Colchester - Away, Withdean Era
Season 12 (A) 25/4/11 - 1-1 ~ Barnes
By coincidence or vagaries of memoryless FL fixture computers, BHA went to Cuckoo Farm yet again on a Monday - at Easter. Hey, it was better than worshiping woeful work any road. It was sunny and warm and U's got a crowd of over 5k plus sky watchers. Brighton gained promotion after only 41 matches, so it was a bit of a holiday anyway. Gus Poyet (my lord) had worked miracles with Albion's L1 squad and many admired his pass, pass, pass mantra. He made some alterations on the day. This game was televised, hence the 12.15 k-o. We hoped the watching world of sport would finally believe us coz we were going up!
Just before 15min into this contest, Ankergren picked up an injury. The next thing he spilled a shot and in a defensive mix-up, United were given a freebie via Calderon (16min). Brezovan replaced our reg keeper who had been there between sticks for every league fixture. Albion were hung over from Saturday before, when beaten by So'ton at W'dean and at the interval needed blood transfusions, let alone cold drinks. BHA were better second period, although Brez made a double save and worked hard to keep his display clean. Seagulls started to fly and Bennett set off down the right flank and Barnes touched in his cross (72m). There was time left to gain victory but despite pressure, BHA settled for a point apiece. Unusually, Gus didn't do out-fleld subs, preferring to see how this revised squad coped with end of season fare now we were champions anyway.
Ankergren (Brezovan), Calderon, Elphick, Dunk, Painter, Bennett, Navarro, Dicker, Noone, Wood Barnes.
League1 P 44 . W 28 D 10 L 6 . F 82 A 36 . Pt 94 Po 1
Season 11 (A) 6/3/10 - 0-0
It was again a Monday in Essex, same as last year but on a very cold evening in early March '10. For some inexplicable reason, Sky TV wanted to cover this mundane div3 fixture. Subsequently the Com Stad gate was barely above 3k and only about 400 BHA fans travelled to U's new venue. Yet there had been 2k Albion support at Charlton one nite in late Feb and 6k odd when we went to Villa for FAC4 in Jan. Even for Wycombe on Mon before New Year and Orient in early Feb were boosted by around 1.5k visitors. Anyway, what's done is er, sometimes undone! There had been one of the coldest winters since last century, although not too many postponements suffered either H or A. United's pitch was a bit naff and we just had to get it right at Falmer when our Sussex icon opened in 2011. The place was rising from a hole beside the A27 and much structural work was already completed on main stands. You could see what a difference it would make to Brighton & Hove from any viewpoint.
Gus Poyet had found a settled side at last and begun to improve displays and therefore results. B'ton was on an unbeaten run, mainly due to scoring good away form. Colchester were no mugs and recorded excellent home numbers and a p-o spot to boot. So the inevitable happened, as is often the way in front of a lens and it remained goal-less. On balance of play, Albion got good on-off targets, while United had a shedload of corners. Needless to say defences were on top but our 451 tended to win possession going forward. Murray bit their frozen dust a lot, so when a pen decision cropped up, Ref merely looked the other way. U's goalie made a couple of decent saves, especially from adventurous Calderon overlapping. Seagulls rearguard stood tall in front of lofty Brezovan who caught everything but a cold in freezing conditions. B'ton thrived from more pace down flanks in GP's squad, with Holroyd employed too when doing yer final thirty min. All in all hardly a classic but ten times better than during our 'too good to go down' period of Slade's rebuilding for 2009. Compare our eleven to that season previous, when L1 survival was of Dunkirk proportions.
Brezovan, Calderon, Elphick, El-Abd, Painter, Bennett, Crofts, Navarro, Dicker, LuaLua (Holroyd), Murray
League1 P 34 . W 9 D 11 L 14 . F 40 A 51 . Pt 38 Po 17
Season 10 (A) 13/4/09 - 1-0 ~ Owusu
It was Easter Monday and we had a brand spanking new stadium to visit, which wasn't just a hole on a hillside. Falmer was a work in progress and still in early days of excavation rather than erection and construction. But Western Homes Community Stadium at Cuckoo Farm was U's home now, although they had lost nearly as many games there as Albion had at W'dean. On a dry, cloudy but mild bank holiday, loads of BHA travelled into Essex outskirts to see if we could begin the great escape from relegation. Slade was assisted by White & Booker and picked what sort of a side he could, from a squad suffering from injuries and illness. We needed a miracle to survive in League1, starting from today.
The first half was genuinely forgettable. We'd fumbled our way to parity at the break and it was a good job United hadn't turned up. BHA got going second period and put more pressure on. The front pair were chasing everything and we'd used a diamond in m-f to boot. For a f-k Borrowdale zipped in a centre and Owusu headed our winner at pace. U's then had a bit of a go but Albion held 'em fairly comfortably. Subs came on up front with 20 min left and we shoulda gone two up from the amount of possession and chances to the end. Davies had a real fair opportunity but his luck was out as per usual. In fact on stats alone we were the equivalent mediocre mid-table side. If only we'd more points to give us real hope of survival, against pretty average fare in this very basic standard. But hey, we liked to do it the hard way.
Kuipers, Whing, Virgo, Elphick, Borrowdale, Loft (El-Abd), Dicker, Fraser, Cox, Hart (Andrew), Owusu (Davies).
League1 P 42 . W 10 D 12 L 20 . F 47 A 66 . Pt 42 Po 22
Season 5 (A) 13/9/03 - 0-1
It was a beautiful afternoon in Essex and k-o was apparently delayed due to congestion on the M25. From a cloudless sky, army parachutists dropped in formation to deliver the match ball. Their display was quite amazing and they came in fast and low from behind the east goal. The ground is hung over from the brown ball and boots era and not the biggest thing to pick out from ten thousand feet above a garrison town. Over one thousand supporters of our south coast side literally got behind the lads from each end, as is peculiar to that place. As the gate was only just over four thousand, a 25% representation by Sussex at Layer Road made for a good atmosphere in a proverbial rabbit hutch.
The game itself was basic fare and a mid-field battle of attrition. Albion lost Harding, Rodger and Oatway eventually and blood was also spilt on the U's. At times the ball was trying to reach dizzy heights from whence it came and tackles above ground were in keeping with high flying. If ever a contest had nil-nil stamped on it this was the one. Unfortunately deadlock was broken after 67 minutes when a cross come shot sailed in like more free-fall. They say you never see a killer blow and neither did Roberts as United found an on-target. Certainly a grave situation developed as both keepers had otherwise dealt routinely like a drill. Travelling fans seemed totally shell shocked but it set up a frantic finale. Albion piled on pressure as the home mob didn't stay comfortable in the lead. We had possession and passing to create openings but no finish, although Knight and Henderson did pose a threat. The trick was to turn all this dissipated energy into chances and goals. Coppell said, 'it was the type of match where a set piece or a goal out of nothing might prove the difference...'
Roberts, Hinshelwood, Cullip, Butters, Mayo, Hart, Oatway (Pethick), Rodger (Carpenter), Harding, Knight, Henderson.
Div 2 (League 1) P 7 . W 3 D 2 L 2 . F 12 A 9 . Pt 11 Po 8
Season 3 (A) 30/3/02 - 4-1 ~ Carpenter 2, Brooker, Gray
Easter seemed to have come early this year but there again, the football season would be over long before end of April. At one and the same time things of worship were coming to a head, although Brighton fans preferred a Su to an E to go with their ssex. We'd got a bad history in Essex and it was probably just as well we weren't at Southend as an alternative during the run-in. Colchester's ground had less room to develop than Withdean and had restrictions on away numbers. In the event they bunged us a few extra tickets and 1300 south coast punters squeezed into that Layer Road End terrace. Then they started to sing.
Zamora was injured and Wayne Gray had been rushed in from Wimbledon to bolster attack. Taylor had been pretty much fielding the same side for weeks and with Steele also missing, where would goals come from? Zamora had hit 31 in all competitions and Peter Ward's all time record was still threatened if he could get for remaining fixtures. Incredibly Albion got four and were three up with an hour left. Carpenter got on the sheet from a quality free kick and within minutes an attacking Albion twice followed up. Brooker ran thru to slot inside a near post. Gray opened his account using pace that suited the cut and thrust tactics on the day. Carpenter added icing on the cake from a deflected f-k inside the box, after U's goalie handled a back pass. United registered a score to show they'd actually turned up. It was a good feeling for Brighton fans to know we'd finally caught Reading at top of the table, after they had opened a gap going into the run-in. An unbeaten run had extended to six matches and no better time than to take it to the limit with four vital contests left to secure automatic promotion. Division 1 was in our sights and with Albion's tremendous away following to add extra excitement, big clubs and big crowds beckoned from afar.
Kuipers, Watson, Cullip, Morgan, Mayo, Hart (Pethick), Carpenter, Lewis (Oatway), Brooker, Webb, Gray (Jones).
Div 2 (League 1) P 42 . W 22 D 14 L 6 . F 62 A 41 . Pt 80 Po 2
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Colchester - Home, Withdean Era
Season 12 (H) 25/1/11 - 2-0 ~ Calderon, Noone
This fixture was postponed from early December scheduling due to heavy snowfall in Sussex and freezing temperatures both day and night. A lot had also changed over course of that preceding twelve months, apart from just weather. During close season, Gus Poyet had brought in players he wanted, following a basic mid table finish in '9/10. BHA started '10/11 well and hit top spot around late September. In our last term at Tongdean Lane, Albion wanted to make the old sports complex a fortress again, like those promotion years of early noughties. Adams, Taylor, Coppell and McGhee had built foundations for a giant step into the Championship using players capable of competing at higher level. Poyet's side was getting results from a passing game and he had strength in depth throughout Seagulls squad. Albion set a record of 17 matches in no.1 spot. It was drizzly on the night and nearly 6800 turned up to watch a tight contest.
Brighton fans thought it was going to be goal-less at the break and were heading for fast food catering. But Murray managed to get a ball from the by-line into direct path of Calderon and bang, we went one up in time added on (45+ min). Albion previously had chances but U's defended soundly and also posed a threat going forward. In the second period, BHA bashed away at United and played some decent stuff but couldn't get a killer goal. On 70min, Barnes came on to add spark in attacking 433 formation. Kishishev got injured and Noone replaced him. He got at visitors rearguard and netted a super solo effort, cutting in from left flank (76m). United had a bloke sent off very late in the day (well it was evening) when clobbering Dicker. El-Abd and Murray stood out and if the team performance wasn't exactly perfect, you wouldn't really want to criticise a side such as this - well clear at top of the league1 table.
Ankergren, Calderon, Greer, El-Abd, Painter, Bridcutt, Kishishev (Noone), Dicker, Bennett, Murray (Sandaza), Wood (Barnes).
League1 P 25 . W 14 D 7 L 4 . F 44 A 19 . Pt 49 Po 1
Season 11 (H) 11/12/09 - 1-2 ~ Dicker
This time it was that Friday night match before Xmas, when we turned out at W'dean full of cheer - alcoholic or otherwise. But BHA were in yet another season of er, building for the future. Or if a realist fan, fighting relegation before half of yer season's fixtures were completed. Yes it was bottom four in December again and how many times had we been there in the last five years or so? Slade was history, like Adams, Wilkins and McGhee, who previously had no doubt done their best with what they'd got. Gus Poyet was boss now and the honeymoon finished very quickly following consecutive defeats to table-toppers Leeds, Norwich and Charlton. Fourth placed Colchester were up next. It was a cold evening but dry.
Fuck me we lost again. That's 8 out of 11 on domestic turf and really not acceptable at all. U's went ahead too easily to a snap shot (9 min), then extended their lead wiv a header as we floundered (14m). Albion woke up to get back into this match and Dicker got a soft header from Forster's cross (42m). It was all B'ton second period but United dealt ok and our finishing was woeful from good chances. Murray hit a post, although my granny used to notch those when against St Dunstans sightseerers. Gus played about with 343 after an hour and got cox on late (78m). But nothing happened and we couldn't beat their keeper anyway, who denied 2 Bennett f-ks in splendid fashion. Well, you had to admire a better outfit in many positions.
Brezovan, Hoyte (Dickinson), Tunnicliffe, Elphick, El-Abd (McNulty), Bennett, Crofts, Navarro (Cox), Forster, Murray.
League1 P 21 . W 5 D 5 L 11 . F 24 A 39 . Pt 20 Po 21
Season 10 (H) 26/12/08 - 1-2 ~ Forster
It was Boxing Day, so we either played 'em here or up at theirs on Easter Monday. Mind you, it could have been Millwall, Southend, Orient, Yeovil, MK Dons or perhaps Swindon for choice. Both our seasons had been disappointing so far but at least groundwork had been started at Falmer. A select few fans witnessed official site formalities on 17th Dec and there was even a bit of a kick about. Dick Knight was making all the right noises about our future and that included under-fire Micky Adams as tier-two boss too. Everyone was keeping the faith but we were in the bottom four, thus the only realistic way was up. Revolution2 had been held back by adverse results, so what were Brighton going to do about it?
Albion hit the bar early before taking the lead (21m) when Forster headed in Cox's cross. Colchester equalised in strange circumstances when Hinshelwood banged a back-pass wide of Sullivan running to left of his area. Brighton's performance seemed to deteriorate, while Colchester's improved as they believed in getting something by the death. Not long before the end on a clear, cold and darkening afternoon, the Xmas turkey was reduced to a carcass. Albion screwed up and U's took advantage of second helpings. Adams put on very late subs, apparently thinking his starting eleven could turn it around. Er, no. Fans booed on final whistle and yes, there wasn't much good will about down on the track. We'd had more fun opening socks in the warm and cosy.
Sullivan, Whing, Elphick, Hinshelwood, Richards, Fraser (Thornton), El-Abd, Johnson, Cox (McLeod), Murray, Forster (Fleetwood).
League1 P 22 . W 4 D 8 L 10 . F 25 A 34 . Pt 20 Po 21
Season 5 (H) 20/3/04 - 2-1 ~ Iwelumo, Knight
BHA were on a positive surge and had remained unbeaten for seven matches after this battling affair. Blustery conditions prevailed on a pitch soaked with a couple of days rain and cutting up. The usual east to west first half motion was reversed to play against a gale. A swirling drizzle, mostly light and patchy thankfully disappeared after turn around. McGhee had introduced Iwelumo to an otherwise settled line-up. He said, 'I have been saying for weeks that he is the type of player we need to make the team complete. Benjamin did that job on several occasions and we looked better. Without that extra presence up front the rest of the side are not as efficient. With Chris on board the shape and balance gives everyone the best chance of displaying and producing individual performances.'
Iwelumo headed in a Jones cross after 30minutes. Then it all got bogged down. More kicking of the ball up in clouds, presumably to test wind speed for a game of head tennis followed. Lumping it on high to a target-man often resulted in an aerial serve and volley rally. The game meandered past the hour on a head to head basis, with habitually over-hit long balls making delivery wayward and ineffective. United equalised bizarrely from a series of unchallenged headers on 69 minutes. Two minutes later Cullip was replaced by El-Abd as Albion reformed their rearguard. We finally got deep into U's box and Iwelumo nodded a f-k down for Knight to get in there. There were only four minutes left but time enough for Colchester to have a man sent off. Knight walked away from this incident and perhaps Ref's were now easing up on his reputation as a prima donna.
Albion were picking up points even when playing in a mediocre game, having sometimes performed better and lost. There looked to be nine clubs still in with a shout for promotion via play-offs. Killer instincts were going to be of benefit with run-in scores absolutely crucial.
Roberts, Virgo, Cullip (El-Abd), Butters, Harding, Hart, Carpenter, Oatway, Jones (Piercy), Knight, Iwelumo
Div 2 (League 1) P 38 . W 18 D 9 L 11 . F 56 A 38 . Pt 63 Po 4
Season 3 (H) 27/10/01 - 1-0 Zamora
Peter Taylor said, 'I would like to thank everybody for making me feel so welcome here. It's only been just over a week and although hectic, it's been very enjoyable. The coaches have been brilliant, have helped me gain much information as quickly as possible, which has helped me to settle in straight away. In fact that goes for all the club's backroom staff and a good team off the park certainly help you get a good one on it. As for the team they deserve all credit for being professional and getting on with their jobs. They have stayed focused and determined to keep their great start going. The support of this club is great and that was one of the main factors in my decision to come here.' Dick Knight had sold the dream of Falmer but this was early days in the planning process and even at best, building was years away. There was also the significant matter of a Public Inquiry, originally scheduled for 12 months time. The Falmer For All campaign had been introduced by supporters groups and to all extents would be busy now, later and right into the future.
It was the time of year when rains were expected but a cultivate surface of green was doing justice to its location next to a nature reserve. There would be no excuses for bad results due to a less than 'level' playing field. As with quite a few other results at Fortress Withdean, Brighton didn't play brilliantly but won anyway. Kuipers kept United at bay and was earning his dosh big time on this occasion. Cullip didn't make the line-up thru injury and Morgan got subbed at halftime from a massive headache. Thankfully a revamped rearguard held firm. The old Watson - Zamora free kick double act made the difference between battling sides. Taylor said, 'I felt we struggled in the game but we took all three points which I will accept every time. That's provided we are trying to play in the right way and as long as we have individuals to win or save us a game. I am still learning about players and want to see everybody in a first-team shirt.' Er, maybe not.
Kuipers, Watson, Wicks, Morgan (Crosby), Mayo, Hart, Carpenter, Oatway, Jones, Steele (Brooker), Zamora.
Div 2 (League 1) P 16 . W 9 D 5 L 2 . F 24 A 13 . Pt 32 Po 2
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