LFL: BHA

An away point and a clean sheet is always good so I’m happy with 0-0 today. Both sides, especially Brighton, were let down by their finishing. We had to defend stoutly for a lot of the second-half but having Roefs at the back is always reassuring.

BEFORE

I'm still buzzing from last Sunday's win. I got the train back to London straight after the match and there were loads of our fans on it. When we got off at King's Cross the station echoed with a chant of, “SUN-DER-LAND!”  Today we're back at the coal-face again and the game has a particular resonance with the Tommy Watson and Danny Welbeck connections. Danny usually seems to come on as a sub these days but he's still getting the goals while Tommy is a doubt through injury so maybe we'll not see much of them. Jason Steele is their second-string goalie but I don't have any happy memories of him as I do for the other two. Brighton are currently three points and two places below us and haven't won in their last three matches, though their home form has been good on the whole. Of course we're going to have to seriously juggle our squad with a number of first-choices being away for AFCON but I think we have suitable strength in depth. I'd have liked to have been at the game but couldn't get a sniff of a ticket so I'll have to rely on the internet. Match prediction:1-1.

I got the team-news around 2.00 and there were four changes from last Sunday with Hume, Geertruida, Rigg and Adingra coming in for Reinildo, Sadiki, Traore and Talbi. Diarra was on the bench and so were Cirkin, Hjelde and Jones. All in all it didn't feel too drastic. Watson was among the Brighton subs but Welbeck must have been injured. In the early kick off the Mags let a two-goal home lead against Chelsea slip and it ended in a draw. I got the commentary on via the SAFC site not long before the game kicked off.

THE MATCH

Brighton won the first corner of the game in the third minute and as Roefs tipped the ball away we won a free-kick for offside. Barnesy had warned us of possible technical problems and shortly afterwards the commentary cut out for a short while. Apparently we hadn’t missed much but Gruda was sounding like a bit of a handful. We won our first corner in the ninth but it was cleared without difficulty and not long afterwards we were awarded a free-kick deep into their half that resulted in an Alderete shot being comfortably held by Verbruggen in goal. Alderete conceded a free-kick not far outside our box and when Gruda took it his low shot was easily stopped by Roefs. Next thing Gruda received was the first yellow card of the game and then the commentary cut out again. When it returned we were about to take our second corner but when Le Fee’s kick came over Brobbey headed well wide.

I’d say we’d done most of the pressing in the first quarter of the game. There was a delay of a few minutes while Wieffer was down injured but he was able to carry on. Alderete was wandering upfront a lot and then dropping back into defence. As we passed the thirty-minute mark things had gone rather quiet but then Ballard had a header on target, though it was straight at Verbruggen. Coppola became the second Brighton player to be booked for a bad foul on Le Fee and we were awarded a free-kick near the angle of their box. We failed to make anything from the kick. Minteh did a good deal of rolling around after Ballard tackled him and we put the ball out so he could receive treatment. It looked like there’d be a fair bit of added-time. De Kuyper missed probably the best chance so far when he didn’t stick his foot out to get on the end of a cross a couple of yards out. Benno was being critical of Adingra for giving the ball away but he then went and won us another corner. Brighton were a bit all over the place but they eventually got the ball clear. Verbruggen blocked a Brobbey shot in the final minute and we were enjoying a good period of pressure. Only three minutes of added-time were announced and nothing special happened before the half-time whistle went. Barnesy and Benno said that the game was there for the taking and we just needed a bit of quality to get a goal.

When the teams reemerged Brighton had made a change with Veltman replacing Wieffer who’d been injured earlier. I hoped to see Mundle and Isidor on for us before long. There was a delay as a new assistant referee had to be sorted out. Very soon we had another corner when goal-hungry Alderete had a header pushed over. Ayari had a good chance for them soon afterwards but he blasted his effort high when he had time to do better. The game started going end to end with Hume having a decent effort for us and then Ayari doing the same for them. Benno sounded worried that they’d got behind our defence again. Both sets of fans were making a decent racket for the first time. As we approached the hour mark Regis was in discussion with his assistants and a sub or two seemed to be imminent. Brighton were enjoying their best period of pressure so far but we weathered the storm. In the sixty-fourth Mundle and Diarra replaced Adingra and Rigg. Brighton made a change at the same time with Mitoma coming on for De Kuyper. Le Fee couldn’t quite get his head on a cross and his effort ended up going well wide. Mundle then hit a hard low shot that Verbruggen managed to block.

As we entered the final quarter it was anyone’s game but I could see Mundle nicking it for us. James Milner, at nearly forty years of age, and Kostoulas came on for Hinshelwood and Minteh. Just after that I was pleased to hear the arrival of Isidor, who replaced Brobbey. Watson started to warm up too. We were doing most of the defending but Brighton’s finishing was largely poor, especially Ayari’s. Twelve minutes to go and I was getting nervous so I had to pace around a bit. Ballard was given a yellow for a foul on Kostoulas and he also conceded a free-kick not far outside our box. We got it clear and a few more minutes had ticked away. We conceded another corner as Benno intoned, “Stay organised. Concentrate.” Roefs grabbed the ball and booted it away, but only straight to Verbruggen in their goal. 

Another Brighton corner followed in the eighty-fourth and it ended in a free-kick to us. Then the commentary cut out again! I could follow the match a little on BBC Sport and saw that it remained 0-0 as the minutes ticked away incredibly slowly. The commentary returned in the final minute and Watson had indeed come on for them. Four minutes of added-time were announced. Both sides were going for it and of course I hoped Tommy wouldn’t repeat his last-minute Wembley winner. It ended 0-0 and I could hear some booing, presumably from home fans.