Brightonfans.com :: Brighton and Hove Albion fansite

Previous encounters (Derby )
Derby - Away, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-16/17, Seasons 1-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. ground: Pride Park 33.5k . nickname: Rams . shirt: white. EFL record from 11/12: 12 10 3 8 5 9 / 6 6 10 21 23 C, 7, 2 L1 @ 4/5/24. * * * promo - '24 L1 . rel - '22 C . p-os - '14 '16 '18 '19 C. Season7 (1st) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Rams v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 0-1 0-0 1-0 3-0 2-2 0-0 . . W = 1 D = 3 L = 2 For Home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season3 (A) - two visits to Pride Park, the second being a play-off s-f away leg. Season6 (A) Championship 6/8/16 - 0-0. This was the opening game and against one of last year's play-off sides who were again expected to be a top-six outfit. Following that agonising last afternoon at Middlesbrough, when BHA failed by a goal to achieve auto promo, perhaps a 'get straight back in the saddle' approach was best after that fall. Greer, Calderon & Zamora had been released but Glenn Murray was back on loan, while Steve Sidwell & Oliver Norwood had signed contracts for the campaign. The squad was not quite complete (rumours of ins & outs) and 2 regular centre backs were injured so a kid sat on the bench. On a warm & sunny afternoon, 28k attended at the iPro Stad for start of the season. * match report: The match ended in stalemate, as several contests between these two sides had over recent campaigns. On balance a draw was a fair result but BHA did have definite oportunities to edge victory over a below-par side. Hughton went with orthodox 442 and Murray played alongside last term's top scorer Hemed. An industrious two-man midfield provided support to wingers and overlapping fullbacks. At the back, keeper and cent-def kept a clean sheet. Seagulls had periods of pressure in the second period but County were first to make changes in search of a winning formation. Hughton responded by replacing Hemed with Baldock as the clock showed 20 mins to go. Further late subs on both flanks made little difference to the outcome. Hughton said, 'I got a committed performance from a team that didn't want to lose. We had some really good glimpses and performances. You are never quite sure what you are going to get.' 1300 away fans went home fairly happy, although wondering if our luck was still running or whether last May it had run out. Stats; poss 50%-50%, on target 4-4, off target 8-8, blocked 0-4, corners 1-8, fouls 13-17, o/s 2-0, yellows 2-2, subs 3-3 . att 28,749. Stockdale, Rosenior, Bruno, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert (LuaLua), Kayal, Sidwell, Skalak (Murphy), Hemed (Baldock), Murray. Champ's P1 . W0 D1 L0 . F0 A0 . Pt1 Po13 . W = 0% L = 0% Season5 (A) 12/12/15 - 2-2 ~ Wilson, La Parra. Going into this contest, top club Albion had 41pts and third placed Rams 37pt. So if BHA happened to lose retaining their undefeated run since day1, at least Seagulls would still be in the top two. The critical thing was to try and stay there and keep a points gap above play-off places - and their kinda lottery... see season3 below. Hyypia, Garcia and Poyet were all history, having each tried and failed to find the silver bullet to shoot Seagulls into the Prem. But Chris Hughton was now man of the moment, having reversed sorry fortune last term and gotten an enhanced squad to lead the Championship from high summer onwards. A few of the old guard were still around; Greer, Bruno, Dunk, Crofts, Calderon, JFC, March, Ince & LuaLua, plus now; Zamora, Stockdale, Stephens, Kayal and Hemed to boost quality in the current team. On the day 30k turned up to watch the event. * match report: Albion became Championship record holders by remaning unbeaten yet again. On loan kid Wilson (Man Utd) bagged the opening goal with a glance across the keeper (22min). But March soon got injured and was replaced by other loanee van La Parra (Wolves). And then just prior to the interval County levelled from a corner (41min). The second period was also nip & tuck and although Seagulls had to defend a fair bit, they went ahead again. La Parra finished a fluid forward move as Stephens stroked the ball thru in the area (75min). Hughton responded to attacking changes by Rams and double subbed with about ten mins left. BHA went to 451 with Zamora alone up front and Ince sitting deep in midfield. As ninety minutes approached, visitors were on the back foot and Ref gave the home unit a soft penalty (88min). Hughton said, 'I thought we would get a win today. To come here and put in a performance - the draw was a fair result on balance. But after the way we played I don't think anyone would begrudge us a win.' Brighton fans were probably relieved the team was still undefeated and proud of a display that kept them at top of the table to boot. Stats; poss 61%-39%, on target 7-3, off target 9-2, blocks 3-3, corners 7-4, fouls 9-11, o/s 0-1, yellow 1-1. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Calderon, March (La Parra), Stephens, Kayal, Murphy, Wilson (Zamora), Hemed (Ince). Champ's P20 . W11 D9 L0 . F29 A18 . Pt42 Po1 . W = 55% L = 0% Season4 (A) 6/12/14 - L 3-0. Rams easily got Seagulls to butt out of play-offs back in May (see below) and were chasing an auto promo spot this time around, leading the division with nearly twice as many points as their reconstituted visitors. Meanwhile Albion were struggling at wrong end of the table, following an unimpresive first half to this campaign, by occupying a place in the bottom three. Now under leadership of Sami Hyypia, we'd merely one win in 15 since mid August. But SH persisted with his mantra of no width and wingbacks - which had spectacularly misfired to date. The squad was also vastly changed since to last term, where Bruno, Dunk & JFC were still regulars - a lot of the rest were long gone. * match report: Whatever expectations Brighton fans had beforehand, we didn't expect to be three down in twenty mins, with goals at five min intervals. County cut thru us like a knife into butter and Albion defence was just as soft. Bang, bang, bang (10, 15, 20 min), ouch, ouch, ouch! Hyypia had no luck with his formation and pulled his on-loan wonder kid off before half an hour and inserted Ince to shore up rearguard and stop the rot. In the second period Seagulls played a bit of football but was merely passing time - no shots on target. McCourt came on for twenty mins but in truth, there was no spare striker on the bench - merely a couple of fringe players. Hyypia said, 'if I don't think I can turn the season around I will walk away. I am still here and intend to go into work on Monday morning. I can't control anything the owners want to do. They will tell me if they don't want me.' The next fixture was Millwall on Friday night and if ever there was a must win game, that one was gonna be it. Older Brighton fans had seen relegation battles at Withdean during the noughties, although to many new supporters this was an experience they would rather not go through if at all possible. If BHA were managerless and adrift in the bottom three prior to New Year, the big worry for Tony Bloom was, would they continue to buy tickets? A hard core of 10k+ would stay loyal but CEO Paul Barber was already investigating budget cuts ongoing for 2015. What would happen next? Stockdale, Bruno, Dunk, Hughes, J Bennett, Gardner, Forster-Caskey, Teixeira (Ince), E Bennett, Bent, March (McCourt). Champ's P20 . W3 D9 L8 . F21 A28 . Pt18 Po22 . W = 15% L = 40% Season 3 (A) 11/5/14 C'ship p-o s-f 2nd leg - L 4-1 ~ LuaLua. Albion had lost the home match s-f tie a few days before 1-2, having snatched sixth place on the final Championship fixtures afternoon a week beforehand. Seagulls figs on the road were W9 D8 L6 F26 A19, which represented nearly half of total points in this tough qualifying campaign. A mean defence had made up for lack of goals overall but we now just needed to score one and keep it clean to stay in the fight and go to penalties. Oscar Garcia knew we were behind the curve against County, who had gotten thirteen points more for third place. But this was a one-off and anything could happen. On a rain swept Sunday teatime, over2.5k travelling support were ready to give all for the shirt. * match report: It was a pity that Brighton were knocked out in quite the manner that left many fans wondering whether the players were really up for it. Derby goals on 34, 56, 76 & 87 mins put Seagulls in much more than just a flap. A consolation by sub LuaLua right at the death at least gave disheartened devoted something to cheer in a 6-2 defeat on aggregate. Oscar Garcia went with 451 and hoped to hold County goalless as long as poss but it backfired. Greer went off injured inside half an hour and ten mins later we were a goal down. OG was about to make a double swap before the hour when bang, we went two behind on the day and the tie was lost. There were plenty of excuses made and immediately people realised how BHA had over-achieved this term. So we all had to be content with how far this club had realistically come in three years at Falmer. But more drama unfolded afterwards when Oscar Garcia resigned as Head Coach. Brighton's bubble had been well & truly burst. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer (Chicksen), Dunk, Ward, Ince, Andrews, Orlandi (Mackail-Smith), Buckley (LuaLua), Ulloa, Lingard. Season3 (A) 18/1/14 - L 1-0. Albion went into this Championship game having reached a play-off position for the first time this campaign. Away form was pretty good with five wins on the road and merely three losses. Head Coach Oscar Garcia was slowly fine-tuning his squad after injuries caused crisis and also previously regular players like Barnes & El-Abd had recently left the club. There were more than social media rumours about Bridcutt's intended departure to Prem football and he didn't feature in the starting eleven on the day. Meanwhile County were doing ok in this tough division, probably due to effects of change of manager getting best out of a developing group of players. * match report: Quite how Seagulls lost a match where stats gave them every chance to nick it themselves remains an ongoing Peak District mystery. From word go visitors held their own with possession, build up and attacking moves. But same old, same old when it came to making and taking chances in oppositions area. The home outfit were there for taking throughout but pinched three points from a subs great strike as Albion fell back (76min). Garcia made his first subbing late in the afternoon when bringing on dev squad youngster March to boost attacking options (68min). Much later Agustien and Obika took to the fray as Brighton chased the game in usual fashion. Ulloa ran around on his own up front and only JFC appeared to be capable of getting right in where it hurt. All in all lots of huff & puff but no cigar. Oscar Garcia said, 'we are looking to strengthen the squad. The club is working on a list of targets.' It seemed that play-offs were out of reach unless a solution was found to lack of scoring goals. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, David (Agustien), Andrews, Ince, Forster-Caskey (Obika), Orlandi (March), Ulloa. Champ's P26 . W10 D9 L7 . F30 A23 . Pt39 Po7 . W = 38.4% L = 26.9% Season2 (A) 6/10/12 - 0-0. Brighton had just taken merely one point from two consecutive fixtures at the Amex and been knocked off top spot in the Championship. As the table began to take true shape, Gus Poyet was aware that his ideas for how to play fooball were under test at this good level. He didn't get the additional striker by close of the transfer window and then CMS got injured. He'd previously bagged six goals over seven apps, while Barnes had three out of nine, Buckley two from six and sub Dobbie nought in four. Poyet was looking for a positive reaction from a fairly decent squad by past standards. The thing that became apparent was, Bridge had two goals, Greer and El-Abd one each but any number of midfielders couldn't seem to notch at all. On a nice afternoon about 1500 away fans attended in a crowd of 22k. * match report: Apparently the match was a snore bore but Gus Poyet remained upbeat afterwards. He said, 'I think we had the best chances and approach play and most of the ball.' Brighton struck the woodwork twice in the second period thru Bridcutt and Dobbie, as Albion threatened to open the scoring against lacklustre Rams. Buckley hobbled off just over the half hour and around the hour mark Hammond replaced limping Orlandi. Gus said, 'the leading scorers were not on the pitch and that contributed to the nil-nil. You need someone to do something special and maybe that player wasn't on the pitch today.' County rallied late in the day and put BHA under pressure but Kuszczak was still alert enough to parry a couple of hot shots and earn visitors a hard fought point on the long road toward hoped for play-offs. Seagulls edged battle of the stats and needed to turn those into three points in such games, if they were truly serious about these ambitions. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, David, Bridcutt, Dicker, Buckley (Dobbie), Barnes, Orlandi (Hammond). Champ's P10 . W5 D3 L2 . F15 A6 . Pt18 Po5 . W = 50% L = 20% Season1 (A) 29/11/11 - W 0-1 ~ Mackail-Smith. Albion had been hovering in mid-table for a number of weeks, with lack of scoring on the road a major factor in failure to win consistently. Previous away form looking back from beginning of the season was; www lld dll, with total goals for 7 and goals against 10. Other stats from on/off targets revealed not enough chances were being created overall, especially those to give strikers sufficient opportunities. A disputed reversal at league-leaders Southampton, when beaten by three in controversial fashion and another trio put past us at Ipswich, accounted for majority of goals conceded on travels. Of the other two losses, both had been one-nil defeats - at Leicester and Watford. To put results into some perspective, merely nine points covered bulk of Championship clubs from fifth position right down to twenty-second. Gus Poyet was in no rush to push quality squad members into the ongoing campaign, following return from niggling injury. Buckley, Vicente and Jara Reyes were left on sidelines again, while Taricco was still suspended. Vincelot resumed at left-back in lieu of hamstrung Painter but Noone and Paynter got dropped to the bench. Ankergren was back between the sticks and Hoskins made a start with former sub Barnes. Gate; 22,040 (700 B'ton fans) . Weather; cold evening after rain. *** match report: Mackail-Smith hadn't scored for nine games but put Albion ahead with what turned out to be the winner. Greer sent Calderon off down right flank and his centre was competed for by Barnes at the near post. The ball broke for CM-S inside the area and he slammed it into the top corner (13min). Brighton withstood Derby's onslaught and Dunk cleared one attempt off the line. After halftime, County had another go but couldn't score for all the spring water in the peak district. It was a bit desperate at times, although Seagulls shaded possession when able to impose our passing game on hapless opposition. El-Abd got to play almost half a match on return from long term injury, replacing Calderon who was booked. Ankergren did his bit to keep it clean, while Greer and head-bandaged Dunk defended like heroes. Noone was introduced in order to work the flank and support El-Abd for last half hour. Brighton hung on to three points but mighta eased late pressure when CM-S hit the post with a header and Hoskins blasted the rebound over the bar. Travellers went home happy and Gus loved it when a plan finally came together. Ankergren, Calderon (El-Abd), Greer, Dunk, Vincelot, Harley, Bridcutt, Navarro, Barnes (Noone), Mackail-Smith, Hoskins (Paynter). Champ's P19 . W8 D5 L6 . F22 A21 . Pt29 Po7 . W = 42.1% L = 31.5% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 4 02/3, 6-7 04/5-05/6 - Championship. Season10 4/11/08 (H) - EFL Cup R3. Withdean era: Rams V Albion 1-0, 3-0, 1-1 . . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 2 memorable match: Season6 (A) - an object lesson in skill and ability at this level. Noughties last there: 6/8/05 C'ship. Final trip from 3 visits to Pride Park playing at level2 during this decade. see: Seasons 4, 6-7 for clubs & stadium info in the C'ship. Also Steve Coppell & Mark McGhee.
Derby - Home, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-16/17, Seasons 1-6 . '19 FAC season8 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. Seasons 9 (3rd) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Season8 (H) 16/2/19 FA Cup 5th round - w 2-1 ~ Knockaert, Locadia This tie was played on the fourth consecutive Saturday at the Amex in all competitions, allbeit with different ko times. Albion eventually got past West Brom, in a replay away aet, having already drawn 0-0 at the Amex toward end of January. Chris Hughton was previously rotating his squad for Cup games but again had decisions to make regarding a possible cup run versus vital PL safety & survival. Andone collected a 3 match ban at the Hawthorns, so he was put out of the equation. In fact the first eleven was struggling to score goals and had only notched two at the Amex this year so far. Murray was in a goal drought here, while most others, apart from Duffy, couldn't score if paid for it... well, you know what we mean! On the day Hughton fielded a pukka eleven, although subs included 3 U23s. *** match report: Albion got thru to the last eight but it all became a bit fraught by the death. First half dominance evaporated after the interval as Rams went to 442 and took the game to hosts. In the opening period Knockaert finished a move assited by Bissouma (33min) to open scoring. Just prior to h-t Bissouma hit a post and Locadia converted the rebound (45+). Seagulls surrendered possession for the second half and it was often backs to the wall in rearguard. Rams eventually netted after poor defending to set up a frantic finish (81min). Hughton threw on Gyokeres & Gross to try and stop the rot. Somehow BHA held on to the lead and crawled into the next round draw after a good late battering from unlucky visitors. Hughton said, 'we've had a bad week with a few minor injuries, which made us a little bit weaker as a squad. Players need to dig deep, particularly for lads that haven't as many minutes as others. It gives us a big lift. There have been some poor results and an inability to finish games off. We're through, which is the most important thing.' Brighton fans were just glad to see a couple of goals to cheer for blue & white, while not conceding an equal number or more up the other end. And nobody wanted possibility of extra time or pens today for sure. There was now a lull in PL & FAC action until the week after next Saturday and Albion went off to Spain for a nice warm rest to boot. Not too bad for the lucky so & so's! 27 Button, 2 Bruno, 4 Duffy, 33 Burn, 30 Bernardo, 8 Bissouma (13 Gross 86), 6 Stephens, 7 Kayal, 11 Knockaert, 9 Locadia (42 Gyokeres 81), 16 Jahanbakhsh. Subs; 31 Sanchez, 3 Bong, 22 Montoya, 57 Ostigard, 49 Molumby. Stats; ht 2-0, goals 33,45-81, shape 433-433, poss 47%-53%, on target 8-3, off target 6-5, blocks 4-4, o/s 3-1, crosses 15-18, corners 8-5, tackles 20-12, fouls 13-11, yellows 2-3, subs 2-3. Gate 24,562, away 2139. MoM - Knockaert. * * * * * * * * * * Seasons 7-8 (1st-2nd) (H) - not Premier League. Derby home, Falmer years - C'ship. Albion v Rams (H) from 11/12 @ C: 2-0 2-1 1-2 2-0 1-1 3-0 . . W = 4 D = 1 L = 1 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season3 (H) - our first & last home games this term, the second being a playoff s-f. Season 6 (H) Championship 10/3/17 - w 3-0 ~ Knockaert, Baldock, Murray. It was a Friday night but the only home fixture during this shortened month, those other three matches all being away, prior to the international break. Albion were currently in second place, adrift of Newcastle but chased by Huddersfield, Leeds, Reading & Sheff Wed. Another win at the Amex would go a long way toward soothing supporters nerves thru rest of March, with the important April run-in still to come. Chris Hughton had built a team over the last couple of seasons worthy of competing in the top six and hoped to go the extra mile this campaign - see below. Of that side recorded as getting an app here last May, only on-loan Wilson wasn't still on the books now, albeit LuaLua was lent out to QPR. * match report: Albion made no mistake this time around against Rams and put three past them, keeping a clean sheet to boot. Knockaert opened the scoring inside five minutes with a teasing run and low shot (5min) to get the ball rolling so to speak. Just prior to the interval Baldock finished a fluid move involving Murray by stroking home a strike across the keeper (43min). Past the hour mark Bruno had to come off but Tomori fitted in without undue problems to Seagulls game plan. Murray later converted a cut back from Knockaert to put things beyond hapless County (78min). Hemed then replaced the scorer and a few moments afterwards March got on for the Mom popular Frenchman. Hughton said, 'we've got some tough games coming up and everybody is fighting. But we're on the back of a really good performance against a good side. We were good from start to finish. The timing of the first goal was pivotal and the second lifted us and we were able to take that on into the second half.' Hughton mentioned there was no target for points total to reach during the run-in, although Brighton fans thought another five wins would seal the deal. That would give 92pts and every reason to think it sufficient for elevation to the Prem. Stats; h-t 2-0, goals 5,43,78, poss 44%-56%, on target 6-0, off target 7-2, corners 8-2, o/s 0-2, fouls 16-11, yellows 0-0, subs 3-2 . att 27,552. Stockdale, Bruno (Tomori), Huenemeier, Dunk, Rosenior, Knockaert (March), Stephens, Kayal, Skalak, Murray (Hemed), Baldock. Champ's P37 . W23 D8 L6 . F63 A31 . Pt77 Po2 . W = 62.1% L = 16.2% Season5 (H) 2/5/16 - 1-1 - Wilson. This was the final home fixture of another successful campaign at level2. And eyes of the world were upon the Amex for a tv spectacular on Bank Holiday Monday. Not that home fans were complaining any more than usual, given the number of times games had been rescheduled due to power of subscription media payouts. And Albion lapped up chances to broadcast again & again... season ticket renewals were at a record high, so there! But unlike previous campaigns, Albion were in the driving seat for auto-promo and needed to beat Rams to take the final decision by Gods of Football to the last day. And seats were expected to be filled to capacity. Seagulls form during the run-in was dww dww www and had taken them to be level on points with the top two teams. Anything could happen in football but momentum was with BHA and the 'one club, one ambition' tag line had never been closer to being made reality as now. Over 30k turned up to witness the contest. * match report: Seagulls came very close to losing when reduced to ten men for the last ten minutes. Dunk had been booked as the first half neared completion and deep into the second period with BHA one down, he was dismissed for a 2nd reckless challenge. Rams were good value for the lead as they brought on a sub and he notched with the second kick - his first saved by Stockdale (71min). Albion were guilty of missing the target on too many occasions and making it hard to win the game as time ticked down to zero. Hughton made a double swap on 67min and went in search of a goal. In stoppage time Wilson spared blushes when finding the net after a corner by Knockaert. Hughton said, 'most of the challenges we have faced we have risen to the occasion... we will have a good week and make sure we do everything right and look forward to a very tough game on Saturday.' Seagulls were to visit fellow promo chasers Middlesbrough on the last afternoon of the season and that result would determine both their fates. A case of sudden death at the Riverside. Stats; poss 47%-53%, on target 3-5, off target 13-3, corners 11-7, fouls 11-15, yellows 2-3. Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Rosenior, Knockaert, Stephens, Kayal, Skalak (LuaLua), Baldock (Wilson), Hemed. Champ's P45 . W24 D16 L5 . F71 A41 . Pt88 Po3 . W = 53.3 L = 11.1% Season4 (H) 3/3/15 - 2-0 ~ Stephens, LuaLua. Well, for a kick-off BHA didn't have the greatest record against Rams at the Amex in the last couple of years. And currently County were top of the table, aiming to go straight up to the Prem without that p-o lottery like last term (see below). Meanwhile Albion were constantly looking over shoulders for fear one of the bottom three might be sneaking closer on points as we approached the run-in. Such was the biggest turn around to last season's extended season and a bit of an eye-opener to Championship clubs now fully operating under FFP rules. Latterly Seagulls were pretty much potless, having invested heavily off-field at Lancing academy with Bloom mega millions. Chris Hughton had signed merely one player permanently, Beram Kayal, since arriving as boss at New Year ahead of the transfer window. Apart from that he was relying on loan players to boost the previously ailing squad up to level2 standard. Three summer signings had been let go, along with 3 short-term loanees. Others from the squad had also gone out on loan or were stuck in reserves now. Hughton's mission was to find consistency with what he'd got available and aim to stay in the division. * match report: Albion gave a creditable display and hit the net twice, while league leaders were ahead on stats but didn't manage to score. Other results on the night went the BHA way too and saw this victory open a nine point gap above the bottom three. Just before h-t Baldock was injured and LuaLua replaced him. County had most possession from word go but despite a string of corners, failed to convert dominance into points. In fact Stockdale was last man in defence when tipping over to maintain parity at the break. In the second period, Rams raided again & again but Seagulls blocked every time. Hughton then decided to swap Teixeira for Stephens in a more advanced role five mins past the hour. A few moments later he headed a Bruno long throw forward where Calderon got into the box, then followed up the 1-2 and opened the scoring (69min). Less than ten mins later, O'Grady threaded a ball thru for LuaLua to smash a trademark drive low & hard (77min). Once more Albion defended for their lives and kept a clean sheet to boot. There was even time for Ledesma to get on for a very late debut as BHA started to look like a settled side at long last. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Kayal (Ledesma), Teixeira (Stephens), Holla, Calderon, O'Grady, Baldock (LuaLua). Champ's P35 . W9 D13 L13 . F40 A43 . Pt40 Po19 . W = 25.7% L = 37.1% Season3 (H) 8/5/14 C'ship p-o s-f 1st leg - L 1-2 ~ Lingard. County came to visit again because they had finished a good 3rd in the Championship, whilst we had nicked 6th spot from Reading at the death by winning at Forest. Although Oscar Garcia was to be rightly congratulated for steering Albion into p-os in his first season at the Amex, perhaps there was a thought that other bigger lev2 teams had under-performed this term. Oscar said, 'when you are 16th in the table it is normal that some people don't trust what you are doing. Some players told me we would be in the play-offs. For me, it wasn't a surprise.' For many Brighton fans it was the stuff of dreams once more. * match report: After playing good football, taking the lead and pushing on, Albion lost the tie by halftime. Calderon set up Lingard to open scoring (18min) as Seagulls flew at Rams. But a very quick counterattack resulted in Ref pointing to the spot and TK went the wrong way (29min). Just before the break a snap shot hit the bar and bounced into our net off TK still in the air (45min). LuaLua came on for hamstrung Buckley at start of the second period and Garcia subbed for March with twenty minutes left. Brighton huffed & puffed but County keeper made crucial saves and got Mom awarded. Ref might have given us one of two dubious pen decisions but no, our luck was right out. On stats we had 'em beat but in reality only goals count. Oscar said, 'it was a totally unfair result. We were better than them in all areas apart from in front of goal.' CMS came on very late and showed great character. More of a will to win was needed by other regulars who did not perform on this particular disappointing night. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Ward, Orlandi (March), Andrews, Forster-Caskey, Buckley (LuaLua), Ulloa, Lingard (Mackail-Smith). Season3 (H) 10/8/13 - L 1-2 ~ Ulloa. This was the first home fixture of the third Championship season at Falmer's icon. A lot of the previous season's squad were still around - less Vicente, Bridge, Hammond & Dicker. CMS & Hoskins were long-term injured but Kemy Agustien had signed from Swansea. We also had a new Head Coach in Oscar Garcia coz Gus Poyet got the old heave-ho due to gross misconduct - allegedly! He was gonna fight dismissal in court, although Tony Bloom had said he already wished to leave BHA and manage elsewhere long before end of last season. Anyway Brighton fans were optimistic for continued success, given Barca credentials of OG - who had played, coached and done good in Spain before managing the Israeli champions. This fixture came quickly after crushing home defeat to Newport County in the Carling Cup on a bizarre night of twists & turns. * match report: Oh dear it was another disaster for Garcia, who had now lost three out of er, three. It was noticeable that the pace of Seagulls forward progress was much more rapid and direct than in seasons1&2. Albion took the lead via an Ulloa header from a great deep cross by Calderon (17min). But as the game wore on, in-play stats became level and County duly equalised from poor defensive cover (28min). Right at start of the second period BHA were caught cold to basic hit and run tactics and thereafter were always chasing the game (47min). OC first introduced Keith Andrews (new signing) to get time in m-f (71min) and stoke fires. With time running out LuaLUa got on to take on Rams outer defence (79min). Kid Solly March got a cameo at the death. Brighton fans thought Ref a joke. He booked eight in a fairly clean contest, denied us a certain pen to handball from a f-k and made strange decisions throughout - and we've seen a lot of matches to know. OC said don't worry. Nathan Jones (coach) said don't worry and the squad said don't worry. But do you know what? More than a few supporters began to worry. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Maksimenko, Ince (LuaLUa), Agustien, David, Buckley (March), Ulloa, Barnes (Andrews). Champ's P2 . W0 D0 L2 . F2 A4 . Pt0 Po19 . W = 0% L = 100% Season2 (H) 12/1/13 - 2-1 ~ Barnes, Orlandi. Albion were back at the Amex after beating Newcastle 2-0 there in the FA Cup round3 the previous Saturday. Admittedly Toon fielded a second eleven due to injury and on paper at least, BHA were a better squad than last season. Gus Poyet had more or less the full list of usual suspects to choose from and apparently, he'd just signed Leonardo Ulloa from Almeria to add to the Spanish speakers. Seagulls were in a group of clubs chasing sixth play-off spot, along with Derby, Millwall, Forest, Burnley and Leeds. Gus said he wanted an extra 40pts in 2013, so winning home games was necessary to turn things around at Falmer where we'd dropped too many points already. On the day it was very cold and wet but over 25k attended to keep Brighton top of the Championship gates listing. * match report: Barnes was playing at centre forward in lieu of injured CMS and he opened the scoring almost from word go (2mins) after good work by David. Before too long Albion went two up when Orlandi headed home a cross from Calderon (25min). Both goals came via the right flank, although our regular 433 shape produced attacks on each wing with plenty of fluid movement. Around the hour mark after the interval, Rams twice cleared off the line when it looked certain we'd get a third and cruise to victory. However B'ton took their foot off the pedal and Derby got one back from a deflected f-k (70m). Gus responded quickly with a double swap of Dicker and LuaLua to keep pressure on visitors. There was a nervous finish for Amex faithful, not helped by Ref's decisions either and finally Crofts got sent on very late to hold the fort. Gus said, 'we need to suffer all the time, we put ourselves in that situation when there was not really any danger.' Brighton fans would take the win and three points and forget about all other issues for the time being. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, David (Crofts), Bridcutt, Hammond, Buckley (LuaLua), Barnes, Orlandi (Dicker) Champ's P 26 . W 10 D 10 L 6 . F 37 A 27 . Pt 40 Po 8 Season1 (H) 20/3/12 - 2-0 ~ Calderon, Barnes. There was a massive punch-up brewing at top of the Championship table, where So'ton, Reading and West Ham had broken away from the chasing pack. That trio was followed by Birmingham, Blackpool, Middlesboro, Hull, Cardiff and Brighton, who were all within one point of one another. Gus Poyet challenged his now almost complete squad to go on another successful run and snatch a play-off place. Two other relevant fixtures for this midweek in mid March were; Hull v So'ton and West Ham v Middlesboro - they couldn't all win. Albion's long unbeaten sequence for 2012 had just ended at Blackpool but at least Gus had fresh players returning from injury, ready for a very hectic run-in period. On the night it was mild and dry yet again and over 18k got along to watch the fun. *** match report: Brighton went ahead after an electric start when Calderon scored from Vicente's corner (10min). With wind under wings (or was it down them?) Seagulls flew and performed significant aerial passes on both flanks. BHA were good value for one-nil at the break, although LuaLua might have netted from 1on1 beforehand. Rams were still in it around the hour mark when Vokes went off injured. Albion pushed on and got the winner after LuaLua and Vicente combined to set-up Barnes for a shot (66min). Both wingers had been running amok and Gus replaced them with ten minutes left. The Spaniard was an outstanding class act and thoroughly deserved a standing ovation. It was a useful team performance in terms of possession, although overall we needed to tighten up a tad at the back. Top-six outfits woulda pulled one back and Albion now had to be at best during the run-in to capitalise on reaching play-off slots once more. Brezovan, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, Mattock, Vicente (Razak), Bridcutt, Navarro, LuaLua (Noone), Barnes, Vokes (Mackail-Smith). Champ's P38 . W17 D10 L11 . F47 A39 . Pt61 Po4 . W = 44.7% L = 28.9% * * * * * Withdean era: seasons 4 6-7 - 02/3 04/5-05/6 C'ship. Season10 (H) EFL Cup R3. Withdean era: Albion V Rams 1-0, 2-3, 0-0 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 1 L 1-4 EFL Cup. memorable match: Season6 (H) - reality checks on & off the pitch during midwinter with plenty of discontent. see: Seasons 4, 6-7 for clubs & stadium info in the C'ship. Also Steve Coppell & Mark McGhee.
Back to Stats \| Back to Falmer Years \| 10 things... \| Travel

Previous encounters (Derby )
Derby - Away, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-16/17, Seasons 1-6 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. ground: Pride Park 33.5k . nickname: Rams . shirt: white. EFL record from 11/12: 12 10 3 8 5 9 / 6 6 10 21 23 C, 7, 2 L1 @ 4/5/24. * * * promo - '24 L1 . rel - '22 C . p-os - '14 '16 '18 '19 C. Season7 (1st) (A) onwards - not Premier League. Rams v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 0-1 0-0 1-0 3-0 2-2 0-0 . . W = 1 D = 3 L = 2 For Home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season3 (A) - two visits to Pride Park, the second being a play-off s-f away leg. Season6 (A) Championship 6/8/16 - 0-0. This was the opening game and against one of last year's play-off sides who were again expected to be a top-six outfit. Following that agonising last afternoon at Middlesbrough, when BHA failed by a goal to achieve auto promo, perhaps a 'get straight back in the saddle' approach was best after that fall. Greer, Calderon & Zamora had been released but Glenn Murray was back on loan, while Steve Sidwell & Oliver Norwood had signed contracts for the campaign. The squad was not quite complete (rumours of ins & outs) and 2 regular centre backs were injured so a kid sat on the bench. On a warm & sunny afternoon, 28k attended at the iPro Stad for start of the season. * match report: The match ended in stalemate, as several contests between these two sides had over recent campaigns. On balance a draw was a fair result but BHA did have definite oportunities to edge victory over a below-par side. Hughton went with orthodox 442 and Murray played alongside last term's top scorer Hemed. An industrious two-man midfield provided support to wingers and overlapping fullbacks. At the back, keeper and cent-def kept a clean sheet. Seagulls had periods of pressure in the second period but County were first to make changes in search of a winning formation. Hughton responded by replacing Hemed with Baldock as the clock showed 20 mins to go. Further late subs on both flanks made little difference to the outcome. Hughton said, 'I got a committed performance from a team that didn't want to lose. We had some really good glimpses and performances. You are never quite sure what you are going to get.' 1300 away fans went home fairly happy, although wondering if our luck was still running or whether last May it had run out. Stats; poss 50%-50%, on target 4-4, off target 8-8, blocked 0-4, corners 1-8, fouls 13-17, o/s 2-0, yellows 2-2, subs 3-3 . att 28,749. Stockdale, Rosenior, Bruno, Dunk, Bong, Knockaert (LuaLua), Kayal, Sidwell, Skalak (Murphy), Hemed (Baldock), Murray. Champ's P1 . W0 D1 L0 . F0 A0 . Pt1 Po13 . W = 0% L = 0% Season5 (A) 12/12/15 - 2-2 ~ Wilson, La Parra. Going into this contest, top club Albion had 41pts and third placed Rams 37pt. So if BHA happened to lose retaining their undefeated run since day1, at least Seagulls would still be in the top two. The critical thing was to try and stay there and keep a points gap above play-off places - and their kinda lottery... see season3 below. Hyypia, Garcia and Poyet were all history, having each tried and failed to find the silver bullet to shoot Seagulls into the Prem. But Chris Hughton was now man of the moment, having reversed sorry fortune last term and gotten an enhanced squad to lead the Championship from high summer onwards. A few of the old guard were still around; Greer, Bruno, Dunk, Crofts, Calderon, JFC, March, Ince & LuaLua, plus now; Zamora, Stockdale, Stephens, Kayal and Hemed to boost quality in the current team. On the day 30k turned up to watch the event. * match report: Albion became Championship record holders by remaning unbeaten yet again. On loan kid Wilson (Man Utd) bagged the opening goal with a glance across the keeper (22min). But March soon got injured and was replaced by other loanee van La Parra (Wolves). And then just prior to the interval County levelled from a corner (41min). The second period was also nip & tuck and although Seagulls had to defend a fair bit, they went ahead again. La Parra finished a fluid forward move as Stephens stroked the ball thru in the area (75min). Hughton responded to attacking changes by Rams and double subbed with about ten mins left. BHA went to 451 with Zamora alone up front and Ince sitting deep in midfield. As ninety minutes approached, visitors were on the back foot and Ref gave the home unit a soft penalty (88min). Hughton said, 'I thought we would get a win today. To come here and put in a performance - the draw was a fair result on balance. But after the way we played I don't think anyone would begrudge us a win.' Brighton fans were probably relieved the team was still undefeated and proud of a display that kept them at top of the table to boot. Stats; poss 61%-39%, on target 7-3, off target 9-2, blocks 3-3, corners 7-4, fouls 9-11, o/s 0-1, yellow 1-1. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Calderon, March (La Parra), Stephens, Kayal, Murphy, Wilson (Zamora), Hemed (Ince). Champ's P20 . W11 D9 L0 . F29 A18 . Pt42 Po1 . W = 55% L = 0% Season4 (A) 6/12/14 - L 3-0. Rams easily got Seagulls to butt out of play-offs back in May (see below) and were chasing an auto promo spot this time around, leading the division with nearly twice as many points as their reconstituted visitors. Meanwhile Albion were struggling at wrong end of the table, following an unimpresive first half to this campaign, by occupying a place in the bottom three. Now under leadership of Sami Hyypia, we'd merely one win in 15 since mid August. But SH persisted with his mantra of no width and wingbacks - which had spectacularly misfired to date. The squad was also vastly changed since to last term, where Bruno, Dunk & JFC were still regulars - a lot of the rest were long gone. * match report: Whatever expectations Brighton fans had beforehand, we didn't expect to be three down in twenty mins, with goals at five min intervals. County cut thru us like a knife into butter and Albion defence was just as soft. Bang, bang, bang (10, 15, 20 min), ouch, ouch, ouch! Hyypia had no luck with his formation and pulled his on-loan wonder kid off before half an hour and inserted Ince to shore up rearguard and stop the rot. In the second period Seagulls played a bit of football but was merely passing time - no shots on target. McCourt came on for twenty mins but in truth, there was no spare striker on the bench - merely a couple of fringe players. Hyypia said, 'if I don't think I can turn the season around I will walk away. I am still here and intend to go into work on Monday morning. I can't control anything the owners want to do. They will tell me if they don't want me.' The next fixture was Millwall on Friday night and if ever there was a must win game, that one was gonna be it. Older Brighton fans had seen relegation battles at Withdean during the noughties, although to many new supporters this was an experience they would rather not go through if at all possible. If BHA were managerless and adrift in the bottom three prior to New Year, the big worry for Tony Bloom was, would they continue to buy tickets? A hard core of 10k+ would stay loyal but CEO Paul Barber was already investigating budget cuts ongoing for 2015. What would happen next? Stockdale, Bruno, Dunk, Hughes, J Bennett, Gardner, Forster-Caskey, Teixeira (Ince), E Bennett, Bent, March (McCourt). Champ's P20 . W3 D9 L8 . F21 A28 . Pt18 Po22 . W = 15% L = 40% Season 3 (A) 11/5/14 C'ship p-o s-f 2nd leg - L 4-1 ~ LuaLua. Albion had lost the home match s-f tie a few days before 1-2, having snatched sixth place on the final Championship fixtures afternoon a week beforehand. Seagulls figs on the road were W9 D8 L6 F26 A19, which represented nearly half of total points in this tough qualifying campaign. A mean defence had made up for lack of goals overall but we now just needed to score one and keep it clean to stay in the fight and go to penalties. Oscar Garcia knew we were behind the curve against County, who had gotten thirteen points more for third place. But this was a one-off and anything could happen. On a rain swept Sunday teatime, over2.5k travelling support were ready to give all for the shirt. * match report: It was a pity that Brighton were knocked out in quite the manner that left many fans wondering whether the players were really up for it. Derby goals on 34, 56, 76 & 87 mins put Seagulls in much more than just a flap. A consolation by sub LuaLua right at the death at least gave disheartened devoted something to cheer in a 6-2 defeat on aggregate. Oscar Garcia went with 451 and hoped to hold County goalless as long as poss but it backfired. Greer went off injured inside half an hour and ten mins later we were a goal down. OG was about to make a double swap before the hour when bang, we went two behind on the day and the tie was lost. There were plenty of excuses made and immediately people realised how BHA had over-achieved this term. So we all had to be content with how far this club had realistically come in three years at Falmer. But more drama unfolded afterwards when Oscar Garcia resigned as Head Coach. Brighton's bubble had been well & truly burst. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer (Chicksen), Dunk, Ward, Ince, Andrews, Orlandi (Mackail-Smith), Buckley (LuaLua), Ulloa, Lingard. Season3 (A) 18/1/14 - L 1-0. Albion went into this Championship game having reached a play-off position for the first time this campaign. Away form was pretty good with five wins on the road and merely three losses. Head Coach Oscar Garcia was slowly fine-tuning his squad after injuries caused crisis and also previously regular players like Barnes & El-Abd had recently left the club. There were more than social media rumours about Bridcutt's intended departure to Prem football and he didn't feature in the starting eleven on the day. Meanwhile County were doing ok in this tough division, probably due to effects of change of manager getting best out of a developing group of players. * match report: Quite how Seagulls lost a match where stats gave them every chance to nick it themselves remains an ongoing Peak District mystery. From word go visitors held their own with possession, build up and attacking moves. But same old, same old when it came to making and taking chances in oppositions area. The home outfit were there for taking throughout but pinched three points from a subs great strike as Albion fell back (76min). Garcia made his first subbing late in the afternoon when bringing on dev squad youngster March to boost attacking options (68min). Much later Agustien and Obika took to the fray as Brighton chased the game in usual fashion. Ulloa ran around on his own up front and only JFC appeared to be capable of getting right in where it hurt. All in all lots of huff & puff but no cigar. Oscar Garcia said, 'we are looking to strengthen the squad. The club is working on a list of targets.' It seemed that play-offs were out of reach unless a solution was found to lack of scoring goals. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, David (Agustien), Andrews, Ince, Forster-Caskey (Obika), Orlandi (March), Ulloa. Champ's P26 . W10 D9 L7 . F30 A23 . Pt39 Po7 . W = 38.4% L = 26.9% Season2 (A) 6/10/12 - 0-0. Brighton had just taken merely one point from two consecutive fixtures at the Amex and been knocked off top spot in the Championship. As the table began to take true shape, Gus Poyet was aware that his ideas for how to play fooball were under test at this good level. He didn't get the additional striker by close of the transfer window and then CMS got injured. He'd previously bagged six goals over seven apps, while Barnes had three out of nine, Buckley two from six and sub Dobbie nought in four. Poyet was looking for a positive reaction from a fairly decent squad by past standards. The thing that became apparent was, Bridge had two goals, Greer and El-Abd one each but any number of midfielders couldn't seem to notch at all. On a nice afternoon about 1500 away fans attended in a crowd of 22k. * match report: Apparently the match was a snore bore but Gus Poyet remained upbeat afterwards. He said, 'I think we had the best chances and approach play and most of the ball.' Brighton struck the woodwork twice in the second period thru Bridcutt and Dobbie, as Albion threatened to open the scoring against lacklustre Rams. Buckley hobbled off just over the half hour and around the hour mark Hammond replaced limping Orlandi. Gus said, 'the leading scorers were not on the pitch and that contributed to the nil-nil. You need someone to do something special and maybe that player wasn't on the pitch today.' County rallied late in the day and put BHA under pressure but Kuszczak was still alert enough to parry a couple of hot shots and earn visitors a hard fought point on the long road toward hoped for play-offs. Seagulls edged battle of the stats and needed to turn those into three points in such games, if they were truly serious about these ambitions. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, David, Bridcutt, Dicker, Buckley (Dobbie), Barnes, Orlandi (Hammond). Champ's P10 . W5 D3 L2 . F15 A6 . Pt18 Po5 . W = 50% L = 20% Season1 (A) 29/11/11 - W 0-1 ~ Mackail-Smith. Albion had been hovering in mid-table for a number of weeks, with lack of scoring on the road a major factor in failure to win consistently. Previous away form looking back from beginning of the season was; www lld dll, with total goals for 7 and goals against 10. Other stats from on/off targets revealed not enough chances were being created overall, especially those to give strikers sufficient opportunities. A disputed reversal at league-leaders Southampton, when beaten by three in controversial fashion and another trio put past us at Ipswich, accounted for majority of goals conceded on travels. Of the other two losses, both had been one-nil defeats - at Leicester and Watford. To put results into some perspective, merely nine points covered bulk of Championship clubs from fifth position right down to twenty-second. Gus Poyet was in no rush to push quality squad members into the ongoing campaign, following return from niggling injury. Buckley, Vicente and Jara Reyes were left on sidelines again, while Taricco was still suspended. Vincelot resumed at left-back in lieu of hamstrung Painter but Noone and Paynter got dropped to the bench. Ankergren was back between the sticks and Hoskins made a start with former sub Barnes. Gate; 22,040 (700 B'ton fans) . Weather; cold evening after rain. *** match report: Mackail-Smith hadn't scored for nine games but put Albion ahead with what turned out to be the winner. Greer sent Calderon off down right flank and his centre was competed for by Barnes at the near post. The ball broke for CM-S inside the area and he slammed it into the top corner (13min). Brighton withstood Derby's onslaught and Dunk cleared one attempt off the line. After halftime, County had another go but couldn't score for all the spring water in the peak district. It was a bit desperate at times, although Seagulls shaded possession when able to impose our passing game on hapless opposition. El-Abd got to play almost half a match on return from long term injury, replacing Calderon who was booked. Ankergren did his bit to keep it clean, while Greer and head-bandaged Dunk defended like heroes. Noone was introduced in order to work the flank and support El-Abd for last half hour. Brighton hung on to three points but mighta eased late pressure when CM-S hit the post with a header and Hoskins blasted the rebound over the bar. Travellers went home happy and Gus loved it when a plan finally came together. Ankergren, Calderon (El-Abd), Greer, Dunk, Vincelot, Harley, Bridcutt, Navarro, Barnes (Noone), Mackail-Smith, Hoskins (Paynter). Champ's P19 . W8 D5 L6 . F22 A21 . Pt29 Po7 . W = 42.1% L = 31.5% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 4 02/3, 6-7 04/5-05/6 - Championship. Season10 4/11/08 (H) - EFL Cup R3. Withdean era: Rams V Albion 1-0, 3-0, 1-1 . . . W = 0 D = 1 L = 2 memorable match: Season6 (A) - an object lesson in skill and ability at this level. Noughties last there: 6/8/05 C'ship. Final trip from 3 visits to Pride Park playing at level2 during this decade. see: Seasons 4, 6-7 for clubs & stadium info in the C'ship. Also Steve Coppell & Mark McGhee.
Derby - Home, Falmer Years: C'ship 11/12-16/17, Seasons 1-6 . '19 FAC season8 . 17/18 onwards - Prem, no meetings. Seasons 9 (3rd) (H) onwards - not Premier League. Season8 (H) 16/2/19 FA Cup 5th round - w 2-1 ~ Knockaert, Locadia This tie was played on the fourth consecutive Saturday at the Amex in all competitions, allbeit with different ko times. Albion eventually got past West Brom, in a replay away aet, having already drawn 0-0 at the Amex toward end of January. Chris Hughton was previously rotating his squad for Cup games but again had decisions to make regarding a possible cup run versus vital PL safety & survival. Andone collected a 3 match ban at the Hawthorns, so he was put out of the equation. In fact the first eleven was struggling to score goals and had only notched two at the Amex this year so far. Murray was in a goal drought here, while most others, apart from Duffy, couldn't score if paid for it... well, you know what we mean! On the day Hughton fielded a pukka eleven, although subs included 3 U23s. *** match report: Albion got thru to the last eight but it all became a bit fraught by the death. First half dominance evaporated after the interval as Rams went to 442 and took the game to hosts. In the opening period Knockaert finished a move assited by Bissouma (33min) to open scoring. Just prior to h-t Bissouma hit a post and Locadia converted the rebound (45+). Seagulls surrendered possession for the second half and it was often backs to the wall in rearguard. Rams eventually netted after poor defending to set up a frantic finish (81min). Hughton threw on Gyokeres & Gross to try and stop the rot. Somehow BHA held on to the lead and crawled into the next round draw after a good late battering from unlucky visitors. Hughton said, 'we've had a bad week with a few minor injuries, which made us a little bit weaker as a squad. Players need to dig deep, particularly for lads that haven't as many minutes as others. It gives us a big lift. There have been some poor results and an inability to finish games off. We're through, which is the most important thing.' Brighton fans were just glad to see a couple of goals to cheer for blue & white, while not conceding an equal number or more up the other end. And nobody wanted possibility of extra time or pens today for sure. There was now a lull in PL & FAC action until the week after next Saturday and Albion went off to Spain for a nice warm rest to boot. Not too bad for the lucky so & so's! 27 Button, 2 Bruno, 4 Duffy, 33 Burn, 30 Bernardo, 8 Bissouma (13 Gross 86), 6 Stephens, 7 Kayal, 11 Knockaert, 9 Locadia (42 Gyokeres 81), 16 Jahanbakhsh. Subs; 31 Sanchez, 3 Bong, 22 Montoya, 57 Ostigard, 49 Molumby. Stats; ht 2-0, goals 33,45-81, shape 433-433, poss 47%-53%, on target 8-3, off target 6-5, blocks 4-4, o/s 3-1, crosses 15-18, corners 8-5, tackles 20-12, fouls 13-11, yellows 2-3, subs 2-3. Gate 24,562, away 2139. MoM - Knockaert. * * * * * * * * * * Seasons 7-8 (1st-2nd) (H) - not Premier League. Derby home, Falmer years - C'ship. Albion v Rams (H) from 11/12 @ C: 2-0 2-1 1-2 2-0 1-1 3-0 . . W = 4 D = 1 L = 1 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season3 (H) - our first & last home games this term, the second being a playoff s-f. Season 6 (H) Championship 10/3/17 - w 3-0 ~ Knockaert, Baldock, Murray. It was a Friday night but the only home fixture during this shortened month, those other three matches all being away, prior to the international break. Albion were currently in second place, adrift of Newcastle but chased by Huddersfield, Leeds, Reading & Sheff Wed. Another win at the Amex would go a long way toward soothing supporters nerves thru rest of March, with the important April run-in still to come. Chris Hughton had built a team over the last couple of seasons worthy of competing in the top six and hoped to go the extra mile this campaign - see below. Of that side recorded as getting an app here last May, only on-loan Wilson wasn't still on the books now, albeit LuaLua was lent out to QPR. * match report: Albion made no mistake this time around against Rams and put three past them, keeping a clean sheet to boot. Knockaert opened the scoring inside five minutes with a teasing run and low shot (5min) to get the ball rolling so to speak. Just prior to the interval Baldock finished a fluid move involving Murray by stroking home a strike across the keeper (43min). Past the hour mark Bruno had to come off but Tomori fitted in without undue problems to Seagulls game plan. Murray later converted a cut back from Knockaert to put things beyond hapless County (78min). Hemed then replaced the scorer and a few moments afterwards March got on for the Mom popular Frenchman. Hughton said, 'we've got some tough games coming up and everybody is fighting. But we're on the back of a really good performance against a good side. We were good from start to finish. The timing of the first goal was pivotal and the second lifted us and we were able to take that on into the second half.' Hughton mentioned there was no target for points total to reach during the run-in, although Brighton fans thought another five wins would seal the deal. That would give 92pts and every reason to think it sufficient for elevation to the Prem. Stats; h-t 2-0, goals 5,43,78, poss 44%-56%, on target 6-0, off target 7-2, corners 8-2, o/s 0-2, fouls 16-11, yellows 0-0, subs 3-2 . att 27,552. Stockdale, Bruno (Tomori), Huenemeier, Dunk, Rosenior, Knockaert (March), Stephens, Kayal, Skalak, Murray (Hemed), Baldock. Champ's P37 . W23 D8 L6 . F63 A31 . Pt77 Po2 . W = 62.1% L = 16.2% Season5 (H) 2/5/16 - 1-1 - Wilson. This was the final home fixture of another successful campaign at level2. And eyes of the world were upon the Amex for a tv spectacular on Bank Holiday Monday. Not that home fans were complaining any more than usual, given the number of times games had been rescheduled due to power of subscription media payouts. And Albion lapped up chances to broadcast again & again... season ticket renewals were at a record high, so there! But unlike previous campaigns, Albion were in the driving seat for auto-promo and needed to beat Rams to take the final decision by Gods of Football to the last day. And seats were expected to be filled to capacity. Seagulls form during the run-in was dww dww www and had taken them to be level on points with the top two teams. Anything could happen in football but momentum was with BHA and the 'one club, one ambition' tag line had never been closer to being made reality as now. Over 30k turned up to witness the contest. * match report: Seagulls came very close to losing when reduced to ten men for the last ten minutes. Dunk had been booked as the first half neared completion and deep into the second period with BHA one down, he was dismissed for a 2nd reckless challenge. Rams were good value for the lead as they brought on a sub and he notched with the second kick - his first saved by Stockdale (71min). Albion were guilty of missing the target on too many occasions and making it hard to win the game as time ticked down to zero. Hughton made a double swap on 67min and went in search of a goal. In stoppage time Wilson spared blushes when finding the net after a corner by Knockaert. Hughton said, 'most of the challenges we have faced we have risen to the occasion... we will have a good week and make sure we do everything right and look forward to a very tough game on Saturday.' Seagulls were to visit fellow promo chasers Middlesbrough on the last afternoon of the season and that result would determine both their fates. A case of sudden death at the Riverside. Stats; poss 47%-53%, on target 3-5, off target 13-3, corners 11-7, fouls 11-15, yellows 2-3. Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Rosenior, Knockaert, Stephens, Kayal, Skalak (LuaLua), Baldock (Wilson), Hemed. Champ's P45 . W24 D16 L5 . F71 A41 . Pt88 Po3 . W = 53.3 L = 11.1% Season4 (H) 3/3/15 - 2-0 ~ Stephens, LuaLua. Well, for a kick-off BHA didn't have the greatest record against Rams at the Amex in the last couple of years. And currently County were top of the table, aiming to go straight up to the Prem without that p-o lottery like last term (see below). Meanwhile Albion were constantly looking over shoulders for fear one of the bottom three might be sneaking closer on points as we approached the run-in. Such was the biggest turn around to last season's extended season and a bit of an eye-opener to Championship clubs now fully operating under FFP rules. Latterly Seagulls were pretty much potless, having invested heavily off-field at Lancing academy with Bloom mega millions. Chris Hughton had signed merely one player permanently, Beram Kayal, since arriving as boss at New Year ahead of the transfer window. Apart from that he was relying on loan players to boost the previously ailing squad up to level2 standard. Three summer signings had been let go, along with 3 short-term loanees. Others from the squad had also gone out on loan or were stuck in reserves now. Hughton's mission was to find consistency with what he'd got available and aim to stay in the division. * match report: Albion gave a creditable display and hit the net twice, while league leaders were ahead on stats but didn't manage to score. Other results on the night went the BHA way too and saw this victory open a nine point gap above the bottom three. Just before h-t Baldock was injured and LuaLua replaced him. County had most possession from word go but despite a string of corners, failed to convert dominance into points. In fact Stockdale was last man in defence when tipping over to maintain parity at the break. In the second period, Rams raided again & again but Seagulls blocked every time. Hughton then decided to swap Teixeira for Stephens in a more advanced role five mins past the hour. A few moments later he headed a Bruno long throw forward where Calderon got into the box, then followed up the 1-2 and opened the scoring (69min). Less than ten mins later, O'Grady threaded a ball thru for LuaLua to smash a trademark drive low & hard (77min). Once more Albion defended for their lives and kept a clean sheet to boot. There was even time for Ledesma to get on for a very late debut as BHA started to look like a settled side at long last. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Kayal (Ledesma), Teixeira (Stephens), Holla, Calderon, O'Grady, Baldock (LuaLua). Champ's P35 . W9 D13 L13 . F40 A43 . Pt40 Po19 . W = 25.7% L = 37.1% Season3 (H) 8/5/14 C'ship p-o s-f 1st leg - L 1-2 ~ Lingard. County came to visit again because they had finished a good 3rd in the Championship, whilst we had nicked 6th spot from Reading at the death by winning at Forest. Although Oscar Garcia was to be rightly congratulated for steering Albion into p-os in his first season at the Amex, perhaps there was a thought that other bigger lev2 teams had under-performed this term. Oscar said, 'when you are 16th in the table it is normal that some people don't trust what you are doing. Some players told me we would be in the play-offs. For me, it wasn't a surprise.' For many Brighton fans it was the stuff of dreams once more. * match report: After playing good football, taking the lead and pushing on, Albion lost the tie by halftime. Calderon set up Lingard to open scoring (18min) as Seagulls flew at Rams. But a very quick counterattack resulted in Ref pointing to the spot and TK went the wrong way (29min). Just before the break a snap shot hit the bar and bounced into our net off TK still in the air (45min). LuaLua came on for hamstrung Buckley at start of the second period and Garcia subbed for March with twenty minutes left. Brighton huffed & puffed but County keeper made crucial saves and got Mom awarded. Ref might have given us one of two dubious pen decisions but no, our luck was right out. On stats we had 'em beat but in reality only goals count. Oscar said, 'it was a totally unfair result. We were better than them in all areas apart from in front of goal.' CMS came on very late and showed great character. More of a will to win was needed by other regulars who did not perform on this particular disappointing night. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Ward, Orlandi (March), Andrews, Forster-Caskey, Buckley (LuaLua), Ulloa, Lingard (Mackail-Smith). Season3 (H) 10/8/13 - L 1-2 ~ Ulloa. This was the first home fixture of the third Championship season at Falmer's icon. A lot of the previous season's squad were still around - less Vicente, Bridge, Hammond & Dicker. CMS & Hoskins were long-term injured but Kemy Agustien had signed from Swansea. We also had a new Head Coach in Oscar Garcia coz Gus Poyet got the old heave-ho due to gross misconduct - allegedly! He was gonna fight dismissal in court, although Tony Bloom had said he already wished to leave BHA and manage elsewhere long before end of last season. Anyway Brighton fans were optimistic for continued success, given Barca credentials of OG - who had played, coached and done good in Spain before managing the Israeli champions. This fixture came quickly after crushing home defeat to Newport County in the Carling Cup on a bizarre night of twists & turns. * match report: Oh dear it was another disaster for Garcia, who had now lost three out of er, three. It was noticeable that the pace of Seagulls forward progress was much more rapid and direct than in seasons1&2. Albion took the lead via an Ulloa header from a great deep cross by Calderon (17min). But as the game wore on, in-play stats became level and County duly equalised from poor defensive cover (28min). Right at start of the second period BHA were caught cold to basic hit and run tactics and thereafter were always chasing the game (47min). OC first introduced Keith Andrews (new signing) to get time in m-f (71min) and stoke fires. With time running out LuaLUa got on to take on Rams outer defence (79min). Kid Solly March got a cameo at the death. Brighton fans thought Ref a joke. He booked eight in a fairly clean contest, denied us a certain pen to handball from a f-k and made strange decisions throughout - and we've seen a lot of matches to know. OC said don't worry. Nathan Jones (coach) said don't worry and the squad said don't worry. But do you know what? More than a few supporters began to worry. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Maksimenko, Ince (LuaLUa), Agustien, David, Buckley (March), Ulloa, Barnes (Andrews). Champ's P2 . W0 D0 L2 . F2 A4 . Pt0 Po19 . W = 0% L = 100% Season2 (H) 12/1/13 - 2-1 ~ Barnes, Orlandi. Albion were back at the Amex after beating Newcastle 2-0 there in the FA Cup round3 the previous Saturday. Admittedly Toon fielded a second eleven due to injury and on paper at least, BHA were a better squad than last season. Gus Poyet had more or less the full list of usual suspects to choose from and apparently, he'd just signed Leonardo Ulloa from Almeria to add to the Spanish speakers. Seagulls were in a group of clubs chasing sixth play-off spot, along with Derby, Millwall, Forest, Burnley and Leeds. Gus said he wanted an extra 40pts in 2013, so winning home games was necessary to turn things around at Falmer where we'd dropped too many points already. On the day it was very cold and wet but over 25k attended to keep Brighton top of the Championship gates listing. * match report: Barnes was playing at centre forward in lieu of injured CMS and he opened the scoring almost from word go (2mins) after good work by David. Before too long Albion went two up when Orlandi headed home a cross from Calderon (25min). Both goals came via the right flank, although our regular 433 shape produced attacks on each wing with plenty of fluid movement. Around the hour mark after the interval, Rams twice cleared off the line when it looked certain we'd get a third and cruise to victory. However B'ton took their foot off the pedal and Derby got one back from a deflected f-k (70m). Gus responded quickly with a double swap of Dicker and LuaLua to keep pressure on visitors. There was a nervous finish for Amex faithful, not helped by Ref's decisions either and finally Crofts got sent on very late to hold the fort. Gus said, 'we need to suffer all the time, we put ourselves in that situation when there was not really any danger.' Brighton fans would take the win and three points and forget about all other issues for the time being. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, David (Crofts), Bridcutt, Hammond, Buckley (LuaLua), Barnes, Orlandi (Dicker) Champ's P 26 . W 10 D 10 L 6 . F 37 A 27 . Pt 40 Po 8 Season1 (H) 20/3/12 - 2-0 ~ Calderon, Barnes. There was a massive punch-up brewing at top of the Championship table, where So'ton, Reading and West Ham had broken away from the chasing pack. That trio was followed by Birmingham, Blackpool, Middlesboro, Hull, Cardiff and Brighton, who were all within one point of one another. Gus Poyet challenged his now almost complete squad to go on another successful run and snatch a play-off place. Two other relevant fixtures for this midweek in mid March were; Hull v So'ton and West Ham v Middlesboro - they couldn't all win. Albion's long unbeaten sequence for 2012 had just ended at Blackpool but at least Gus had fresh players returning from injury, ready for a very hectic run-in period. On the night it was mild and dry yet again and over 18k got along to watch the fun. *** match report: Brighton went ahead after an electric start when Calderon scored from Vicente's corner (10min). With wind under wings (or was it down them?) Seagulls flew and performed significant aerial passes on both flanks. BHA were good value for one-nil at the break, although LuaLua might have netted from 1on1 beforehand. Rams were still in it around the hour mark when Vokes went off injured. Albion pushed on and got the winner after LuaLua and Vicente combined to set-up Barnes for a shot (66min). Both wingers had been running amok and Gus replaced them with ten minutes left. The Spaniard was an outstanding class act and thoroughly deserved a standing ovation. It was a useful team performance in terms of possession, although overall we needed to tighten up a tad at the back. Top-six outfits woulda pulled one back and Albion now had to be at best during the run-in to capitalise on reaching play-off slots once more. Brezovan, Calderon, Greer, Dunk, Mattock, Vicente (Razak), Bridcutt, Navarro, LuaLua (Noone), Barnes, Vokes (Mackail-Smith). Champ's P38 . W17 D10 L11 . F47 A39 . Pt61 Po4 . W = 44.7% L = 28.9% * * * * * Withdean era: seasons 4 6-7 - 02/3 04/5-05/6 C'ship. Season10 (H) EFL Cup R3. Withdean era: Albion V Rams 1-0, 2-3, 0-0 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 1 L 1-4 EFL Cup. memorable match: Season6 (H) - reality checks on & off the pitch during midwinter with plenty of discontent. see: Seasons 4, 6-7 for clubs & stadium info in the C'ship. Also Steve Coppell & Mark McGhee.
Back to Stats \| Back to Falmer Years \| 10 things... \| Travel