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Previous encounters (Bristol City )
Bristol City - Away, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-12/13 15/16-16/17, Seasons 1-2 5-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. ground: Ashton Gate 27k . nickname: Robins . shirt: red. EFL record from 11/12: 20 24 C, 12 1 L1, 18 17 / 11 8 12 19 17 14 11 C @ 4/5/24. C'ship: stayed up - '12, relegated - '13 . L1: promo - '15. Season7 (1st) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Robins v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 0-1 0-0 - - 0-4 0-2 . . W = 3 D = 1 L = 0 For Home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season6 (A) - had that sensational Sidwell score at Ashton Gate in a promo year. Season6 (A) Championship 5/11/16 - w 0-2 ~ Sidwell, Murphy. Albion recently had a good record at Ashton Gate (see below) in setting out from Falmer these days, after those rather up & down Withdean years. From five consecutive terms at Championship level, BHA had been included in p-os three times since 2012, when finishing, 10, 4, 6, 20 & 3. This season Seagulls were flying again under Chris Hughton, who had taken his strong team so close to auto promo last campaign. Now the squad had been enhanced further with quality personnel, capable of pushing for promotion to the Prem once more. Performances maybe had proven a little mixed but 10 clean sheets overall, with 4 on the road out of 7 visits, was testament to defensive prowess - worth a valuable point not to concede on travels. The match-day 18 didn't vary that much, so Seagulls were expected to field their settled eleven once more, backed by a capable bench of subs. Knockaert was missing due to death of his father. It was a 5:30 k-o, so other results were already known. * match report: Seagulls took the lead in spectacular style. Sidwell picked up on a mistake by Robins in midfield to send the ball from the centre circle into the net, as their hapless keeper slipped and fell (13min). Brighton playing in blue & white kit then celebrated when running to the bench and collectively hoisting high the no.11 shirt of Knockaert. A few moments later Murphy doubled the score when cutting inside to net with a deflected strike (20min). City came back into the match during the second period and pressed with attacking subs. Hughton responded shortly afterwards when withdrawing both his strikers and going to 451 shape. March returned from long term injury in stoppage time. Albion were comfortable at the back and maintained another clean sheet without too much trouble for Stockdale to get involved. Hughton said, 'I didn't expect Steve to shoot, it was unexpected. The timing was good because before that we were not at our best. The goal settled us down.' Over 1800 Brighton fans made the trip and were rewarded for devotion with a fourth straight win overall and three more points to make it 15pt in total on the road to date. Stats; ht 0-2, goals 13,20, poss 54%-46%, on target 1-2, off target 5-4, blocks 3-2, corners 4-3, o/s 3-2, fouls 8-13, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3, att 19,096 Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Skalak (March), Sidwell, Stephens, Murphy, Baldock (Norwood), Murray (Hemed) Champ's P16 . W10 D4 L2 . F25 A9 . Pt34 Po2 . W = 62.5% L = 12.5% Season5 (A) 23/2/16 - w 0-4 - Murphy, Baldock, Hemed, og. Going into this midweek fixture, the third of three aways in eight days, Albion had slipped further off the pace and needed a positive result pdq. At one time, just prior to Xmas, BHA led the division and were unbeaten on the road. But if a promotion push was to be reignited, another series of wins was necessary. And a second trip down the M4, following crushing defeat at Cardiff four days previously, wasn't exactly calming Brighton fans recent strained nerves or travel sickness. Chris Hughton had finally assembled a squad capable of making play-offs but inconsistent displays had hampered progress. The starting eleven remained solid and boosted by January signings and players back from injury, there was every reason to anticipate a target of approx 80pts could be attained. By coincidence, Albion were in a similar situation when visiting Robins three years ago (see below) and gone on to compete in play offs from the 3/4 milestone thru run in. On the night 15k turned up. * match report: Albion goals went in at 8, 21, 56 & 75 mins to register a resounding victory with the biggest win to date. Murphy opened the scoring with a fast run & shot. Then Baldock found a position to shoot after good work again by Hemed. The striker added a third in the second period when making a ball from Kayal count. Seagulls had the game won but Robins did find the net also, with an own goal after sub Wilson got in a header. Hughton put on Calderon to replace Bruno for the second half but after the hour mark he had options to swap out strikers as he pleased. It was not all one way traffic and locals tested Stockdale but he had the measure of their best efforts with excellent saves.So alls well that ends well and even when Ref gave City a pen in stoppage... they missed. BHA were back on track and improved a single figure GD into +11 this evening too. Stats; poss 59%-41%, on target 4-3, off target 12-7, corners 9-3, o/s 4-0, fouls 8-13, yellows 0-1. Stockdale, Bruno (Calderon), Goldson, Dunk, Rosenior, Knockaert, Stephens, Kayal, Murphy, Baldock (Wilson), Hemed ((Sidwell). Champ's P33 . W16 D12 L5 . F45 A34 . Pt60 Po4 . W = 48.4% L = 15.1% Seasons 3-4 (A) - not C'ship. Season2 (A) 5/3/13 - 0-0. As the season entered March this fixture marked reaching that three quarters of completion stage. Beforehand, Albion were on a good sequence of results, having won three out of four at the Amex and defeating league leaders Cardiff in Wales. It had elevated Seagulls into much coveted sixth place and considering Championship competitiveness this term, we needed to continue useful form right thru the run-in. Our opponents, on a Tuesday night at Ashton Gate, were bottom of the division but not cut adrift and certainly had a chance of beating the drop. BHA were due in Bolton for the weekend and then required to travel again up north, visiting Barnsley a week hence, making three consecutive away days. Gus Poyet elected to use squad rotation on this occasion, starting Mackail-Smith up front in lieu of hat-trick hero Ulloa who was on the bench. Bridcutt returned from suspension, although Barnes, Bridge and Vicente were missing and Greer, Dicker and LuaLua got included as subs. Some fringe players made up numbers recently, like Dunk, Forster-Caskey and Barker because there was not a lot of strength in depth. Crofts remained injured, crocked Hoskins had needed surgery, while Painter, Harley and Dobbie all disappeared out on loan. * match report: A horror injury to CMS marred an evening's battle where both sides held out for a point. Just before half time he went down as if shot when breaking away and medical staff helped support him off the pitch. In the event, Craig's season was finished due to an Achilles rupture. Ulloa resumed up front as Albion pressed on with 451 and tried to play football. City probed throughout but couldn't breakdown a resolute rearguard. Kuszczak did his bit when necessary although not unduly tested. Although maintaining a clean sheet, Albion failed to put Robins goalie under pressure and it all fizzled out into goal-less stalemate. For the first time for a long time, Gus refrained from further tactical substitutions, so Brighton plugged on when trying to revive our trademark passing game. It wasn't exactly a bad night at the office, although previously this campaign we'd played better and lost. Results from elsewhere went with us and Albion established in sixth position for the time being. Meanwhile Gus would be seeking replacement strikers - not any easy task at any period of the season when pressure to perform well literally rose to great heights. BHA had briefly been top of the table during opening weeks but anything less than a play-off spot could now be regarded as failure. Kuszczak, Bruno, El-Abd, Upson, Calderon, Hammond, Bridcutt, David, Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Ulloa), Orlandi. Champ's P35 . W14 D14 L7 . F50 A35 . Pt56 Po6 . W = 40% L = 20% Season1 (A) 10/9/11 - w 0-1 ~ Barnes. Gus Poyet got August manager of the month and took his unbeaten table-topping side to visit Ashton Gate after a lull in opening Championship fixtures. During that International break, BHA signed Vicente Rodriguez on a free transfer from Valencia. It was a major coup to say the least, landing a former Spanish first-teamer with vast experience of La Liga, Champions League and UEFA Cup. He couldn't speak English but with Poyet, Tanno and Calde around, it didn't seem to be so much of a problem. Brighton fans were told to expect a slow introduction from Vicente to tier two, while he got up to speed on moving from the warm Mediterranean. Our new no.15 attacking midfielder didn't actually travel to Bristol. Apparently he duly signed when Leicester were flashing the cash, although Tony Bloom, Gus and MD Ken Brown had already showed him the top-grade Amex which kinda swung the deal. Over 1600 Albion fans went to Bristol and let themselves be heard in a gate of 13k. * match report: You couldn't say the match was a classic but nobody was gonna argue with a third straight win away from Falmer. Brighton tried to play our usual passing game, albeit a bit disjointed on approaching the final third. Everybody was pleased to get thru to halftime at nil-nil coz it looked like a mistake at either end might be enough to win it. Gus left it until seventy-odd mins to make a double swop and up the ante at the death. Noone had played well but fresh legs from fellow wingers LuaLua and Buckley tipped the balance toward Seagulls. Barnes poached the winner late-doors from a corner touched on by Calderon (80min). A clean sheet, job done and dusted and competition hotting up for places. Gus Poyet went home happy we think. Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, Painter, Harley (Buckley), Bridcutt, Dicker, Noone (LuaLua), Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P6 . W5 D1 L0 . F11 A4 . Pt16 Po1 . W = 83.3% L = 0% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 3 01/2, 5 03/4, 8 06/7 - League One. Season8 23/1/07 EFL Trophy s-f. Withdean era: Robins V Albion 0-1, 0-0, 1-0 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 1 Millenium Stadium L1 p-o final - W 1-0 2-0 EFL Trophy. memorable match: Season5 (A) - the late season L1 away fixture prior to going on to meet City in that p-o final in Wales. Last there - 23/1/07 (A) JP Trophy s-f . A southern regional tie at Ashton Gate, which more or less represented our distinct lack of progress in this k-o competition thru the decade. 2/9/06 (A) League One. We were back in L1 after tasting C'ship delights, following promo via playoffs winning 1-0 versus Robins in Cardiff, May '04. see: Seasons 3, 5 & 8 for clubs & stadium info. Also Mark McGhee.
Bristol City - Home, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-12/13 15/16-16/17, Seasons 1-2 5-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. Season7 (1st) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Albion v Robins (H) from 11/12 @ C: - - 2-0 2-0 - - 2-1 0-1 . . W = 3 D = 0 L = 1 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season6 (H) - the game that some Brighton fans say cost us the C'ship title. Season6 (H) Championship 29/4/17 - L 0-1. This was the last home fixture of the season and was selected for the teatime k-o on Sky sports. Albion had been on live tv 18 times this term and had earned nearly 1mill overall from both home & away fixtures. City were old rivals from the Withdean era in League One (see 03/4 etc) but now BHA were the bigger outfit and the gulf was gonna get wider next term. On Easter Monday at home, Seagulls had won promotion to the Premier League and then wanted to secure the Championship title to boot. Chris Hughton had done a fantastic job at the Amex during the last three seasons and now with 2 fixtures to go had effectively taken BHA from initial threat of relegation right up into the elite. He said, 'it's hard to say whether it's my best moment in management but it is certainly up there. What does make this achievement satisfying is that there are other clubs in this division who operate with much more substantial budgets - and we have finished above them.' So within sight of his latest goal CH said, 'what really helped us this season was our ability to respond when we had a setback. We will need to show that again... and I am sure we will.' * match report: Oh dear, it all ended as a bit of an anticlimax as Albion lost the match and silverware was put back into storage for another week. Basically Seagulls never flew, failed to score, nor keep a clean sheet. They conceded close to half-time when didn't deal with a routine cross & header (43min). Hughton put March on after the break and later Sidwell but these changes made little difference to the pattern of play. City defended well and a lacklustre attack couldn't open them up. Hughton said, 'it's disappointing because we wanted to win the title here at the Amex. But the players have been incredible all season and whenever we've had a setback they've fought even harder to come back. Now we want to try and finish it off at Villa. I think we'll have to win there to be champions. But we want to be top and the good news is we have another chance.' Brighton fans who could remember the Goldstone Ground knew the club had been on an amazing journey since losing their home this very week in 1997. But deep down all supporters wanted to go into the Prem as no.1 in the lower division... time would tell whether the ultimate dream would come true. Stats; h-t 0-1, goals 43, poss 67%-33%, on target 2-3, off target 6-3, blocks 5-3, corners 4-2, o/s 1-2, fouls 20-12, yellows 1-2, subs 3-3 . att 30,338. Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk (Tomori), Bong, Knockaert, Stephens, Kayal (Sidwell), Skalak (March), Hemed, Murray. Champ's P45 . W28 D8 L9 . F73 A39 . Pt92 Po1 . W = 62.2% L = 20% Season5 (H) 20/10/15 - 2-1 ~ Baldock, Zamora. Going into this evening fixture Albion were four points clear at top of the Championship table and unbeaten in 11 matches - setting an overall club record for BHA beginnings. This was already equal to P12 W7 D4 = 25Pts gained under Gus Poyet at Withdean in 2010, when surging toward the League One title. And it also bettered both very good starts under Micky Adams, during 2000 @ L2 & 2001 @ L1 levels - when gaining consecutive promotions as champions. Chris Hughton was fielding a settled side playing good football and although the squad was small, he had equivalent strength available from the bench. On the night, a crowd of 23k attended to see if Albion could possibly take it to the limit in this tough divison. * match report: City took an unlikely lead in the opening stages and were good value overall for coming to the Amex and giving it a real go. Albion were chasing back and a deep cross found a man unmarked, although Dunk tried to clear off the line (17min). First half chances came and went, including a Baldock chip which was booted away before entering the net. Early into the second period he did beat the City defence when touching in a Bruno centre at the near post (53min). Brighton then went in search of the winner but huffed & puffed, while visitors showed plenty of threats. With time running out Hughton changed it to 433 by putting Crofts into m-f and quickly adding Zamora up front. And it was super-sub BZ who notched the winner not long afterwards when smashing in a shot to wrong-foot the keeper (83min). The place went crazy with delight as fans celebrated a fantastic start to this campaign. BHA were the only undefeated side in all divisions and seemingly well on the way toward reaching their dream of being part of the Premier League. Stats; poss 59-41, on target 6-5, off target 7-3, corners 4-5, o/s 4-4, fouls 10-9, yellows 3-3. Stockdale, Bruno, Dunk, Huenemeier, Bong, Rosenior (Crofts), Stephens, Kayal, March (Calderon), Baldock, Hemed (Zamora). Champ's P12 . W8 D4 L0 . F18 A10 . Pt28 Po1 . W = 66.6% L = 0% Seasons 3-4 (H) - not C'ship. Season2 (H) 27/11/12 - 2-0 ~ Hammond, Orlandi. Albion's second season at the Amex was stalling somewhat and wins were few and far between. Out of home fixtures to date we had; P9 W3 D4 L2 F13 A7. The thing was, after netting eight times in two early matches, goals were now hard to come by and results often hung by a proverbial thread. Gus Poyet remained generally happy with perfomances and Brighton fans agreed we had the best squad ever and watched pretty decent football at Falmer to boot. However success in this division would be measured by table position next springtime and the target was to qualify for play-offs. Perhaps we were just a kick in the shirt off having the quality to edge past opposition but of course that meant spending more money at transfer deadlines. We kinda had our cake but wanted to eat it sooner rather than later. 24k attended on a cold showery nite. * match report: After opening passes, Albion got a corner that was pushed short to Bridcutt. He floated in a deep cross and Hammond nutted hard past the keeper (6 min). Twenty minutes later Orlandi took a f-k from a similar position out right and fired it over. The ball beat everybody including the keeper and tucked inside a post (26min). Everybody thought we'd net again before the break but City tried to gt back in a one-sided game. On the hour mark Gus Poyet restored CMS to striker alongside Hoskins. Seagulls huffed and puffed but couldn't bulge the old onion bag once more. Crofts got on late but BHA were winding down rather than up and the match sorta petered out long before closing moments. We picked up three points and a clean sheet in a routine victory and shoulda been very happy. But we'd seen Albion play much better and drop points this term at the Amex. It sure was a funny old game. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Painter (Calderon), Hammond, Bridcutt, Orlandi, Buckley, Hoskins (Crofts), Dobbie (Mackail-Smith). Champ's P19 . W8 D7 L4 . F27 A16 . Pt31 Po7 . W = 42.1% L = 21% Season1 (H) 14/1/12 - 2-0 ~ Calderon, Buckley. Gus Poyet was more or less forced to field some development group youngsters in recent matches, due to numerous injuries and suspensions among the first team squad. The club was used to the Amex by now but noted its surface was much firmer than on training pitches. Perhaps this was a reason to query the increasing number of pulled hamstrings. Anyway it was all hands to the pumps and U18 star Forster-Caskey got selected to play again. Poyet expected to see all his teams play with fluent passing, although it was tougher now in the Championship than previously in League One. Albion employed their standard 4123 shape and hardly ever went with 442 these days. On the day it was cloudy and cold but over 20k attended, including 2k from the West Country. * match report: Bristol City needed points for a d-z battle and intended to stop BHA threats dead. They had a man booked inside 2mins and chased about a lot. CMS soon had to be subbed for a head injury (24m) and JF-C then went off after another robust challenge (27m). The game was going nowhere but suddenly Calderon unleashed a shot across the area that found the far angle under the bar (37m). The Spaniard got to be captain today and was only just returned from keyhole knee surgery. In the second period Brighton bossed but we needed to make the fixture safe. A further piece of brilliance secured all points in exciting fashion. Dunk's f-k was aimed wide right and Hoskins put Buckley through to go 121 with ex-Eng keeper James - no contest (73m). Robins hopped around with a late rally but were only left with egg on their faces from missed chances. Poyet's master-plan remained on track, albeit slightly delayed in terms of arriving at the play-offs before too long. Never a dull moment hopefully. Brezovan, Calderon, El-Abd, Dunk, Vincelot, Sparrow, Bridcutt, Forster-Caskey (Navarro), Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Hoskins), Barnes. Champ's P26 . W11 D5 L10 . F28 A28 . Pt38 Po12 . W = 42.3% L = 38.4% * * * * * Withdean era: seasons 3, 5, 8 - 01/2, 03/4, 06/7 League One. Withdean era: Albion V Robins 2-1, 1-4, 0-2 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 2 memorable match: Season5 (H) - a change of manager, plus more uncertainty at the old sports complex. see: Seasons 3, 5 & 8 for clubs & stadium info.
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Previous encounters (Bristol City )
Bristol City - Away, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-12/13 15/16-16/17, Seasons 1-2 5-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. ground: Ashton Gate 27k . nickname: Robins . shirt: red. EFL record from 11/12: 20 24 C, 12 1 L1, 18 17 / 11 8 12 19 17 14 11 C @ 4/5/24. C'ship: stayed up - '12, relegated - '13 . L1: promo - '15. Season7 (1st) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Robins v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 0-1 0-0 - - 0-4 0-2 . . W = 3 D = 1 L = 0 For Home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season6 (A) - had that sensational Sidwell score at Ashton Gate in a promo year. Season6 (A) Championship 5/11/16 - w 0-2 ~ Sidwell, Murphy. Albion recently had a good record at Ashton Gate (see below) in setting out from Falmer these days, after those rather up & down Withdean years. From five consecutive terms at Championship level, BHA had been included in p-os three times since 2012, when finishing, 10, 4, 6, 20 & 3. This season Seagulls were flying again under Chris Hughton, who had taken his strong team so close to auto promo last campaign. Now the squad had been enhanced further with quality personnel, capable of pushing for promotion to the Prem once more. Performances maybe had proven a little mixed but 10 clean sheets overall, with 4 on the road out of 7 visits, was testament to defensive prowess - worth a valuable point not to concede on travels. The match-day 18 didn't vary that much, so Seagulls were expected to field their settled eleven once more, backed by a capable bench of subs. Knockaert was missing due to death of his father. It was a 5:30 k-o, so other results were already known. * match report: Seagulls took the lead in spectacular style. Sidwell picked up on a mistake by Robins in midfield to send the ball from the centre circle into the net, as their hapless keeper slipped and fell (13min). Brighton playing in blue & white kit then celebrated when running to the bench and collectively hoisting high the no.11 shirt of Knockaert. A few moments later Murphy doubled the score when cutting inside to net with a deflected strike (20min). City came back into the match during the second period and pressed with attacking subs. Hughton responded shortly afterwards when withdrawing both his strikers and going to 451 shape. March returned from long term injury in stoppage time. Albion were comfortable at the back and maintained another clean sheet without too much trouble for Stockdale to get involved. Hughton said, 'I didn't expect Steve to shoot, it was unexpected. The timing was good because before that we were not at our best. The goal settled us down.' Over 1800 Brighton fans made the trip and were rewarded for devotion with a fourth straight win overall and three more points to make it 15pt in total on the road to date. Stats; ht 0-2, goals 13,20, poss 54%-46%, on target 1-2, off target 5-4, blocks 3-2, corners 4-3, o/s 3-2, fouls 8-13, yellows 1-1, subs 3-3, att 19,096 Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Skalak (March), Sidwell, Stephens, Murphy, Baldock (Norwood), Murray (Hemed) Champ's P16 . W10 D4 L2 . F25 A9 . Pt34 Po2 . W = 62.5% L = 12.5% Season5 (A) 23/2/16 - w 0-4 - Murphy, Baldock, Hemed, og. Going into this midweek fixture, the third of three aways in eight days, Albion had slipped further off the pace and needed a positive result pdq. At one time, just prior to Xmas, BHA led the division and were unbeaten on the road. But if a promotion push was to be reignited, another series of wins was necessary. And a second trip down the M4, following crushing defeat at Cardiff four days previously, wasn't exactly calming Brighton fans recent strained nerves or travel sickness. Chris Hughton had finally assembled a squad capable of making play-offs but inconsistent displays had hampered progress. The starting eleven remained solid and boosted by January signings and players back from injury, there was every reason to anticipate a target of approx 80pts could be attained. By coincidence, Albion were in a similar situation when visiting Robins three years ago (see below) and gone on to compete in play offs from the 3/4 milestone thru run in. On the night 15k turned up. * match report: Albion goals went in at 8, 21, 56 & 75 mins to register a resounding victory with the biggest win to date. Murphy opened the scoring with a fast run & shot. Then Baldock found a position to shoot after good work again by Hemed. The striker added a third in the second period when making a ball from Kayal count. Seagulls had the game won but Robins did find the net also, with an own goal after sub Wilson got in a header. Hughton put on Calderon to replace Bruno for the second half but after the hour mark he had options to swap out strikers as he pleased. It was not all one way traffic and locals tested Stockdale but he had the measure of their best efforts with excellent saves.So alls well that ends well and even when Ref gave City a pen in stoppage... they missed. BHA were back on track and improved a single figure GD into +11 this evening too. Stats; poss 59%-41%, on target 4-3, off target 12-7, corners 9-3, o/s 4-0, fouls 8-13, yellows 0-1. Stockdale, Bruno (Calderon), Goldson, Dunk, Rosenior, Knockaert, Stephens, Kayal, Murphy, Baldock (Wilson), Hemed ((Sidwell). Champ's P33 . W16 D12 L5 . F45 A34 . Pt60 Po4 . W = 48.4% L = 15.1% Seasons 3-4 (A) - not C'ship. Season2 (A) 5/3/13 - 0-0. As the season entered March this fixture marked reaching that three quarters of completion stage. Beforehand, Albion were on a good sequence of results, having won three out of four at the Amex and defeating league leaders Cardiff in Wales. It had elevated Seagulls into much coveted sixth place and considering Championship competitiveness this term, we needed to continue useful form right thru the run-in. Our opponents, on a Tuesday night at Ashton Gate, were bottom of the division but not cut adrift and certainly had a chance of beating the drop. BHA were due in Bolton for the weekend and then required to travel again up north, visiting Barnsley a week hence, making three consecutive away days. Gus Poyet elected to use squad rotation on this occasion, starting Mackail-Smith up front in lieu of hat-trick hero Ulloa who was on the bench. Bridcutt returned from suspension, although Barnes, Bridge and Vicente were missing and Greer, Dicker and LuaLua got included as subs. Some fringe players made up numbers recently, like Dunk, Forster-Caskey and Barker because there was not a lot of strength in depth. Crofts remained injured, crocked Hoskins had needed surgery, while Painter, Harley and Dobbie all disappeared out on loan. * match report: A horror injury to CMS marred an evening's battle where both sides held out for a point. Just before half time he went down as if shot when breaking away and medical staff helped support him off the pitch. In the event, Craig's season was finished due to an Achilles rupture. Ulloa resumed up front as Albion pressed on with 451 and tried to play football. City probed throughout but couldn't breakdown a resolute rearguard. Kuszczak did his bit when necessary although not unduly tested. Although maintaining a clean sheet, Albion failed to put Robins goalie under pressure and it all fizzled out into goal-less stalemate. For the first time for a long time, Gus refrained from further tactical substitutions, so Brighton plugged on when trying to revive our trademark passing game. It wasn't exactly a bad night at the office, although previously this campaign we'd played better and lost. Results from elsewhere went with us and Albion established in sixth position for the time being. Meanwhile Gus would be seeking replacement strikers - not any easy task at any period of the season when pressure to perform well literally rose to great heights. BHA had briefly been top of the table during opening weeks but anything less than a play-off spot could now be regarded as failure. Kuszczak, Bruno, El-Abd, Upson, Calderon, Hammond, Bridcutt, David, Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Ulloa), Orlandi. Champ's P35 . W14 D14 L7 . F50 A35 . Pt56 Po6 . W = 40% L = 20% Season1 (A) 10/9/11 - w 0-1 ~ Barnes. Gus Poyet got August manager of the month and took his unbeaten table-topping side to visit Ashton Gate after a lull in opening Championship fixtures. During that International break, BHA signed Vicente Rodriguez on a free transfer from Valencia. It was a major coup to say the least, landing a former Spanish first-teamer with vast experience of La Liga, Champions League and UEFA Cup. He couldn't speak English but with Poyet, Tanno and Calde around, it didn't seem to be so much of a problem. Brighton fans were told to expect a slow introduction from Vicente to tier two, while he got up to speed on moving from the warm Mediterranean. Our new no.15 attacking midfielder didn't actually travel to Bristol. Apparently he duly signed when Leicester were flashing the cash, although Tony Bloom, Gus and MD Ken Brown had already showed him the top-grade Amex which kinda swung the deal. Over 1600 Albion fans went to Bristol and let themselves be heard in a gate of 13k. * match report: You couldn't say the match was a classic but nobody was gonna argue with a third straight win away from Falmer. Brighton tried to play our usual passing game, albeit a bit disjointed on approaching the final third. Everybody was pleased to get thru to halftime at nil-nil coz it looked like a mistake at either end might be enough to win it. Gus left it until seventy-odd mins to make a double swop and up the ante at the death. Noone had played well but fresh legs from fellow wingers LuaLua and Buckley tipped the balance toward Seagulls. Barnes poached the winner late-doors from a corner touched on by Calderon (80min). A clean sheet, job done and dusted and competition hotting up for places. Gus Poyet went home happy we think. Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, Painter, Harley (Buckley), Bridcutt, Dicker, Noone (LuaLua), Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P6 . W5 D1 L0 . F11 A4 . Pt16 Po1 . W = 83.3% L = 0% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 3 01/2, 5 03/4, 8 06/7 - League One. Season8 23/1/07 EFL Trophy s-f. Withdean era: Robins V Albion 0-1, 0-0, 1-0 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 1 Millenium Stadium L1 p-o final - W 1-0 2-0 EFL Trophy. memorable match: Season5 (A) - the late season L1 away fixture prior to going on to meet City in that p-o final in Wales. Last there - 23/1/07 (A) JP Trophy s-f . A southern regional tie at Ashton Gate, which more or less represented our distinct lack of progress in this k-o competition thru the decade. 2/9/06 (A) League One. We were back in L1 after tasting C'ship delights, following promo via playoffs winning 1-0 versus Robins in Cardiff, May '04. see: Seasons 3, 5 & 8 for clubs & stadium info. Also Mark McGhee.
Bristol City - Home, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-12/13 15/16-16/17, Seasons 1-2 5-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. Season7 (1st) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Albion v Robins (H) from 11/12 @ C: - - 2-0 2-0 - - 2-1 0-1 . . W = 3 D = 0 L = 1 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season6 (H) - the game that some Brighton fans say cost us the C'ship title. Season6 (H) Championship 29/4/17 - L 0-1. This was the last home fixture of the season and was selected for the teatime k-o on Sky sports. Albion had been on live tv 18 times this term and had earned nearly 1mill overall from both home & away fixtures. City were old rivals from the Withdean era in League One (see 03/4 etc) but now BHA were the bigger outfit and the gulf was gonna get wider next term. On Easter Monday at home, Seagulls had won promotion to the Premier League and then wanted to secure the Championship title to boot. Chris Hughton had done a fantastic job at the Amex during the last three seasons and now with 2 fixtures to go had effectively taken BHA from initial threat of relegation right up into the elite. He said, 'it's hard to say whether it's my best moment in management but it is certainly up there. What does make this achievement satisfying is that there are other clubs in this division who operate with much more substantial budgets - and we have finished above them.' So within sight of his latest goal CH said, 'what really helped us this season was our ability to respond when we had a setback. We will need to show that again... and I am sure we will.' * match report: Oh dear, it all ended as a bit of an anticlimax as Albion lost the match and silverware was put back into storage for another week. Basically Seagulls never flew, failed to score, nor keep a clean sheet. They conceded close to half-time when didn't deal with a routine cross & header (43min). Hughton put March on after the break and later Sidwell but these changes made little difference to the pattern of play. City defended well and a lacklustre attack couldn't open them up. Hughton said, 'it's disappointing because we wanted to win the title here at the Amex. But the players have been incredible all season and whenever we've had a setback they've fought even harder to come back. Now we want to try and finish it off at Villa. I think we'll have to win there to be champions. But we want to be top and the good news is we have another chance.' Brighton fans who could remember the Goldstone Ground knew the club had been on an amazing journey since losing their home this very week in 1997. But deep down all supporters wanted to go into the Prem as no.1 in the lower division... time would tell whether the ultimate dream would come true. Stats; h-t 0-1, goals 43, poss 67%-33%, on target 2-3, off target 6-3, blocks 5-3, corners 4-2, o/s 1-2, fouls 20-12, yellows 1-2, subs 3-3 . att 30,338. Stockdale, Bruno, Huenemeier, Dunk (Tomori), Bong, Knockaert, Stephens, Kayal (Sidwell), Skalak (March), Hemed, Murray. Champ's P45 . W28 D8 L9 . F73 A39 . Pt92 Po1 . W = 62.2% L = 20% Season5 (H) 20/10/15 - 2-1 ~ Baldock, Zamora. Going into this evening fixture Albion were four points clear at top of the Championship table and unbeaten in 11 matches - setting an overall club record for BHA beginnings. This was already equal to P12 W7 D4 = 25Pts gained under Gus Poyet at Withdean in 2010, when surging toward the League One title. And it also bettered both very good starts under Micky Adams, during 2000 @ L2 & 2001 @ L1 levels - when gaining consecutive promotions as champions. Chris Hughton was fielding a settled side playing good football and although the squad was small, he had equivalent strength available from the bench. On the night, a crowd of 23k attended to see if Albion could possibly take it to the limit in this tough divison. * match report: City took an unlikely lead in the opening stages and were good value overall for coming to the Amex and giving it a real go. Albion were chasing back and a deep cross found a man unmarked, although Dunk tried to clear off the line (17min). First half chances came and went, including a Baldock chip which was booted away before entering the net. Early into the second period he did beat the City defence when touching in a Bruno centre at the near post (53min). Brighton then went in search of the winner but huffed & puffed, while visitors showed plenty of threats. With time running out Hughton changed it to 433 by putting Crofts into m-f and quickly adding Zamora up front. And it was super-sub BZ who notched the winner not long afterwards when smashing in a shot to wrong-foot the keeper (83min). The place went crazy with delight as fans celebrated a fantastic start to this campaign. BHA were the only undefeated side in all divisions and seemingly well on the way toward reaching their dream of being part of the Premier League. Stats; poss 59-41, on target 6-5, off target 7-3, corners 4-5, o/s 4-4, fouls 10-9, yellows 3-3. Stockdale, Bruno, Dunk, Huenemeier, Bong, Rosenior (Crofts), Stephens, Kayal, March (Calderon), Baldock, Hemed (Zamora). Champ's P12 . W8 D4 L0 . F18 A10 . Pt28 Po1 . W = 66.6% L = 0% Seasons 3-4 (H) - not C'ship. Season2 (H) 27/11/12 - 2-0 ~ Hammond, Orlandi. Albion's second season at the Amex was stalling somewhat and wins were few and far between. Out of home fixtures to date we had; P9 W3 D4 L2 F13 A7. The thing was, after netting eight times in two early matches, goals were now hard to come by and results often hung by a proverbial thread. Gus Poyet remained generally happy with perfomances and Brighton fans agreed we had the best squad ever and watched pretty decent football at Falmer to boot. However success in this division would be measured by table position next springtime and the target was to qualify for play-offs. Perhaps we were just a kick in the shirt off having the quality to edge past opposition but of course that meant spending more money at transfer deadlines. We kinda had our cake but wanted to eat it sooner rather than later. 24k attended on a cold showery nite. * match report: After opening passes, Albion got a corner that was pushed short to Bridcutt. He floated in a deep cross and Hammond nutted hard past the keeper (6 min). Twenty minutes later Orlandi took a f-k from a similar position out right and fired it over. The ball beat everybody including the keeper and tucked inside a post (26min). Everybody thought we'd net again before the break but City tried to gt back in a one-sided game. On the hour mark Gus Poyet restored CMS to striker alongside Hoskins. Seagulls huffed and puffed but couldn't bulge the old onion bag once more. Crofts got on late but BHA were winding down rather than up and the match sorta petered out long before closing moments. We picked up three points and a clean sheet in a routine victory and shoulda been very happy. But we'd seen Albion play much better and drop points this term at the Amex. It sure was a funny old game. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Painter (Calderon), Hammond, Bridcutt, Orlandi, Buckley, Hoskins (Crofts), Dobbie (Mackail-Smith). Champ's P19 . W8 D7 L4 . F27 A16 . Pt31 Po7 . W = 42.1% L = 21% Season1 (H) 14/1/12 - 2-0 ~ Calderon, Buckley. Gus Poyet was more or less forced to field some development group youngsters in recent matches, due to numerous injuries and suspensions among the first team squad. The club was used to the Amex by now but noted its surface was much firmer than on training pitches. Perhaps this was a reason to query the increasing number of pulled hamstrings. Anyway it was all hands to the pumps and U18 star Forster-Caskey got selected to play again. Poyet expected to see all his teams play with fluent passing, although it was tougher now in the Championship than previously in League One. Albion employed their standard 4123 shape and hardly ever went with 442 these days. On the day it was cloudy and cold but over 20k attended, including 2k from the West Country. * match report: Bristol City needed points for a d-z battle and intended to stop BHA threats dead. They had a man booked inside 2mins and chased about a lot. CMS soon had to be subbed for a head injury (24m) and JF-C then went off after another robust challenge (27m). The game was going nowhere but suddenly Calderon unleashed a shot across the area that found the far angle under the bar (37m). The Spaniard got to be captain today and was only just returned from keyhole knee surgery. In the second period Brighton bossed but we needed to make the fixture safe. A further piece of brilliance secured all points in exciting fashion. Dunk's f-k was aimed wide right and Hoskins put Buckley through to go 121 with ex-Eng keeper James - no contest (73m). Robins hopped around with a late rally but were only left with egg on their faces from missed chances. Poyet's master-plan remained on track, albeit slightly delayed in terms of arriving at the play-offs before too long. Never a dull moment hopefully. Brezovan, Calderon, El-Abd, Dunk, Vincelot, Sparrow, Bridcutt, Forster-Caskey (Navarro), Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Hoskins), Barnes. Champ's P26 . W11 D5 L10 . F28 A28 . Pt38 Po12 . W = 42.3% L = 38.4% * * * * * Withdean era: seasons 3, 5, 8 - 01/2, 03/4, 06/7 League One. Withdean era: Albion V Robins 2-1, 1-4, 0-2 . . . W = 1 D = 0 L = 2 memorable match: Season5 (H) - a change of manager, plus more uncertainty at the old sports complex. see: Seasons 3, 5 & 8 for clubs & stadium info.
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