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Previous encounters (Ipswich )
Ipswich - Away, Falmer Years: Prem 24/25, season14 . . C'ship 11/12-16/17, seasons 1-6 . no league meetings in seasons between 2017 and 2024. Prem previous encounters home & away: P1 W0 D1 L0 - see Clubs in Archive. Albion PL/EFL record @ Town from 11/12 . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 3 manager: Keiran McKenna (2021) P0 W = 0% @ July '24 . experience: Prem rookie with auto-promo from lower leagues. Portman Road - 30k . nickname: Tractor Boys . shirt: blue & white. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 15 14 9 6 7 16 / 12 24 C, 10 9 11 2 L1, 2 C, 18 @ 6/12/24. recent promo - '24 C, '23 L1 . p-os - '15 C . relegated - '19 C. 24/25 odds at start: rel 8-11, stay up 10-11 . sack K McK 14/1 . expected to finish: bottom three run in: B'mouth (A), Wolves (H), Chelsea (A) Arsenal (H), N'castle (A), Everton (A), Br'ford (H), Le'ster (A), West Ham (H) run in forecast: ?pt > ?pt . max was ? . actual = ? . Po was ? . actual Po = ? Town V Albion (A) from 17/18: - < - x-x . . W = 0 D = 0 L = 0 . F0 A0 scorers: Season 14, 8th Premier League (A) Thur 16/1/25 - 7:30 This mid-week Jan '25 reciprocal fixture was the 11th of 19 away and followed those traditional FA Cup R3 ties last Saturday at beginning of second half of the campaign (Q3-4). It was also our initial elite contest at Portman Road versus Town in their very first season back in the PL since the early noughties. We had never met at Prem level. The reverse game was 14 Sept '24 after the first international break early in the first quarter (Q1) - see home scroll further below. At the recent halfway stage (Q2) we had xpts and they had xpts. Now later (Q3) we had xpts and they had xpts. Current away form was; W D L F A tba. Hosts home form was: W D L F A tba. At the moment Brighton were xth, while Ipswich were xth from x games played. At the halfway stage we were xth and they were xth. In the last three campaigns we'd been 9, 6 & 8 at the halfway stage and finished 9, 6 & 11. Albion were looking to take max points in East Anglia. Their boss had so far ... in the January window. In the FA Cup . Headline news this week was ... *** match report: tba day after result stats: ht , goals , poss %-%, on target , off target , corners , fouls , yellows , subs , shape weather: . gate: . MoM: team: 1 Verbruggen 2 Lamptey 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 30 Estupinan 11 Adingra 20 Baleba 10 Enciso 22 Mitoma 18 Welbeck subs: bench: 23 Steele 3 Julio 34 Veltman 4 Webster 6 Milner 7 March 28 Ferguson 41 Hinshelwood 14 Rutter 17 Minteh 24 Kadioglu 27 Wieffer 33 O'Riley squad: 15 Moder . injured: Prem P21 . W D L . F A . W D L . F A . Pt Po = 1.xxpt/gm . W = % L = % Town: Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% hfwy: 14 . 01 06 07 . 13 25 -12 . 09 18 = 0.64 . 07.1 50.0 start: 10 . 00 05 05 . 10 21 -11 . 05 18 = 0.50 . 00.0 50.0 - Keiran McKenna EFL Cup: Wimbledon 4pen2 2-2 (A) R2 FA Cup: Bristol Rovers (H) R3 Nov: 18th in table, 2pts off 17th at Q1 Seasons 7-13, (1st-7th) (A) - not Premier League. IPSWICH home; Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L% 24/25 . 0 4 2 . 5 9 -4 . 4 18 = 0.66 44.4 . 00.0 33.3 - Keiran McKenna @ 28/11/24 17/18 - 23/24 - not Premier League Ipswich: Previous Prem Prem points: - < - tba previous coach: Paul Cook (2021), Paul Lambert (18-21) . Seasn . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% 24/25 - 17/18 - 23/24 not Premier League knockous: FA Cup: . FL Cup: R2 * * * * * * Town v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 3-1, 0-3, 2-0, 2-0, 2-3, 0-0 . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 3 For Home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season5 (A) - an early season victory in a campaign full of hope for a brighter future. Season6 (A) Championship 27/9/16 - 0-0. Albion had got into a play-off position following three straight wins in the Championship. Expectation for another successful season was high after Seagulls had gone so close to automatic promotion last term. The squad was not too different to previously and had been boosted by signing Shane Duffy & Ollie Norwood, plus Glenn Murray on loan from Bournemouth & Seb Pocognoli on loan from WBA. A few injuries meant Chris Hughton had to change personnel but there was strength in depth in the match-day eighteen. Regular left back Bong was suspended for this fixture. Hughton said, 'I've got to make a decision now for that position. They are not easy, working round the situation.' In the event he put out a strong team in 442 formation, set up to take the points. * match report: Albion played out a disappointing goalless stalemate against an outfit determined to be physical. It was something of a midfield battle and Seagulls never really took off. Tractor Boys were kinda agricultural and Ref showed cards too. Just prior to the interval he booked Stephens for dissent. During the second period visitors made more of a fist of it but a poor penetration let them down. With twenty minutes left Hughton made a double sub and switched to 4411 - have and hold a point. Ten minutes from time Stephens got his marching orders for an illegal tackle. Brighton played it out with ten men and travelling fans quickly forgot about the match performance. Records show 0-0 and at this stage, staying undefeated on the road would do. Stats; poss 53%-47%, on target 2-0, off target 9-5, corners 2-5, fouls 11-16, yellow 4-3, red 0-1, subs 3-2 . att 15,228. Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert, Stephens, Norwood, Skalak (Murphy), Hemed (Sidwell). Champ's P10 . W5 D3 L2 . F12 A6 . Pt18 Po4 . W = 50% L = 20% Season5 (A) 29/8/15 - W 2-3 ~ LuaLua, Hemed 2. The campaign had started very well for Albion and they were second in the table behind Ipswich going into this fixture. It was the last one before the international break and completed a hectic August of two games per week, including cup ties. Chris Hughton was more or less selecting from a fully fit squad, having signed several players. Uwe Huenemeier, Gaetan Bong, Liam Rosenior and Tomer Hemed were now first eleven choices who added to regulars from last term. Also a number of youngsters had been snapped up from abroad prior to the transfer deadline, swelling prospects for the U21 side this season too. Seagulls legend Bobby Zamora was fit enough to be named among substitutes. * match report: Visitors began on the front foot, took the match to locals and got just rewards with victory, sending unbeaten BHA to top of the Championship. LuaLua opened the scoring early on when converting a pass from Bong (10min). Two minutes later Stephens f-k was flicked home by Hemed, for a clear foothold in this battle to be number one (12min). Both sides made subs directly after h-t - Dunk coming on for booked and slightly concussed Huenemeier. But Town were like a different side and forced Albion to defend - getting an early breakthrough and then equalising quickly thru a penalty (54 & 65min). The match was immediately poised to go either way but it was Seagulls who swooped first when Hemed nodded in LuaLua's looping centre (67min). Hughton brought Zamora into the fray with a little over ten minutes remaining and later Ince to help in defence. Closing moments were typically frantic, although Albion weathered the storm and to a degree it was plain sailing therefafter. Stats - poss 52-48, on target 3-6, off target 5-10, blocked 1-6, corners 5-5, fouls 10-11, o/s 4-1, yellows 4-3. LuaLua said, 'this is a very different experience to last season when we kept losing. This squad is much stronger than last year's.' Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Huenemeier (Dunk), Bong, Rosenior, Kayal, Stephens, LuaLua, Hemed (Zamora), Baldock (Ince). Champ's P5 . W4 D1 L0 . F8 A4 . Pt13 Po1 . W = 80% L = 0% Season4 (A) 16/9/14 - L 2-0. The FL fixture computer print-out was usually relied upon to churn out a couple of simultaneous away games immediately following the international break and guess what? So it was now a Tuesday night in Suffolk and this tough Championship match came straight after that weekend equally difficut contest in s-w London at Griffin Park. Those thoughts on majority of Brighton fans minds were concerning our indifferent set of results at Portman Road and whether we could now up the ante after a less than average start to the new campaign. The long interlude prior to being on the road allowed Sami Hyypia to get to grips with squad strategy and drill his men with the big Finns mentality & philosophy. * match report: The long and short of it was Albion were in the match for nearly ninety minutes, played to orders and on a different night may have got a point or more. Town keeper prevented his side conceding on at least three clear-cut occasions and two forays up the other end got them a result. Seagulls started by hitting the ground running but also had to defend a period of pressure around the area. After the break there were no prisoners taken at times as each outfit engaged in midfield battle for supremacy. It all appearede to be moving toward final stalemate when Town edged ahead. Stockdale got his hand to stop a shot but the rebound found a home boot (79min). Two mins from time a bouncing ball went thru and another local took a dig from distance (88 min). Brighton were undone and travelling fans could see m-f & front runners working hard but with no end product. CMS & Baldock appeared to work up an understanding but it was the failure of others to defend and score as support players that had seen BHA on the end of yet another sorry defeat. Brighton were surely better than the basic result showed. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Holla (Teixeira), Ince, Forster-Caskey, Mackail-Smith (Colunga), Baldock, LuaLua. Champ's P7 . W2 D1 L4 . F8 A10 . Pt7 Po18 . W = 28.5% L = 57.1% Season3 (A) 28/9/13 - L 2-0. Brighton went off to Ipswich undefeated in six fixtures, having taken five points on the road from a total of twelve in eight games home & away. A single goal win at Birmingham in August was followed by two consecutive goalless stalemates at Reading and QPR within four days of September. One problem with Oscar Garcias squad was the amount of injuries picked up prior to and during start of this third campaign at level two. Also, target-man Ulloa was suspended for three matches for a straight red in the first half at Reading. Of the teams that played at Portman Road; CMS, Bridcutt, Orlandi and Hoskins were long term injured, while Ankergren and El-Abd were mostly on the bench these days. Barnes would play as striker but with David and LuaLua favoured by our new Spanish head coach, he was not guaranteed to start when in support of the missing big Argentine front man. * match report: Albion crashed to defeat from two quick goals inside five minutes with less than half an hour on the clock. The first was a deflected long shot that caught Kuszczak unawares (20min), followed by a solo effort by the same striker when Greer blundered at the back (24min). On each occasion Albion were pressing forward and taking the game to Town in determined fashion. So it was gonna be a tough sort of recovery mission to gain parity once more over the course of another hour. Garcia introduced LuaLua for Conway five mins into the second period in an attempt to boost attacking options. The defensive 451 morphed into more of a 433 using Buckley in a free roving job across the line. But Ipswich subbed to snuff out threat from wings by doubling up and their defence was generally in command throughout. Late in the day March and Forster-Caskey took to the field of battle. But you could not help thinking that the game was well and truly up long before these swaps went into action. Garcia said, 'we worked hard but it was not our day.' Many regular travelling Brighton fans thought he was being generous about a disappointing display by BHA, kitted out in our new and very expensive yellow away kit. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Ward, Bruno (Forster-Caskey), Andrews, Crofts, Buckley, Barnes (March), Conway (LuaLua). Champ's P9 . W3 D3 L3 . F9 A8 . Pt12 Po12 . W = 33.3% L= 33.3% Season2 (A) 1/1/13 - W 0-3 ~ Hammond, CMS, Bridge. Hells bells, New Year already and where did 2012 Xmas holidays go? On the following Saturday we'd drawn Newcastle in FAC3 at the Amex and had a postponed away fixture with Blackburn to face as well. January was gonna be a period when Albion either cut the mustard or choked on effects of too much festive Championship gluttony. Gus Poyet wanted a further 40 points to compete for play-offs but at current state of progress it was difficult to see how. On paper we had a better squad than '11/12, although results hadn't shown marked improvement. In fact it was probably our away form that kept the club in top half of the table going into 2013. BHA resolution had to be to pick up wins every other game, or be confined to middle order in a very competitive league. On day1 for '13, over 900 B'ton fans travelled to East Anglia. * match report: Albion turned in a very useful performance and kept a clean sheet to boot. They were on top from opening skirmishes and it was no surprise to see Seagulls take the lead. First, Hammond nodded in from Orlandi's corner to the near post (15min). Second, CMS picked up Barnes flick then shot across goal and in off a post (34min). After the interval Bridge got a third from a punt when Dicker fed him the chance (68min). LuaLua was injured soon after the break and Gus also replaced valuable selections with sub strikers late in the game. By then BHA had points in the bag, while locals struggled to get up to speed. Gus said, 'today we hit the target and scored three times. I don't know if it was God, or luck or the new year. We were very strong in both boxes and that made a big difference. I don't know if we will go up but if we don't make the top six it will be a shame.' Kuszczak, David, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Hammond, Bridcutt, Orlandi (Hoskins), Barnes, Mackail-Smith (Dobbie), LuaLua (Dicker). Champ's P25 . W9 D10 L6 . F35 A26 . Pt37 Po9 . W = 36% L = 24% Season1 (A) 1/10/11 - L 3-1 ~ Vicente. It was a hot afternoon for beginning of October and green & black shirtsleeves was order of the day on away terraces. Brighton were not on a very good run in the Championship, although we'd started life at level2 by previously topping the table for a short while. Gus Poyet set out a game plan to play similar open attacking football that had served us so well to win league1. Gus and assistant Tanno signed this week for five years, so we assumed they had a progressive strategy for taking the club forward. * match report: Albion weathered the storm in the opening twenty minutes but managed to keep it clean right up until half time and then further on to nearly the hour mark. Just beforehand, Dicker won the ball deep inside our half and set Vicente off on a counter attack. He went all the way with a tricky run and opened personal account for the season from his first actual start (53min). The Spaniard was a class act for Valencia and was now trying to get up to speed in England. Brighton folded quickly following an Ipswich equaliser (59m) and fell behind from a basic header at another Town corner (70m). We were beat soon after to more probs at the back (73m). It was becoming a headache for Gus but he was getting a handle on capabilities of this supplemented third-tier squad - that now seemed to lack some higher grade qualities. They would be given a fair chance but for how long? Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, Vincelot, Painter, Dicker (Harley), Bridcutt, Navarro (Hoskins), Vicente (Noone), Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P10 . W5 D2 L3 . F16 A14 . Pt17 Po5 . W = 50% L = 30% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 4 02/3, 6 04/5, 7 05/6 - Championship. Season4 24/9/02 (A) EFL Cup R2. Withdean era: Town V Albion 2-2, 1-0, 1-2 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 1 3-1 EFL Cup. memorable match: Season4 (A) - time was running out (ie: the run-in) and Seagulls needed points to stay up. Noughties last there - 15/4/06 (A) C'ship. Three fixtures at Portman Road for level2 fare during that decade. 24/9/02 (A) EFL Cup. A predictable k-o as we got to grips with football against better opposition. see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Martin Hinshelwood, Steve Coppell & Mark McGhee.
Ipswich - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 24/25, season14 . . C'ship 11/12-16/17, seasons 1-6 . Albion record @ Amex from 11/12 . . W = 2 D = 3 L = 2 Albion V Town (H) from 17/18: - < - 0-0 scorers: Season14, 8th Premier League (H) Sat 14/9/24 - 0-0 Ipswich were auto promoted a second time running from the EFL; initially League One of the 22/23 season and next out of the Championship after the 23/24 season. It was 20 odd years since they'd last been in the Prem. IT pre-season friendlies; Shaktar D 0-1 (A), F Dusseldorf 1-2 (H), Hoffenheim 0-1 (A), Nice 1-0 (H). This Prem fixture was the 2nd of 19 at home, coming after the first international break during the 10 game start quarter (Q1). It was also our initial Prem contest at the Amex versus Town in their very first season back in the elite since those early noughties - see Clubs in Archive. We hadn't hosted them since heady days of level2 from '11 to '17 - see below. The reverse game was 14 Jan '25 in mid season - see away scroll further above. They were expected to really be up against it over long winter months ahead. Right now we had 7pts and they had 1pt in this very early phase. Current home form was; W1 D0 L0 F2 A1 - from our first Amex game. Visitors away form was: W0 D0 L1 F1 A4 - their first elite away, at Man City of all places. At the moment Brighton were 3rd, while Ipswich were 17th from 3 games played. In the last three campaigns we'd been placed 8, 8 & 7 after end of the start period (Q1). Albion were looking for max points versus PL new boys. In the close season, while BHA had 6 men on duty in Germany, IT had 0 players, being the only Prem club with zero reps at the Euro 24 finals during June. Ipswich were recently k'od from the EFL Cup in R2 at Wimbledon after losing a penalty shootout. Their boss Keiran McKenna had spent around 108m on 10 new talents, plus 2 on loan players prior to the big kickoff and before the August window shut. Meanwhile BHA had a brand new head coach in Fabian Hurzeler and 9 new signings for about 200m. Numerous BHA players from the first-team squad and U21s had just returned from internatinal duties in various continental competitions. Headline news this week was Hurzeler got manager of the month award for August. A pretty good start to life in the Prem by any account. *** match report: Brighton fans had witnessed several games at the Amex in recent seasons where opposition sat deep, played on the counter and hung in there for parity at end of 90+ scrappy minutes. It could often be a frustrating watch and kinda came with the territory, especially since we broke into the top ten rather than remaining regular bottom-six fodder ourselves. The old community stadium hadn't really been a domestic fortress after promo from the Championship in '17 and perhaps it should be now if we wanted to take that next big leap from mid div up to qualifiers for European competitions. Previous head coaches Potter & De Zerbi upped the ante with a passing style of play that took us from also rans towards top six and Hurzeler has a similar task ahead with yet another expensively enhanced squad full of multi-million pound internationals. Some of these turned out today following various national duties worldwide and the bench was strong on paper at very least, with duplicates available in each third of the pitch. The ongoing bugbear of a prolonged extensive injury list was much reduced from last term, which was another positive for keeping up our useful start to this campaign. But the idea of turning strategy, tactics and individual top-level football skills into Prem points is to score goals - at least one more than visiting opponents. Goalless draws mean a basic clean sheet was kept but negatives from that resulting fail to score stat, here against inexperienced Prem new boys, pervade analysis of the contest. A side like Albion needs a consistent scoring forward line, several additional goals from midfield and also defenders chipping in from set pieces at intervals. None of the above happened today. Go to E-talk, Squad and Archive tabs above for goal-scoring, or more appropriately no goals, players records. If BHA truly want to achieve a future place in Europe our current match-day group has to start hitting the net... week in, week out for as long as it takes. stats: ht 0-0, goals 0, poss 70%-30%, on target 6-1, off target 15-5, corners 9-2, fouls 14-16, yellows 4-3, subs 4-5, shape 442-541 weather: sunny . gate: 31,573 . MoM: Baleba - powerhouse team: 1 Verbruggen 34 Veltman 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 41 Hinshelwood 17 Minteh 20 Baleba 26 Ayari 22 Mitoma 14 Rutter 18 Welbeck subs: 10 Enciso 68 (14), 11 Adingra 68 (17), 24 Kadioglu 68 (41), 28 Ferguson 85 (18) bench: 23 Steele 3 Julio 4 Webster 15 Moder30 Estupinan squad: 2 Lamptey 8 Gruda . injured: 6 Milner 7 March 9 Pedro 27 Wieffer 33 O'Riley Prem P4 . W1 D1 L0 . F2 A1 . W1 D1 L0 . F4 A1 . Pt8 Po4 = 2.00pt/gm . W = 50% L = 0% Seasons 7-13 (1st-7th) (H) - not Premier League. IPSWICH away; Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L% 24/25 . 1 2 3 . 8 14 -6 . 5 18 = 0.83 55.5 . 16.6 50.0 - Keiran McKenna @ 28/11/24 17/18 - 23/24 - not Premier League * * * * * Albion v Town (H) from 11/12 @ C: 3-0, 1-1, 0-2, 3-2, 0-1, 1-1 . . W = 2 D = 2 L = 2 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season4 (H) - a critical game soon after Chris Hughton arrived to stop the rot. Season6 (H) Championship 14/2/17 - 1-1 ~ Hemed. The one thing these two regular Championship clubs had in commom at this stage of the campaign, was that both teams had been knocked out of the FA Cup away at non-league Lincoln City! Apart from that they were several points apart so to speak. In fact it was 25pts & 12 places, with 16 more fixtures to complete. It was another Tuesday evening match like last season but Seagulls were not inclined to re-run that result, when hitting their bad patch around Xmas & New Year, This term it occurred slightly later with that aforesaid late January FA Cup 3rd round humiliation, followed by a trouncing up north from rivals Huddersfield and salvaging a point at Brentford in first week of Feb. Chris Hughton had nearly a full squad available, although of those previously listed below, Goldson was finished for the season on medical grounds, Calderon, Crofts, La Parra, Wilson & Zamora had all left in summer, while Manu was now out on loan in Holland. * match report: Town proved once again a team that Albion found very hard to beat. Seagulls were a goal down against ten men inside ten minutes. A visitor was off the field receiving treatment when they netted from a f-k against run of play (9min). Albion huffed & puffed and got back in it when Bruno got decked running into the area to reach a thru ball. Hemed did the biz as usual (29min). The rest of the match was mostly BHA seeking the winner, although Tractor Boys carried a threat going forward and Duffy & Dunk both got cards in defence. Hughton put on Murray first in the second period then Murphy and finally Akpom but all to no avail - Murray did hit the post. All in all it was just not to be yet another win at the Amex. Hughton said, 'our levels were not as good as they have been. It probably became too open a game in the second half. It is incredibly difficult to go through the season without having difficult periods. We are in a good position and deserve to be there.' And so say all of us. Up the Albion! Stats; h-t 1-1, goals 29-9, poss 58%-42%, on target 5-4, off target 12-4, corners 3-6, o/s 4-1, fouls 16-17, yellows 3-5, subs 3-3 . att 26,360. Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert, Stephens, Sidwell, March (Murphy), Baldock (Akpom), Hemed (Murray). Champ's P31 . W19 D8 L4 . F52 A26 . Pt65 Po2 . W = 61.2% L = 12.9% Season5 (H) 29/12/15 - L 0-1. This was a Tuesday night for the last game of 2015 and that one squeezed between Xmas & New Year fixtures as usual. Also the initial reciprocal match for second half of the campaign into 2016. Albion's form had tailed off thru December, with merely three draws and a defeat in the last four fixtures. but overall, the season so far had been remarkable until that first reversal, versus Middlesbrough - latest at the Amex. Chris Hughton had worked wonders from a rejuvenated squad this campaign but his job now was to sprinkle blue & white magic dust on the match-day 18 to come up with victory and stop the rot. After start of the season (Q1) Albion averaged 2.33pt/gm but by halfway (Q2) this fell to 1.45pt/gm (1.91pt/gm overall) and required a big boost very soon to get back on track. On the night 27k turned up including 1700 away fans. * match report: Albion crashed to defeat in the second home match running and it appeared the bubble of promo illusion had burst. In fact it was visitors who were more resilient and good value for continuing a p-o push thru 2016. Meanwhile Hughton had problems to solve and perhaps one way was to dip into the transfer market window again. Town took the lead when Dunk slipped and let their striker in (32min). With Seagulls huffing & puffing, Hughton made a double change after the hour but kept with 433 when Zamora & Wilson got on. Later with time running out Manu arrived but BHA failed to score for the third time in succession. Hughton said, 'we are finding it difficult to get the goals we need to win matches and if not, you have to keep clean sheets. We're just lacking finding a way to score. With Bobby we are conscious we have to work him appropriately. It's a management one with Bob.' Brighton fans could merely wish he was still in his prime and virtually certain to score given half a chance. Stats; poss 59%-41%, on target 4-4, off target 5-3, corners 5-8, o/s 5-1, fouls 5-8, yellow 1-1. Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Calderon, Stephens, Crofts, Kayal (Wilson), La Parra, Hemed (Zamora), Murphy (Manu). Champ's P24 . W11 D11 L2 . F31 A24 . Pt44 Po4 . W = 45.8% L = 8.3% Season4 (H) 21/1/15 - W 3-2 ~ Baldock, Teixeira 2. This fixture was moved forward into midweek due to FA Cup involvement versus Arsenal at the Amex. Chris Hughton had replaced Sami Hyypia as manager at New Year, after the Finn resigned just prior to Xmas. Albion had been in the bottom three but asst mgr Nathan Jones orchestrated a reversal of fortunes when Seagulls gained 4pts during two festive-season games (Reading, H & Fulham, A). This was followed by victories again in London, for an FA Cup tie (Brentford) and the next league fixture (Charlton) when now led by Hughton. But on the Saturday beforehand Albion lost again at home (Brentford) when the same old worrying symptoms of lack of finishing emerged. On the night 23k local support turned up in the freezing cold hoping for a change of luck. * match report: Hughton employed a 4213 shape and had a different blend of players with attacking intentions. From word go there was fluency and movement going forward and chances came along. Then Baldock hit an absolute screamer to put Seagulls ahead (19min). But Town hit back quickly with a fast counter (22min). However, a new purpose to go for broke saw Teixeira net twice before h-t and both goals had a touch of class. Firstly the young Portuguese talent beat a load of defenders and shot home (38min). Then Bennett went very deep to cross and he notched a brace with a low poke (45+). During the second period there were more opportunities to net again but the ball didn't quite break with good fortune again. Hughton introduced new signing Best for the last fifteen or so minutes and later March for fresh legs. Both O'Grady and Teixeira left the field to standing ovations. Town pinched another goal while Albion dozed but they could not find enough of a threat to equalise. So fans went home happy for once and a feelgood factor was evident from this useful performance. Hughton said, 'if we can strengthen in an area then we will do. It is about now through to end of the season.' Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Hughes, Bennett, Ince, Teixeira (March), Holla, Calderon, O'Grady (Best), Baldock. Champ's P27 . W6 D11 L10 . F30 A35 . Pt29 Po19 . W = 22.2% L = 37.0% Season3 (H) 22/3/14 - L 0-2. These were the facts prior to kick-off; Albion were striving to get into play-off positions and consolidate there during the run-in. Ipswich were similarly inclined. Oscar Garcia was in his first year as Head Coach in England, while Mick McCarthy also had international credentials and Prem experience to boot. Seagulls tended to play a possession game with slow build up, although there was pace in the front runners. Opposition tended to arrive at the Amex, press in midfield and park the bus at the back. Good counter attacking sides had taken points away and on more than one occasion all three. Brighton's defence kinda kept it clean but a distinct lack of putting the ball in the net had put that stat under threat. We had one lone striker and if he had an off day, then heaven help us. * match report: Basically Town won the match because they scored two well crafted and executed goals. Albion huffed, puffed and could not blow the house down, no matter how hard they tried. Possession was 2:1 in favour of BHA and we had 18 on/offs, 5 o/s & 9 corners and all. Greer said, 'we conceded two sloppy goals but have been on a good run. There will be plenty of twists and turns in the last ten games.' Garcia responded immediately when going behind on the hour mark by introducing more pace with LuaLua (who does not like to be labelled an impact player!). Shortly after March arrived, visitors scored once more and there were merely ten mins left to play catch up. A huge crowd of 29k began to drift away well before the end and the feeling was that somehow, Mick McC had bamboozled OG by mugging us in plain sight. Oscar would not portion blame - least of all to himself. But fans kinda disagreed with his tactics of trying to steamroller a wall of bodies in away kit. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Ince, Andrews, Forster-Caskey (LuaLua), Buckley (Rodriguez), Ulloa, Lingard (March). Champ's P36. W15 D11 L10 . F39 A30 . Pt56 Po8 . W = 41.6% L = 27.7% Season2 (H) 2/10/12 - 1-1 ~ Buckley. On the evening before this midweek match, Adur District Council endorsed the BHA planning application for a 29million pound training complex on level ground at Lancing. Martin Perry was overseeing the project and it was the next vital stage in taking the Sussex club toward Prem standing and facilities. It all seemed a long time since lower league days at Withdean, with borrowed pitches at Sussex Uni to train on. Gus Poyet was still using them but it was far from ideal for his Championship ambitions. On the night it rained, which was a rarity at Falmer but over 24k attended to support table-toppers in our bid to reach the elite. * match report: The match was something of a disappointment, especially when Town took the lead against run of play. They countered quickly from Albion losing possession and headed past Kuszczak as if he wasn't there (27min). Albion had plenty of the ball but build-up was slow and movement up front sluggish. Gus made a double sub change on the hour but we were chasing the game by then and not finding answers to equalise. Later David came on for Orlandi who was Man of the Match (76min). Brighton kept plugging away and Calderon combined with David to go right down the flank. His square ball from the by-line was punted in by Buckley (80m) for the leveller. Gus could see it was all a bit of a struggle against another useful defensive team. But this was level2 and nobody was gonna roll over for anything. Poyet needed to work out how to combat these tactics with the squad still available. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Hammond (Dicker), Bridcutt, Orlandi (David), Dobbie, Barnes, LuaLua (Buckley). Champ's P9 . W5 D2 L2 . F15 A6 . Pt17 Po3 . W = 55.5% L = 22.2% Season1 (H) 25/2/12 - 3-0 ~ Mackail-Smith, Barnes 2. Prior to this fixture, Wolves were without a manager and had cast their net around ex-Prem and current Championship bosses to fill the job at Molineux. Of course Gus Poyet was in the frame, like when others such as Leeds had a vacancy but this time BHA executives blocked any official contact. Gus said, 'I am always ready for things to happen.' Brighton fans knew he was gonna go one day but hopefully not quite soon. Albion were playing catch-up with teams in play-off positions and apart from debacle at Anfield in FAC5, were unbeaten in this div during 2012 to date. A New Year injury crisis had abated and Poyet added to the squad recently via a couple of m-f players from Man City - Abdul Razak and Gai Assulin. All the genial Uruguayan had to do was keep Albion on course for a top-six finish if at all possible. If he did then that two-million payoff for poaching him from Seagulls would surely increase in value pretty damn quick. * match report: Brighton went ahead on twenty minutes via CMS who slotted Buckley's low centre into goal. However, Greer had earlier headed off the line in an incident much like Anfield antics. The game was ok for watching football played at decent standard and both sides were in form. BHA got better of exchanges and Barnes bagged first of his brace with a tidy drive from distance (65min). Gus double swopped (78m) and slightly altered 433 by giving more support forward from midfield. New-boy Razak done good, got MoM award and a standing ovation when subbed by LuaLua (88m). His on-loan colleague Assulin also looked more than useful. Late in the day Barnes netted again with a rasping shot, following quick build-up via Reyes advancing from defence (88m). Gus was pretty pleased with the performance, although he couldn't resist tinkering in closing stages. He at least had a problem in future of selecting from a half decent squad and to all intent and purpose a play-off push was defo on. Brezovan, Reyes, Greer, El-Abd, Mattock, Navarro, Bridcutt, Razak (LuaLua), Buckley (Assulin), Mackail-Smith (Vokes), Barnes. Champ's P33 . W15 D8 L10 . F39 A33 . Pt53 Po7 . W = 45.4% L = 30.3% * * * * * Withdean era: C'ship - seasons 4 6-7, 02/3 04/5-05/6. Withdean era: Albion V Town 1-1, 1-1, 1-1 . . . W = 0 D = 3 L = 0 memorable match: Season6 (H) - final fixture... and we stayed up! see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Bobby Zamora, Adam Virgo & Dean Wilkins.
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Previous encounters (Ipswich )
Ipswich - Away, Falmer Years: Prem 24/25, season14 . . C'ship 11/12-16/17, seasons 1-6 . no league meetings in seasons between 2017 and 2024. Prem previous encounters home & away: P1 W0 D1 L0 - see Clubs in Archive. Albion PL/EFL record @ Town from 11/12 . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 3 manager: Keiran McKenna (2021) P0 W = 0% @ July '24 . experience: Prem rookie with auto-promo from lower leagues. Portman Road - 30k . nickname: Tractor Boys . shirt: blue & white. Prem/EFL record from 11/12: 15 14 9 6 7 16 / 12 24 C, 10 9 11 2 L1, 2 C, 18 @ 6/12/24. recent promo - '24 C, '23 L1 . p-os - '15 C . relegated - '19 C. 24/25 odds at start: rel 8-11, stay up 10-11 . sack K McK 14/1 . expected to finish: bottom three run in: B'mouth (A), Wolves (H), Chelsea (A) Arsenal (H), N'castle (A), Everton (A), Br'ford (H), Le'ster (A), West Ham (H) run in forecast: ?pt > ?pt . max was ? . actual = ? . Po was ? . actual Po = ? Town V Albion (A) from 17/18: - < - x-x . . W = 0 D = 0 L = 0 . F0 A0 scorers: Season 14, 8th Premier League (A) Thur 16/1/25 - 7:30 This mid-week Jan '25 reciprocal fixture was the 11th of 19 away and followed those traditional FA Cup R3 ties last Saturday at beginning of second half of the campaign (Q3-4). It was also our initial elite contest at Portman Road versus Town in their very first season back in the PL since the early noughties. We had never met at Prem level. The reverse game was 14 Sept '24 after the first international break early in the first quarter (Q1) - see home scroll further below. At the recent halfway stage (Q2) we had xpts and they had xpts. Now later (Q3) we had xpts and they had xpts. Current away form was; W D L F A tba. Hosts home form was: W D L F A tba. At the moment Brighton were xth, while Ipswich were xth from x games played. At the halfway stage we were xth and they were xth. In the last three campaigns we'd been 9, 6 & 8 at the halfway stage and finished 9, 6 & 11. Albion were looking to take max points in East Anglia. Their boss had so far ... in the January window. In the FA Cup . Headline news this week was ... *** match report: tba day after result stats: ht , goals , poss %-%, on target , off target , corners , fouls , yellows , subs , shape weather: . gate: . MoM: team: 1 Verbruggen 2 Lamptey 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 30 Estupinan 11 Adingra 20 Baleba 10 Enciso 22 Mitoma 18 Welbeck subs: bench: 23 Steele 3 Julio 34 Veltman 4 Webster 6 Milner 7 March 28 Ferguson 41 Hinshelwood 14 Rutter 17 Minteh 24 Kadioglu 27 Wieffer 33 O'Riley squad: 15 Moder . injured: Prem P21 . W D L . F A . W D L . F A . Pt Po = 1.xxpt/gm . W = % L = % Town: Quatr: Pl . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% hfwy: 14 . 01 06 07 . 13 25 -12 . 09 18 = 0.64 . 07.1 50.0 start: 10 . 00 05 05 . 10 21 -11 . 05 18 = 0.50 . 00.0 50.0 - Keiran McKenna EFL Cup: Wimbledon 4pen2 2-2 (A) R2 FA Cup: Bristol Rovers (H) R3 Nov: 18th in table, 2pts off 17th at Q1 Seasons 7-13, (1st-7th) (A) - not Premier League. IPSWICH home; Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L% 24/25 . 0 4 2 . 5 9 -4 . 4 18 = 0.66 44.4 . 00.0 33.3 - Keiran McKenna @ 28/11/24 17/18 - 23/24 - not Premier League Ipswich: Previous Prem Prem points: - < - tba previous coach: Paul Cook (2021), Paul Lambert (18-21) . Seasn . W D L . . . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm . W% L% 24/25 - 17/18 - 23/24 not Premier League knockous: FA Cup: . FL Cup: R2 * * * * * * Town v Albion (A) from 11/12 @ C: 3-1, 0-3, 2-0, 2-0, 2-3, 0-0 . . W = 2 D = 1 L = 3 For Home Falmer Years results and reports scroll further below. memorable match: Season5 (A) - an early season victory in a campaign full of hope for a brighter future. Season6 (A) Championship 27/9/16 - 0-0. Albion had got into a play-off position following three straight wins in the Championship. Expectation for another successful season was high after Seagulls had gone so close to automatic promotion last term. The squad was not too different to previously and had been boosted by signing Shane Duffy & Ollie Norwood, plus Glenn Murray on loan from Bournemouth & Seb Pocognoli on loan from WBA. A few injuries meant Chris Hughton had to change personnel but there was strength in depth in the match-day eighteen. Regular left back Bong was suspended for this fixture. Hughton said, 'I've got to make a decision now for that position. They are not easy, working round the situation.' In the event he put out a strong team in 442 formation, set up to take the points. * match report: Albion played out a disappointing goalless stalemate against an outfit determined to be physical. It was something of a midfield battle and Seagulls never really took off. Tractor Boys were kinda agricultural and Ref showed cards too. Just prior to the interval he booked Stephens for dissent. During the second period visitors made more of a fist of it but a poor penetration let them down. With twenty minutes left Hughton made a double sub and switched to 4411 - have and hold a point. Ten minutes from time Stephens got his marching orders for an illegal tackle. Brighton played it out with ten men and travelling fans quickly forgot about the match performance. Records show 0-0 and at this stage, staying undefeated on the road would do. Stats; poss 53%-47%, on target 2-0, off target 9-5, corners 2-5, fouls 11-16, yellow 4-3, red 0-1, subs 3-2 . att 15,228. Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert, Stephens, Norwood, Skalak (Murphy), Hemed (Sidwell). Champ's P10 . W5 D3 L2 . F12 A6 . Pt18 Po4 . W = 50% L = 20% Season5 (A) 29/8/15 - W 2-3 ~ LuaLua, Hemed 2. The campaign had started very well for Albion and they were second in the table behind Ipswich going into this fixture. It was the last one before the international break and completed a hectic August of two games per week, including cup ties. Chris Hughton was more or less selecting from a fully fit squad, having signed several players. Uwe Huenemeier, Gaetan Bong, Liam Rosenior and Tomer Hemed were now first eleven choices who added to regulars from last term. Also a number of youngsters had been snapped up from abroad prior to the transfer deadline, swelling prospects for the U21 side this season too. Seagulls legend Bobby Zamora was fit enough to be named among substitutes. * match report: Visitors began on the front foot, took the match to locals and got just rewards with victory, sending unbeaten BHA to top of the Championship. LuaLua opened the scoring early on when converting a pass from Bong (10min). Two minutes later Stephens f-k was flicked home by Hemed, for a clear foothold in this battle to be number one (12min). Both sides made subs directly after h-t - Dunk coming on for booked and slightly concussed Huenemeier. But Town were like a different side and forced Albion to defend - getting an early breakthrough and then equalising quickly thru a penalty (54 & 65min). The match was immediately poised to go either way but it was Seagulls who swooped first when Hemed nodded in LuaLua's looping centre (67min). Hughton brought Zamora into the fray with a little over ten minutes remaining and later Ince to help in defence. Closing moments were typically frantic, although Albion weathered the storm and to a degree it was plain sailing therefafter. Stats - poss 52-48, on target 3-6, off target 5-10, blocked 1-6, corners 5-5, fouls 10-11, o/s 4-1, yellows 4-3. LuaLua said, 'this is a very different experience to last season when we kept losing. This squad is much stronger than last year's.' Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Huenemeier (Dunk), Bong, Rosenior, Kayal, Stephens, LuaLua, Hemed (Zamora), Baldock (Ince). Champ's P5 . W4 D1 L0 . F8 A4 . Pt13 Po1 . W = 80% L = 0% Season4 (A) 16/9/14 - L 2-0. The FL fixture computer print-out was usually relied upon to churn out a couple of simultaneous away games immediately following the international break and guess what? So it was now a Tuesday night in Suffolk and this tough Championship match came straight after that weekend equally difficut contest in s-w London at Griffin Park. Those thoughts on majority of Brighton fans minds were concerning our indifferent set of results at Portman Road and whether we could now up the ante after a less than average start to the new campaign. The long interlude prior to being on the road allowed Sami Hyypia to get to grips with squad strategy and drill his men with the big Finns mentality & philosophy. * match report: The long and short of it was Albion were in the match for nearly ninety minutes, played to orders and on a different night may have got a point or more. Town keeper prevented his side conceding on at least three clear-cut occasions and two forays up the other end got them a result. Seagulls started by hitting the ground running but also had to defend a period of pressure around the area. After the break there were no prisoners taken at times as each outfit engaged in midfield battle for supremacy. It all appearede to be moving toward final stalemate when Town edged ahead. Stockdale got his hand to stop a shot but the rebound found a home boot (79min). Two mins from time a bouncing ball went thru and another local took a dig from distance (88 min). Brighton were undone and travelling fans could see m-f & front runners working hard but with no end product. CMS & Baldock appeared to work up an understanding but it was the failure of others to defend and score as support players that had seen BHA on the end of yet another sorry defeat. Brighton were surely better than the basic result showed. Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Dunk, Bennett, Holla (Teixeira), Ince, Forster-Caskey, Mackail-Smith (Colunga), Baldock, LuaLua. Champ's P7 . W2 D1 L4 . F8 A10 . Pt7 Po18 . W = 28.5% L = 57.1% Season3 (A) 28/9/13 - L 2-0. Brighton went off to Ipswich undefeated in six fixtures, having taken five points on the road from a total of twelve in eight games home & away. A single goal win at Birmingham in August was followed by two consecutive goalless stalemates at Reading and QPR within four days of September. One problem with Oscar Garcias squad was the amount of injuries picked up prior to and during start of this third campaign at level two. Also, target-man Ulloa was suspended for three matches for a straight red in the first half at Reading. Of the teams that played at Portman Road; CMS, Bridcutt, Orlandi and Hoskins were long term injured, while Ankergren and El-Abd were mostly on the bench these days. Barnes would play as striker but with David and LuaLua favoured by our new Spanish head coach, he was not guaranteed to start when in support of the missing big Argentine front man. * match report: Albion crashed to defeat from two quick goals inside five minutes with less than half an hour on the clock. The first was a deflected long shot that caught Kuszczak unawares (20min), followed by a solo effort by the same striker when Greer blundered at the back (24min). On each occasion Albion were pressing forward and taking the game to Town in determined fashion. So it was gonna be a tough sort of recovery mission to gain parity once more over the course of another hour. Garcia introduced LuaLua for Conway five mins into the second period in an attempt to boost attacking options. The defensive 451 morphed into more of a 433 using Buckley in a free roving job across the line. But Ipswich subbed to snuff out threat from wings by doubling up and their defence was generally in command throughout. Late in the day March and Forster-Caskey took to the field of battle. But you could not help thinking that the game was well and truly up long before these swaps went into action. Garcia said, 'we worked hard but it was not our day.' Many regular travelling Brighton fans thought he was being generous about a disappointing display by BHA, kitted out in our new and very expensive yellow away kit. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, Upson, Ward, Bruno (Forster-Caskey), Andrews, Crofts, Buckley, Barnes (March), Conway (LuaLua). Champ's P9 . W3 D3 L3 . F9 A8 . Pt12 Po12 . W = 33.3% L= 33.3% Season2 (A) 1/1/13 - W 0-3 ~ Hammond, CMS, Bridge. Hells bells, New Year already and where did 2012 Xmas holidays go? On the following Saturday we'd drawn Newcastle in FAC3 at the Amex and had a postponed away fixture with Blackburn to face as well. January was gonna be a period when Albion either cut the mustard or choked on effects of too much festive Championship gluttony. Gus Poyet wanted a further 40 points to compete for play-offs but at current state of progress it was difficult to see how. On paper we had a better squad than '11/12, although results hadn't shown marked improvement. In fact it was probably our away form that kept the club in top half of the table going into 2013. BHA resolution had to be to pick up wins every other game, or be confined to middle order in a very competitive league. On day1 for '13, over 900 B'ton fans travelled to East Anglia. * match report: Albion turned in a very useful performance and kept a clean sheet to boot. They were on top from opening skirmishes and it was no surprise to see Seagulls take the lead. First, Hammond nodded in from Orlandi's corner to the near post (15min). Second, CMS picked up Barnes flick then shot across goal and in off a post (34min). After the interval Bridge got a third from a punt when Dicker fed him the chance (68min). LuaLua was injured soon after the break and Gus also replaced valuable selections with sub strikers late in the game. By then BHA had points in the bag, while locals struggled to get up to speed. Gus said, 'today we hit the target and scored three times. I don't know if it was God, or luck or the new year. We were very strong in both boxes and that made a big difference. I don't know if we will go up but if we don't make the top six it will be a shame.' Kuszczak, David, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Hammond, Bridcutt, Orlandi (Hoskins), Barnes, Mackail-Smith (Dobbie), LuaLua (Dicker). Champ's P25 . W9 D10 L6 . F35 A26 . Pt37 Po9 . W = 36% L = 24% Season1 (A) 1/10/11 - L 3-1 ~ Vicente. It was a hot afternoon for beginning of October and green & black shirtsleeves was order of the day on away terraces. Brighton were not on a very good run in the Championship, although we'd started life at level2 by previously topping the table for a short while. Gus Poyet set out a game plan to play similar open attacking football that had served us so well to win league1. Gus and assistant Tanno signed this week for five years, so we assumed they had a progressive strategy for taking the club forward. * match report: Albion weathered the storm in the opening twenty minutes but managed to keep it clean right up until half time and then further on to nearly the hour mark. Just beforehand, Dicker won the ball deep inside our half and set Vicente off on a counter attack. He went all the way with a tricky run and opened personal account for the season from his first actual start (53min). The Spaniard was a class act for Valencia and was now trying to get up to speed in England. Brighton folded quickly following an Ipswich equaliser (59m) and fell behind from a basic header at another Town corner (70m). We were beat soon after to more probs at the back (73m). It was becoming a headache for Gus but he was getting a handle on capabilities of this supplemented third-tier squad - that now seemed to lack some higher grade qualities. They would be given a fair chance but for how long? Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, Vincelot, Painter, Dicker (Harley), Bridcutt, Navarro (Hoskins), Vicente (Noone), Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Champ's P10 . W5 D2 L3 . F16 A14 . Pt17 Po5 . W = 50% L = 30% * * * * * Withdean Era: 12 seasons from 1999 to 2011 - Seasons 4 02/3, 6 04/5, 7 05/6 - Championship. Season4 24/9/02 (A) EFL Cup R2. Withdean era: Town V Albion 2-2, 1-0, 1-2 . . . W = 1 D = 1 L = 1 3-1 EFL Cup. memorable match: Season4 (A) - time was running out (ie: the run-in) and Seagulls needed points to stay up. Noughties last there - 15/4/06 (A) C'ship. Three fixtures at Portman Road for level2 fare during that decade. 24/9/02 (A) EFL Cup. A predictable k-o as we got to grips with football against better opposition. see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Martin Hinshelwood, Steve Coppell & Mark McGhee.
Ipswich - Home, Falmer Years: Prem 24/25, season14 . . C'ship 11/12-16/17, seasons 1-6 . Albion record @ Amex from 11/12 . . W = 2 D = 3 L = 2 Albion V Town (H) from 17/18: - < - 0-0 scorers: Season14, 8th Premier League (H) Sat 14/9/24 - 0-0 Ipswich were auto promoted a second time running from the EFL; initially League One of the 22/23 season and next out of the Championship after the 23/24 season. It was 20 odd years since they'd last been in the Prem. IT pre-season friendlies; Shaktar D 0-1 (A), F Dusseldorf 1-2 (H), Hoffenheim 0-1 (A), Nice 1-0 (H). This Prem fixture was the 2nd of 19 at home, coming after the first international break during the 10 game start quarter (Q1). It was also our initial Prem contest at the Amex versus Town in their very first season back in the elite since those early noughties - see Clubs in Archive. We hadn't hosted them since heady days of level2 from '11 to '17 - see below. The reverse game was 14 Jan '25 in mid season - see away scroll further above. They were expected to really be up against it over long winter months ahead. Right now we had 7pts and they had 1pt in this very early phase. Current home form was; W1 D0 L0 F2 A1 - from our first Amex game. Visitors away form was: W0 D0 L1 F1 A4 - their first elite away, at Man City of all places. At the moment Brighton were 3rd, while Ipswich were 17th from 3 games played. In the last three campaigns we'd been placed 8, 8 & 7 after end of the start period (Q1). Albion were looking for max points versus PL new boys. In the close season, while BHA had 6 men on duty in Germany, IT had 0 players, being the only Prem club with zero reps at the Euro 24 finals during June. Ipswich were recently k'od from the EFL Cup in R2 at Wimbledon after losing a penalty shootout. Their boss Keiran McKenna had spent around 108m on 10 new talents, plus 2 on loan players prior to the big kickoff and before the August window shut. Meanwhile BHA had a brand new head coach in Fabian Hurzeler and 9 new signings for about 200m. Numerous BHA players from the first-team squad and U21s had just returned from internatinal duties in various continental competitions. Headline news this week was Hurzeler got manager of the month award for August. A pretty good start to life in the Prem by any account. *** match report: Brighton fans had witnessed several games at the Amex in recent seasons where opposition sat deep, played on the counter and hung in there for parity at end of 90+ scrappy minutes. It could often be a frustrating watch and kinda came with the territory, especially since we broke into the top ten rather than remaining regular bottom-six fodder ourselves. The old community stadium hadn't really been a domestic fortress after promo from the Championship in '17 and perhaps it should be now if we wanted to take that next big leap from mid div up to qualifiers for European competitions. Previous head coaches Potter & De Zerbi upped the ante with a passing style of play that took us from also rans towards top six and Hurzeler has a similar task ahead with yet another expensively enhanced squad full of multi-million pound internationals. Some of these turned out today following various national duties worldwide and the bench was strong on paper at very least, with duplicates available in each third of the pitch. The ongoing bugbear of a prolonged extensive injury list was much reduced from last term, which was another positive for keeping up our useful start to this campaign. But the idea of turning strategy, tactics and individual top-level football skills into Prem points is to score goals - at least one more than visiting opponents. Goalless draws mean a basic clean sheet was kept but negatives from that resulting fail to score stat, here against inexperienced Prem new boys, pervade analysis of the contest. A side like Albion needs a consistent scoring forward line, several additional goals from midfield and also defenders chipping in from set pieces at intervals. None of the above happened today. Go to E-talk, Squad and Archive tabs above for goal-scoring, or more appropriately no goals, players records. If BHA truly want to achieve a future place in Europe our current match-day group has to start hitting the net... week in, week out for as long as it takes. stats: ht 0-0, goals 0, poss 70%-30%, on target 6-1, off target 15-5, corners 9-2, fouls 14-16, yellows 4-3, subs 4-5, shape 442-541 weather: sunny . gate: 31,573 . MoM: Baleba - powerhouse team: 1 Verbruggen 34 Veltman 29 van Hecke 5 Dunk 41 Hinshelwood 17 Minteh 20 Baleba 26 Ayari 22 Mitoma 14 Rutter 18 Welbeck subs: 10 Enciso 68 (14), 11 Adingra 68 (17), 24 Kadioglu 68 (41), 28 Ferguson 85 (18) bench: 23 Steele 3 Julio 4 Webster 15 Moder30 Estupinan squad: 2 Lamptey 8 Gruda . injured: 6 Milner 7 March 9 Pedro 27 Wieffer 33 O'Riley Prem P4 . W1 D1 L0 . F2 A1 . W1 D1 L0 . F4 A1 . Pt8 Po4 = 2.00pt/gm . W = 50% L = 0% Seasons 7-13 (1st-7th) (H) - not Premier League. IPSWICH away; Prem. Seasn . W D L . F A GD . . Pt Po pt/gm %Pt . W% L% 24/25 . 1 2 3 . 8 14 -6 . 5 18 = 0.83 55.5 . 16.6 50.0 - Keiran McKenna @ 28/11/24 17/18 - 23/24 - not Premier League * * * * * Albion v Town (H) from 11/12 @ C: 3-0, 1-1, 0-2, 3-2, 0-1, 1-1 . . W = 2 D = 2 L = 2 For Away Falmer Years results and reports scroll further up. memorable match: Season4 (H) - a critical game soon after Chris Hughton arrived to stop the rot. Season6 (H) Championship 14/2/17 - 1-1 ~ Hemed. The one thing these two regular Championship clubs had in commom at this stage of the campaign, was that both teams had been knocked out of the FA Cup away at non-league Lincoln City! Apart from that they were several points apart so to speak. In fact it was 25pts & 12 places, with 16 more fixtures to complete. It was another Tuesday evening match like last season but Seagulls were not inclined to re-run that result, when hitting their bad patch around Xmas & New Year, This term it occurred slightly later with that aforesaid late January FA Cup 3rd round humiliation, followed by a trouncing up north from rivals Huddersfield and salvaging a point at Brentford in first week of Feb. Chris Hughton had nearly a full squad available, although of those previously listed below, Goldson was finished for the season on medical grounds, Calderon, Crofts, La Parra, Wilson & Zamora had all left in summer, while Manu was now out on loan in Holland. * match report: Town proved once again a team that Albion found very hard to beat. Seagulls were a goal down against ten men inside ten minutes. A visitor was off the field receiving treatment when they netted from a f-k against run of play (9min). Albion huffed & puffed and got back in it when Bruno got decked running into the area to reach a thru ball. Hemed did the biz as usual (29min). The rest of the match was mostly BHA seeking the winner, although Tractor Boys carried a threat going forward and Duffy & Dunk both got cards in defence. Hughton put on Murray first in the second period then Murphy and finally Akpom but all to no avail - Murray did hit the post. All in all it was just not to be yet another win at the Amex. Hughton said, 'our levels were not as good as they have been. It probably became too open a game in the second half. It is incredibly difficult to go through the season without having difficult periods. We are in a good position and deserve to be there.' And so say all of us. Up the Albion! Stats; h-t 1-1, goals 29-9, poss 58%-42%, on target 5-4, off target 12-4, corners 3-6, o/s 4-1, fouls 16-17, yellows 3-5, subs 3-3 . att 26,360. Stockdale, Bruno, Duffy, Dunk, Pocognoli, Knockaert, Stephens, Sidwell, March (Murphy), Baldock (Akpom), Hemed (Murray). Champ's P31 . W19 D8 L4 . F52 A26 . Pt65 Po2 . W = 61.2% L = 12.9% Season5 (H) 29/12/15 - L 0-1. This was a Tuesday night for the last game of 2015 and that one squeezed between Xmas & New Year fixtures as usual. Also the initial reciprocal match for second half of the campaign into 2016. Albion's form had tailed off thru December, with merely three draws and a defeat in the last four fixtures. but overall, the season so far had been remarkable until that first reversal, versus Middlesbrough - latest at the Amex. Chris Hughton had worked wonders from a rejuvenated squad this campaign but his job now was to sprinkle blue & white magic dust on the match-day 18 to come up with victory and stop the rot. After start of the season (Q1) Albion averaged 2.33pt/gm but by halfway (Q2) this fell to 1.45pt/gm (1.91pt/gm overall) and required a big boost very soon to get back on track. On the night 27k turned up including 1700 away fans. * match report: Albion crashed to defeat in the second home match running and it appeared the bubble of promo illusion had burst. In fact it was visitors who were more resilient and good value for continuing a p-o push thru 2016. Meanwhile Hughton had problems to solve and perhaps one way was to dip into the transfer market window again. Town took the lead when Dunk slipped and let their striker in (32min). With Seagulls huffing & puffing, Hughton made a double change after the hour but kept with 433 when Zamora & Wilson got on. Later with time running out Manu arrived but BHA failed to score for the third time in succession. Hughton said, 'we are finding it difficult to get the goals we need to win matches and if not, you have to keep clean sheets. We're just lacking finding a way to score. With Bobby we are conscious we have to work him appropriately. It's a management one with Bob.' Brighton fans could merely wish he was still in his prime and virtually certain to score given half a chance. Stats; poss 59%-41%, on target 4-4, off target 5-3, corners 5-8, o/s 5-1, fouls 5-8, yellow 1-1. Stockdale, Bruno, Goldson, Dunk, Calderon, Stephens, Crofts, Kayal (Wilson), La Parra, Hemed (Zamora), Murphy (Manu). Champ's P24 . W11 D11 L2 . F31 A24 . Pt44 Po4 . W = 45.8% L = 8.3% Season4 (H) 21/1/15 - W 3-2 ~ Baldock, Teixeira 2. This fixture was moved forward into midweek due to FA Cup involvement versus Arsenal at the Amex. Chris Hughton had replaced Sami Hyypia as manager at New Year, after the Finn resigned just prior to Xmas. Albion had been in the bottom three but asst mgr Nathan Jones orchestrated a reversal of fortunes when Seagulls gained 4pts during two festive-season games (Reading, H & Fulham, A). This was followed by victories again in London, for an FA Cup tie (Brentford) and the next league fixture (Charlton) when now led by Hughton. But on the Saturday beforehand Albion lost again at home (Brentford) when the same old worrying symptoms of lack of finishing emerged. On the night 23k local support turned up in the freezing cold hoping for a change of luck. * match report: Hughton employed a 4213 shape and had a different blend of players with attacking intentions. From word go there was fluency and movement going forward and chances came along. Then Baldock hit an absolute screamer to put Seagulls ahead (19min). But Town hit back quickly with a fast counter (22min). However, a new purpose to go for broke saw Teixeira net twice before h-t and both goals had a touch of class. Firstly the young Portuguese talent beat a load of defenders and shot home (38min). Then Bennett went very deep to cross and he notched a brace with a low poke (45+). During the second period there were more opportunities to net again but the ball didn't quite break with good fortune again. Hughton introduced new signing Best for the last fifteen or so minutes and later March for fresh legs. Both O'Grady and Teixeira left the field to standing ovations. Town pinched another goal while Albion dozed but they could not find enough of a threat to equalise. So fans went home happy for once and a feelgood factor was evident from this useful performance. Hughton said, 'if we can strengthen in an area then we will do. It is about now through to end of the season.' Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Hughes, Bennett, Ince, Teixeira (March), Holla, Calderon, O'Grady (Best), Baldock. Champ's P27 . W6 D11 L10 . F30 A35 . Pt29 Po19 . W = 22.2% L = 37.0% Season3 (H) 22/3/14 - L 0-2. These were the facts prior to kick-off; Albion were striving to get into play-off positions and consolidate there during the run-in. Ipswich were similarly inclined. Oscar Garcia was in his first year as Head Coach in England, while Mick McCarthy also had international credentials and Prem experience to boot. Seagulls tended to play a possession game with slow build up, although there was pace in the front runners. Opposition tended to arrive at the Amex, press in midfield and park the bus at the back. Good counter attacking sides had taken points away and on more than one occasion all three. Brighton's defence kinda kept it clean but a distinct lack of putting the ball in the net had put that stat under threat. We had one lone striker and if he had an off day, then heaven help us. * match report: Basically Town won the match because they scored two well crafted and executed goals. Albion huffed, puffed and could not blow the house down, no matter how hard they tried. Possession was 2:1 in favour of BHA and we had 18 on/offs, 5 o/s & 9 corners and all. Greer said, 'we conceded two sloppy goals but have been on a good run. There will be plenty of twists and turns in the last ten games.' Garcia responded immediately when going behind on the hour mark by introducing more pace with LuaLua (who does not like to be labelled an impact player!). Shortly after March arrived, visitors scored once more and there were merely ten mins left to play catch up. A huge crowd of 29k began to drift away well before the end and the feeling was that somehow, Mick McC had bamboozled OG by mugging us in plain sight. Oscar would not portion blame - least of all to himself. But fans kinda disagreed with his tactics of trying to steamroller a wall of bodies in away kit. Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, Upson, Ward, Ince, Andrews, Forster-Caskey (LuaLua), Buckley (Rodriguez), Ulloa, Lingard (March). Champ's P36. W15 D11 L10 . F39 A30 . Pt56 Po8 . W = 41.6% L = 27.7% Season2 (H) 2/10/12 - 1-1 ~ Buckley. On the evening before this midweek match, Adur District Council endorsed the BHA planning application for a 29million pound training complex on level ground at Lancing. Martin Perry was overseeing the project and it was the next vital stage in taking the Sussex club toward Prem standing and facilities. It all seemed a long time since lower league days at Withdean, with borrowed pitches at Sussex Uni to train on. Gus Poyet was still using them but it was far from ideal for his Championship ambitions. On the night it rained, which was a rarity at Falmer but over 24k attended to support table-toppers in our bid to reach the elite. * match report: The match was something of a disappointment, especially when Town took the lead against run of play. They countered quickly from Albion losing possession and headed past Kuszczak as if he wasn't there (27min). Albion had plenty of the ball but build-up was slow and movement up front sluggish. Gus made a double sub change on the hour but we were chasing the game by then and not finding answers to equalise. Later David came on for Orlandi who was Man of the Match (76min). Brighton kept plugging away and Calderon combined with David to go right down the flank. His square ball from the by-line was punted in by Buckley (80m) for the leveller. Gus could see it was all a bit of a struggle against another useful defensive team. But this was level2 and nobody was gonna roll over for anything. Poyet needed to work out how to combat these tactics with the squad still available. Kuszczak, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Bridge, Hammond (Dicker), Bridcutt, Orlandi (David), Dobbie, Barnes, LuaLua (Buckley). Champ's P9 . W5 D2 L2 . F15 A6 . Pt17 Po3 . W = 55.5% L = 22.2% Season1 (H) 25/2/12 - 3-0 ~ Mackail-Smith, Barnes 2. Prior to this fixture, Wolves were without a manager and had cast their net around ex-Prem and current Championship bosses to fill the job at Molineux. Of course Gus Poyet was in the frame, like when others such as Leeds had a vacancy but this time BHA executives blocked any official contact. Gus said, 'I am always ready for things to happen.' Brighton fans knew he was gonna go one day but hopefully not quite soon. Albion were playing catch-up with teams in play-off positions and apart from debacle at Anfield in FAC5, were unbeaten in this div during 2012 to date. A New Year injury crisis had abated and Poyet added to the squad recently via a couple of m-f players from Man City - Abdul Razak and Gai Assulin. All the genial Uruguayan had to do was keep Albion on course for a top-six finish if at all possible. If he did then that two-million payoff for poaching him from Seagulls would surely increase in value pretty damn quick. * match report: Brighton went ahead on twenty minutes via CMS who slotted Buckley's low centre into goal. However, Greer had earlier headed off the line in an incident much like Anfield antics. The game was ok for watching football played at decent standard and both sides were in form. BHA got better of exchanges and Barnes bagged first of his brace with a tidy drive from distance (65min). Gus double swopped (78m) and slightly altered 433 by giving more support forward from midfield. New-boy Razak done good, got MoM award and a standing ovation when subbed by LuaLua (88m). His on-loan colleague Assulin also looked more than useful. Late in the day Barnes netted again with a rasping shot, following quick build-up via Reyes advancing from defence (88m). Gus was pretty pleased with the performance, although he couldn't resist tinkering in closing stages. He at least had a problem in future of selecting from a half decent squad and to all intent and purpose a play-off push was defo on. Brezovan, Reyes, Greer, El-Abd, Mattock, Navarro, Bridcutt, Razak (LuaLua), Buckley (Assulin), Mackail-Smith (Vokes), Barnes. Champ's P33 . W15 D8 L10 . F39 A33 . Pt53 Po7 . W = 45.4% L = 30.3% * * * * * Withdean era: C'ship - seasons 4 6-7, 02/3 04/5-05/6. Withdean era: Albion V Town 1-1, 1-1, 1-1 . . . W = 0 D = 3 L = 0 memorable match: Season6 (H) - final fixture... and we stayed up! see: Seasons 4, 6, 7 for club & stadium info. Also Bobby Zamora, Adam Virgo & Dean Wilkins.
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