead and the last one had been merely a few days previously at Wednesday for some sort of freak result. Brighton, like Blackburn were one of a number of clubs hoping to reach sixth place or better and the points gap was not gonna get any smaller now. Anyway on the night Oscar Garcia put out his regular eleven, hoping to make up ground following three defeats on the bounce. The all for one, one for all mentality was being tested and any further cracks in Seagulls unity were sure to be exposed soon. * match report: If somebody said there would be six goals scored you would not believe them prior to k-o. Brighton rarely netted more than two and had not scored in the last three defeats. Albion opened affairs when Rodriguez got his first for the club (17min). But Rovers soon equalised as we stood still at a f-k (25min). Visitors then withdrew Ince for the second half after going one down prior to the break (42min). Greer pulled it level again at a corner (79min) but conceded a pen quickly (86min). Garcia had put LuaLua & March on to go 424 with all-out attack and it paid off at the death. Stephens got forward to pinch the equaliser as time ran out. You couldn't really make it up at the finish. Nathan Jones said, 'the players showed fantastic character. I was so pleased we were able to put an end to a run of bad results. If we can be in it after the next two games it will be a real positive.' Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Andrews, Ince (Stephens), Forster-Caskey (March), Rodriguez (LuaLua), Ulloa, Lingard. Champ's P39 . W15 D12 L12 . F42 A36 . Pt57 Po9 . W = 38.4% L = 30.7% Season2 (A) 22/1/13 - 1-1 ~ David. When you looked at the Championship fixture list this term it was evident there would be some sort of north-south divide. Two Lancashire clubs, Blackburn and Bolton, dropped simultaneously from the Prem last season and joined others like Burnley and Blackpool as distant M6 destinations in the northwest. Visiting places such as Middlesbrough, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Barnsley were also long runs on the M1 for numerous travelling Brighton fans. We hadn't played Rovers during that infamous Withdean Era (12 years) since a homecoming at very end of the last century. Now BHA regained some former status of Goldstone days by playing out of Falmer from 2011, with ambitions of seriously becoming a big club. Gus Poyet did a good job to elevate BHA from third-tier also-rans to level-two play-off chasers but required an edge from somewhere in order to make the squad ultra competitive. We were over halfway thru the season and just doubling our present points tally wouldn't ensure qualifying for knockout phases. Only a prolonged winning sequence could shake off a multitude of sides after one of those coveted spots. On a freezing cold night, over 300 Brighton fans made the trip northwest. *** match report: Talk about a match of two halves. Albion appeared to be heading for defeat after conceding a pen just before half-time (45min). The second period was meandering to completion in stoppage when Ref pointed to the spot again. David did the biz and BHA got an unlikely draw right at the death (90+6). It wasn't that Seagulls were particularly bad but more a case of turning possession into football into chances into goals. Gus Poyet rang changes to our inept strike-force ten minutes thru the second half. He introduced CMS & Buckley with pace replacing Spanish flair. With twenty-five mins left Hoskins got on too. However it seemed things were going tits up until virtually last kick of the contest. We'd take a point, although the squad had played better on the road and lost. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, David, Bridcutt, Dicker, Vicente (Mackail-Smith), Barnes (Buckley), Orlandi (Hoskins). Champ's P28 . W10 D12 L6 . F40 A30 . Pt42 Po7 . W = 35.7% L = 21.4% Season1 - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean era: 1999 - 2011. no visits to Ewood Park in 12 seasons.
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Previous encounters (Blackburn )
Blackburn Rovers - Home, Falmer Years: C'ship 12/13-16/17, Seasons 2-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. ground: Ewood Park 31.3k . nickname: Rovers . shirt: light blue & white halves. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 19 P, 17 8 9 15 22 C / 2 L1, 15 11 15 8 7 19 C @ 4/5/24. relegated - '12 P, '17 C . promoted - '18 L1. Season7 (1st) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Albion v Rovers (H) from 11/12 @ C: - 1-1 3-0 1-1 1-0 1-0 . . W = 3 D = 2 L = 0 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season3 (H) - some progress in the C'ship under Oscar Garcia. Season6 (H) Championship 1/4/17 - 1-0 ~ Murray. There were 8 fixtures to go thru the run-in but respective Championship promotion & relegation battles had been previously interrupted for a fortnight by the international break. Now it was back to business and on all fools day too. BHA hadn't played hosts to Rovers in over 18 months but of the side that turned out here in the summer of 2015, merely Greer (released 2016) was no longer on the payroll, although O'Grady, LuaLua & Ince were now on loans elsewhere. Chris Hughton had once more gotten Seagulls to within striking distance of the Prem, an ongoing project which originated full of enthusiasm during those warm afternoons of two years ago. He was also almost glad of having a late lull in the long campaign as several players were now available again after injury. Seagulls needed a vital home victory from a fit squad to get the bandwagon rolling toward the Prem once more. More Brighton fans turned up than ever to boost a near full stadium on a sunny spring afternoon. * match report: Albion got past Rovers to put the promo push back on track but there was a lot of huff & puff about this result. Visitors came to press rather than sit back but their tactics were effective in keeping BHA at arms length for most of the match. Early chances went begging and Rovers keeper had a good one on the day too. In the second period Hughton brought Hemed & March on after 15 minutes to liven things up a tad. Soon afterwards Rosenior crossed and Knockaert headed down for Murray to slot round the keeper (67min). Seagulls couldn't add another and kept a clean sheet to the end as fans nervously waited for the final whistle. Hughton said, 'I am far more pleased with our result than others that have gone our way. It's about staying calm and getting the right message across. We need to be as normal as possible. The way you conduct yourself should be exactly the same as when there's 17 or 27 games to go.' And so say all of us! Stats; h-t 0-0, goals 67, poss 47%-53%, on target 7-0, off target 2-2, blocks 2-5, corners 5-6, o/s 8-0, fouls 14-11, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3, att 30,216 Stockdale, Rosenior, Huenemeier, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert (Murphy), Stephens, Kayal, Skalak (March), Akpom (Hemed), Murray. Champ's P39 . W24 D8 L7 . F64 A33 . Pt80 Po2 . W = 61.5% L = 17.9% Season5 (H) 22/8/15 - 1-0 ~ LuaLua. Albion had made a good start to the season, being unbeaten in three fixtures and progressing into round2 of the League Cup. Chris Hughton was still adding to the side, having already brought in a number of signings during July and into the August window. Also he had nearly a fully fit squad from which to select the match-day eighteen players. And there was optimism among supporters for a successful campaign ahead. But this day will be remembered for tragedy at the annual Shoreham Airshow that cast a shadow over all fans in Sussex. The game was delayed for 15mins to allow more journey time for those caught up in closure of the A27 at scene of the plane crash. It was a very warm, blue sky afternoon and around 22k arrived at the community stadium. * match report: Albion ground out another victory but there was a sense of relief by the end. To date, Seagulls had made a fast start in matches and put opposition under threat immediately but today Rovers nullified this tactic and took the game to locals. The breakthrough came deep into the first half when LuaLua was free to shoot, after a cross-field ball from the right was helped on by Baldock (35min). During the second period both teams had chances and defences were tested. Hughton left it late to make changes, introducing March on the flank with a little over 10mins left. Then he shored up rearguard with Ince and wasted time by putting O'Grady on in very last moments of the ninety. He said, 'they caught us on a day when we weren't at our best on the ball. Then you are looking at other qualities, being defensively strong and resilient and a goalkeeper that can pull out a couple of really important saves - and that's what we did.' So it was another tight win but older fans know that those fine margins in this division mean, by law of averages, a defeat is only just likely around the corner. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Huenemeier, Bong, Murphy (March), Kayal, Stephens, LuaLua, Baldock (Ince), Hemed (O'Grady). Champ's P4 . W3 D1 L0 . F5 A2 . Pt10 Po2 . W = 75% L = 0% Season4 (H) 8/11/14 - 1-1 ~ Gardner. This fixture came immediately prior to the international break and beforehand Albion were struggling in a big group of mediocre clubs that covered lower half of the table. With a third of the campaign already completed Sami Hyypia still didn't know his best match-day side because it was different every week - since injuries, suspensions, rotation, loss of form and extra loan signings arriving altered events. Albion didn't concede more goals than teams higher up the table but there was a serious shortage of scoring by all the strikers and forward players we possessed on the books. Elliott Bennett had come back on loan to try and reverse that trend, although he was far from match-fit. There was concern among supporters that Seagulls were lightweight up front in more ways than one and that Bloom & Burke urgently required to fund & recruit a proven Championship goal getter - now! * match report: The result was again something of a disappointment, although the performance wasn't totally abject. The same old problems resurfaced and Sami Hyypia said, 'we need to accept what has happened, take responsibility and be positive.' From word go Albion went looking for the opening goal but it was until just before h-t that the breakthrough came about. Gardner converted a JFC corner as the ball bounced thru the area (42min). In a fairly even contest, Rovers equalised not long into the second period. Seagulls didn't stop a cross and the big striker got a free header that found the top corner (51min). Hyypia sent McCourt on with twenty mins left but the match was set up for stalemate as visitors shut up shop. Tony Bloom got his PR statements going in the following week, to down play speculation about everything from sacking Hyypia to signing Wayne Rooney. Apparently neither option was a realistic choice he would readily admit to publicly. Brighton fans had a fortnight to think about what would happen next, one point above the drop zone - surely not a subject to dwell on? Walton, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, J Bennett, Gardner, Ince, Forster-Caskey (McCourt), E Bennett, Baldock (O'Grady), LuaLua. Champ's P17 . W3 D8 L6 . F17 A20 . Pt17 Po20 . W = 17.6% L = 35.2% Season3 (H) 9/11/13 - 3-0 ~ Barnes 2, Forster-Caskey. Brighton's home form had been variable to say the least. Defeat to Newport in the initial CCr1 tie at the Amex was followed by loss against Derby in the Championship. Two more wins versus Burnley and Bolton interspersed draws with Millwall, Wednesday and Watford, plus reversal against Forest. Oscar Garcia had to scratch his Spanish locks in order to find a consistent winning formula. Injuries had played a part in finding a settled team and players had to step-up if BHA was to emulate progress under Gus Poyet in years one & two. In fact Seagulls had probably over-achieved last term when in theory, were heading the table for Jan-May '13. Now the new coaching arrangement was gathering momentum, so it was probably time to measure what progress had been made in real time. On the day a regular 27k crowd attended. * match report: Albion put a below par northern outfit to the sword and netted three to boot in successive fixtures H&A. After half an hour or so Conway was brought down in the box and Barnes stepped up to the spot to wrong-foot the Rovers keeper (35min). Seagulls fans know a one goal lead is never enough at home or away and were excited when BHA doubled the lead after the break. JFC netted when getting forward and receiving from Conway with a header (56min). Bridcutt then got on after the hour for his first app since long-term injury. Albion piled on the chances and netted a third goal with the clock running down. Barnes bagged a brace after goalie spilled Crofts volley - so Ash chipped him (77min). Seagulls had 57% of possession, 14 shots and a ratio of 5:9 for on/off targets. Things were looking up at last and Garcia & co and Amex support all went home happy from seeing a right result. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Crofts, Ince, Forster-Caskey, David (Bridcutt), Barnes, Conway. Champ's P15 . W5 D6 L4 . F18 A14 . Pt21 Po11 . W = 33.3% L = 26.6% Season2 (H) 12/2/13 - 1-1 ~ Vicente. Well, we were originally gonna play 'em twice in just over a month when the fixture list got issued back in summertime. But the initial away leg, immediately before Xmas, was postponed due to wet-winter waterlogging. So what happened next was FA Cup ties got in the way and the scheduled home match got shifted from late January into February. Therefore we ended up against Rovers twice in three weeks anyway. Gus Poyet wanted Albion to take more risks in the chase for a play-off place and go get the necessary points. He said, 'to win, that's the word now. To do that we need to be better at the back. We conceded three at Sheffield and I was not happy with those situations. To summarise, we need to be stronger in both boxes. That's the key from now on.' On a very cold night, over 24k attended and got to see Vicente make his first home start after long-term injury. *** match report: Vicente took MoM honours and gave a display of craft, skill, guile and quality above and beyond level two standard. Albion were off the blocks fast and in the first twenty minutes played magnificent football. God only knows how we failed to convert chance after spectacular chance. But Rovers took the lead from a corner when heading past a flat-footed TK (24min). Hoskins was carried off injured just before halftime as Seagulls struggled to get into the air again. Not long into the second period Vicente's cross was handled and he stayed calm amid visitors protests to ram the spot-kick home (57min). BHA continued to press and on final stats had two-thirds of possession. LuaLua came on with fifteen minutes left but B'ton couldn't completely break thru as the clock ticked down. However Rovers held out and with a certain amount of luck defended well enough to pinch a point. Gus said, 'you would have to spend heavily at any in any country level to have those first twenty minutes. Tactically, technically, speed, position, chances, it was absolutely spectacular.' Kuszczak, Bruno, El-Abd, Upson, Bridge, Hammond, Bridcutt, Vicente, Buckley (LuaLua), Ulloa, Hoskins (Orlandi). Champ's P31 . W11 D13 L7 . F43 A34 . Pt46 Po7 . W = 35.4% L = 22.5% Season1 - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean Era - from 1999 to 2011. no meetings in 12 seasons.
Blackburn Rovers - Away, Falmer Years: C'ship 12/13-16/17, Seasons 2-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. Season7 (1st) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Rovers v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: - 1-1 3-3 0-1 0-1 2-3 . . W = 3 D = 2 L = 0 For Home Falmer Years results & reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season6 (A) - Murray & Greer mentioned... but for different reasons. Season6 (A) Championship 13/12/16 - w 2-3 ~ Duffy, Stephens, Murray. Albion were close on heels of Newcastle, being 1&2 in the table at this stage prior to Xmas & New Year fixtures. The north-east giants were expected to stroll thru second half of the season and go on to take the Championship title with ease. So if BHA could hang on to their coat-tails then all to the good for us with possible auto promo come next May. In fact Magpies were currently the only team to have bettered Seagulls on the road, from a 2-0 reversal. Our form was W4 D4 L1 F8 A5 with a series of; ddl wdw wwd to date. Chris Hughton more or less had a fully fit squad and fielded a regular starting eleven, bar the odd change from among subs off a strong bench. Therefore our Sussex outfit travelled to Lancs on a Tuesday evening in good heart, full of confidence and with all to play for. * match report: Albion won the game but maybe should not have conceded at all. Duffy opened the scoring when heading home from a Norwood corner (17min). Seagulls resumed to press after the interval and Stephens volley from a Norwood f-k put visitors two ahead (61min) on the hour. But within minutes Rovers pulled one back after Stockdale's punch allowed them back in to strike (66min). Murray came on (72min) and was chopped by ex-BHA defender Greer, who was immediately sent off for a second yellow (74min). Then Dunk tried a shot and Murray was on hand to chip in the keeper's rebound (79min) for his first away goal. Sidwell took to the field to have & hold (83min) and with time running down, March turned up (89). At the death Rovers netted again as travellers backed off in stoppage (90+). Hughton said, 'there's a bit more know-how in the squad now. We've got real competition for places and the bench is very strong.' Brighton fans returned home pleased with victory, although quite surprised there were five goals shared in proportion on the night. Stats; h-t 0-1, goals 66, 90-17, 61, 79, poss 44%-56%, on target 4-10, off target 8-8, corners 4-2, o/s 0-3, fouls 11-9, yellows 3-3, red 1-0, subs 2-3, att 9,976 Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert (March), Stephens, Norwood, Skalak, Hemed (Murray), Baldock (Sidwell). Champ's P21 . W13 D6 L2 . F33 A13 . Pt45 Po2 . W = 61.9% L = 9.5% Season5 (A) 16/1/16 - w 0-1 ~ Zamora. The wheels were beginning to come off Albion's rollercoaster, after such an exciting ride throughout first half of this season. Just prior to Xmas, Seagulls were unbeaten in 21 games, in the top two places and going well. But since, had not now won in eight matches, including being knocked out of the FA Cup. And they'd not scored for six contests in a row either - setting another outstanding record after 45 years! Talk about a season of ups & downs in two halves! Brighton fans had seen the squad bolstered by a trio of new signings but it seemed obvious to all that we badly needed a striker in form. Whether these were available at affordable prices in the transfer window was yet to be decided. But the BHA strap line of, 'one club, one ambition,' was being surely tested to destruction. It was assumed Tony Bloom & friends had the cash, so perhaps now was time to up the ante. * match report: Albion won the match in the first couple of minutes. Stockdale punted a long ball up field, Murphy ran on and hit a post and Zamora (on his 35th birthday) slotted home the rebound (3min). After that it was largely backs to the wall as Seagulls defence ground out a clean sheet. As snow showers swirled around Ewood Park, visitors were sure footed at the back, where the young pairing of Dunk & Goldson were outstanding throughout ninety plus minutes. Zamora had another trio of chances prior to being subbed after completing 3/4 of the game. As Albion hung on to take all three points, Hughton also withdrew both wingers Knockaert & Murphy, electing to shore up rearguard action. Hughton said, 'these are the sort of games where you have got to show the horrible side, defending, getting bodies back behind the ball, showing a real rugged desire and being competitive. It was a big win for us today and one that we needed.' The 600 travelling support that turned up in chilly Lancs, were very warmed to witness victory once more, after feeling the cold draught of winter during Xmas & New Year contests. Stats; poss 55-45%, on target 2-3, off target 11-5, blocked 4-1, corners 5-6, fouls 12-16, o/s 1-3, yellow 2-1. Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Ridgewell, Knockaert (Calderon), Kayal, Stephens, Murphy (Crofts), Zamora (Wilson), Hemed. Champ's P27 . W12 D11 L4 . F32 A27 . Pt47 Po5 . W = 44.4% L = 14.8% Season4 (A) 21/3/15 - W 0-1 ~ og. Albion form on the road had been tailing off since Xmas & New Year when taking 7pts from 9 and also a useful victory away in the FA Cup r3. Latterly the league sequence was ldd lld - with merely one single goal scored and that a penalty! Chris Hughton still needed 8pts to reach a target of 50 and some of those were anticipated to come from remaining visits up north; here today versus Rovers, after Easter at Rotherham, then Wigan & Middlesbrough. Following midweek games prior to this fixture, Albion were fortunate to maintain staus quo when drawing at relegation threatened Millwall, while all four other clubs below Seagulls actually lost their contests. On the day, over 500 intepid BHA fans made the journey, albeit some exiles had arrived from the north anyway. * match report: An own goal gifted Albion all three points as the old Lancashire outfit were below par and probably thinking about their FA Cup glories against Prem opposition. Brighton played well in the first half and took the game to locals. O'Grady hit a post before his later cross was headed home by a hapless defender (26min). During the second period Rovers reversed the trend but Seagulls defended well and Stockdale kept a clean sheet with a couple of useful saves. Despite only one shot on target and being well behind on possession & corners etc, visitors held out for a first win there in 25years. Hughton withdrew attackers late in the game in favour of extra defensive quality and saw the match out successfully. Hughton said, 'our game management was very good. Distances between back & front were quite big and reliant on somebody to hold the ball up. We kept the ball well in the periods we had to and got a bit of fortune. We're delighted with the progress made.' So were Brighton fans - who saw the club open a ten point gap above the third from bottom side. The next two away contests were also against relegation threatened teams. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Halford, Bennett, Kayal, Ince, Stephens, Ledesma (Calderon), O'Grady, Teixeira (Forster-Caskey). Champ's P39 . W10 D15 L14 . F43 A46 . Pt45 Po16 . W = 25.6% L = 35.8% Season3 (A) 1/4/14 - 3-3 ~ Rodriguez, Greer, Stephens. This fixture was originally programmed for mid Feb but FAC5 got in the way with Albion entertaining Hull at the Amex. So it was a Tuesday night in the north instead and the last one had been merely a few days previously at Wednesday for some sort of freak result. Brighton, like Blackburn were one of a number of clubs hoping to reach sixth place or better and the points gap was not gonna get any smaller now. Anyway on the night Oscar Garcia put out his regular eleven, hoping to make up ground following three defeats on the bounce. The all for one, one for all mentality was being tested and any further cracks in Seagulls unity were sure to be exposed soon. * match report: If somebody said there would be six goals scored you would not believe them prior to k-o. Brighton rarely netted more than two and had not scored in the last three defeats. Albion opened affairs when Rodriguez got his first for the club (17min). But Rovers soon equalised as we stood still at a f-k (25min). Visitors then withdrew Ince for the second half after going one down prior to the break (42min). Greer pulled it level again at a corner (79min) but conceded a pen quickly (86min). Garcia had put LuaLua & March on to go 424 with all-out attack and it paid off at the death. Stephens got forward to pinch the equaliser as time ran out. You couldn't really make it up at the finish. Nathan Jones said, 'the players showed fantastic character. I was so pleased we were able to put an end to a run of bad results. If we can be in it after the next two games it will be a real positive.' Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Andrews, Ince (Stephens), Forster-Caskey (March), Rodriguez (LuaLua), Ulloa, Lingard. Champ's P39 . W15 D12 L12 . F42 A36 . Pt57 Po9 . W = 38.4% L = 30.7% Season2 (A) 22/1/13 - 1-1 ~ David. When you looked at the Championship fixture list this term it was evident there would be some sort of north-south divide. Two Lancashire clubs, Blackburn and Bolton, dropped simultaneously from the Prem last season and joined others like Burnley and Blackpool as distant M6 destinations in the northwest. Visiting places such as Middlesbrough, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Barnsley were also long runs on the M1 for numerous travelling Brighton fans. We hadn't played Rovers during that infamous Withdean Era (12 years) since a homecoming at very end of the last century. Now BHA regained some former status of Goldstone days by playing out of Falmer from 2011, with ambitions of seriously becoming a big club. Gus Poyet did a good job to elevate BHA from third-tier also-rans to level-two play-off chasers but required an edge from somewhere in order to make the squad ultra competitive. We were over halfway thru the season and just doubling our present points tally wouldn't ensure qualifying for knockout phases. Only a prolonged winning sequence could shake off a multitude of sides after one of those coveted spots. On a freezing cold night, over 300 Brighton fans made the trip northwest. *** match report: Talk about a match of two halves. Albion appeared to be heading for defeat after conceding a pen just before half-time (45min). The second period was meandering to completion in stoppage when Ref pointed to the spot again. David did the biz and BHA got an unlikely draw right at the death (90+6). It wasn't that Seagulls were particularly bad but more a case of turning possession into football into chances into goals. Gus Poyet rang changes to our inept strike-force ten minutes thru the second half. He introduced CMS & Buckley with pace replacing Spanish flair. With twenty-five mins left Hoskins got on too. However it seemed things were going tits up until virtually last kick of the contest. We'd take a point, although the squad had played better on the road and lost. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, David, Bridcutt, Dicker, Vicente (Mackail-Smith), Barnes (Buckley), Orlandi (Hoskins). Champ's P28 . W10 D12 L6 . F40 A30 . Pt42 Po7 . W = 35.7% L = 21.4% Season1 - not C'ship. * * * * * Withdean era: 1999 - 2011. no visits to Ewood Park in 12 seasons.
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