Seagulls Fly Past Rovers To Remain Atop The Division

Brighton & Hove Albion earned a victory away to Bristol Rovers that allowed them to open up a three point gap a the top of the League 1 table.

They went down to an early strike from Will Hoskins before Ashley Barnes drew them level before half time. Elliot Bennett gave the visitors the lead before a disasterous rebound lead to an own goal for Albion's third and Glenn Murray made it four with his head. Hoskins doubled his personal tally to make it 2-4 but after Brighton got going in the second half it was never in doubt.

Rovers made three changes to their starting line up, Danny Coles and Chris Lines returning from suspension and Gavin Williams making his first start for the club. Chris Wood was the only new player for Brighton, coming in for Matt Sparrow.

If Brighton survived for two minutes then they would have lasted five hours of game time without conceding and they only just managed this. Into the third minute Will Hoskins picked up the ball, pushed forward and drove the ball into the underside of the crossbar and over the line. He was clearly delighted with the unstoppable strike and the emotion gushed out of him as he celebrated in front of the jubilant Gasheads.

After the electric start Rovers began to sit back and allow Brighton to play, a tactic that was always going to be tough against the league leaders and Albion got into the Rovers third on a far too regular basis and a couple of goal mouth scrambles left the home fans hearts in their mouths. Rovers did break on occasion but never really troubled Casper Ankergren in the Brighton goal.

Ashley Barnes was the man to equalise for Brighton, JP Kalala failing to control the ball in his own half and gave away to possession, allowing Chris Wood to put the ball into the box and Barnes thumped the ball into the net to make it 1-1, no less than his side deserved.

Into the second half the visitors got to the Rovers byline and some neat passes in the area lead to the ball falling at the feet of Elliot Bennett who was able to slot the ball neatly past Luke Daniels.

Despite Brighton turning up the heat Rovers were able to threaten and nearly to allowed them to draw level as first Will Hoskins had a tap in ruled out for offside. Then the spectator's saw new Rovers signing Gavin Williams shooting from the 'D', only to see his shot thump the left hand post and bounce agonislingly across the face of goal, eventually spinning out for a goal kick.

Casper Ankergren and Glenn Murray both went into the referee's notebook, the Danish goalkeeper for time wasting and Murray for punching the ball into the goal. Referee Pat Miller was on top of this, however, denying what would have been an audacious goal and showing the striker a yellow card to boot.

It wasn't to be for the home side, though, and Brighton doubled their lead when Ashley Barnes beat the Rovers offside trap, only to see his shot saved by the outrushing Daniels. Unfortuneatley for Rovers the ball cannoned off of Cian Bolger's knee and over the line to make for a frustrating Brighton third, and it got worse six minutes later.

Substitute Craig Noone, a January signing from Plymouth Argyle, was allowed too much time and space by right back Byron Anthony and he curled a ball towards the back post that Murray was able to nod into the net.

There was a consolation for Rovers that gave the scoreline a slightly better look as top scorer Will Hoskins beat two Brighton defenders in the penalty area and lashed the ball into the back of the net with four minutes to go. Despite that and the five additional minutes the Pirates were unable to get another and set up a tense finale.

After the match Brighton manager Gus Poyet was impressed by the way his side overcame their early adversity, saying:

"Sometimes we try to convince the players that they are better than the opposition and they need to prove it on the pitch. They scored a magnificent goal and it wasn't easy to come back.

"They started to play differently. We had to take the game in our own hands and it took a while to score.

"The only enemies we have in this league are ourselves. If we keep the pace and the quantity of points per game we'll be up in there."

Despite defeat Dave Penney was nonetheless impressed with his side's handling of a new look formation, telling the media:

"We played a very good side today. We came out of the blocks well, we changed the system a bit to match them up and free up Will Hoskins and Gavin Williams, and the work ethic was first class.

"I think it was probably the best performance since I have been here over 90 minutes, against the best team we have played.

"We are disappointed with the goals we conceded, which were basic errors again."

As a result of the final score Brighton remain top of the league for the twentieth game in succession, Rovers meanwhile dropped a place to 23rd, a position they haven't been in since the first game of the season. A last minute equaliser for Leyton Orient away at Bournemouth meant that the Seagulls lead at the top of the table was extended to three points.

Ignore The Omens, Lads - Brighton Preview

Bristol Rovers will hope to turn around a bad week this Saturday, but coming up against the league leaders will not make that an easy task. Brighton have lead the division since the eighth round of games and have never looked back. At the moment they sit just a single point clear at the top of the table, though they do have two games in hand over second placed Bournemouth, but nevertheless the Gas will be hoping to help knock Brighton down from their lofty position.

There has been little news on the Rovers front since the midweek loss to MK Dons, although there was something going on the behind the scenes on Friday, Chris Lines revealing via Twitter that youth team coach Jerry Gill has been removed from his post at the club, a tweet that was deleted later that day. The announcement will come as a surprise to many Rovers fans as Gill was having a successful season in charge of the youth team, though it seems that the appointments of Dave Penney and Martin Foyle, as well as Paul Trollope remaining on the club payroll during his 'gardening leave', have taken their toll on the clubs wage bill, ultimately resulting in the release of the former Birmingham City full back. Since then the club have officially announced the departure of Gill having conducted 'a thorough review of the management and coaching structure at the football club', leaving Darren Patterson to return to his previous role in charge of the youth team.

For Brighton there has been just a single transfer in and a single transfer out. It was right at the start of the month that manager Gus Poyet captured Plymouth winger Craig Noone who has since gone on to score one goal for the club, the second in a 2-0 win over Colcehster. Noone had scored four goals for Argyle before his £300,000 swap to the Withdean, catching the eye on a number of occasions. There were rumours of winger Elliot Bennett wanting out from Albion, Norwich reportedly showing interest, however nothing came of this, despite the 22 year old handing in a transfer request.

Rovers have won only one of their last sixteen league fixtures, that coming in the shape of the 3-1 win over Swindon Town towards the end of January, and their home form has quite rightly left them in the mire, having won only four games at the Memorial Stadium, less than a third of the matches played there, scoring only 15 goals in the process. Rovers have only managed to keep two clean sheets at home this season, both games finishing in stalemates.

Brighton's form has been almost impeccable this season, they remain unbeaten at home and only Charlton have lost less away games. That being said three of their four defeats on the road have come in their last six with only one win in that sequence. Don't let that fool you though they are on decent form overall and have not lost against any of the sides currently in the bottom half of the table. They have also dumped two Championship sides out of the FA Cup, namely Portsmouth and high flying Watford, and have failed to score in only one game since the turn of the year, couple that with the fact they have only let in ten goals on the road this season you can expect Rovers to have to score at least once to gain a point on Saturday, not to mention that if they survive for two minutes at the Mem then they will have gone five hours without conceding.

Superstitious Rovers fans will not look kindly upon the next fact that I am about to reveal. In each of the last three seasons the sides have been in the same division the first match played has resulted in a draw while the second has seen the Seagulls come out on top. The first meeting this season resulted in a battling 2-2 draw, Marcos Painter scoring a late own goal to give Rovers a point, one of only four sides to take something from the Withdean. In that regard it looks ominous for Rovers and you certainly wouldn't bet against a win for the visitors. That's the last seven games in this head-to-head that Brighton have gone unbeaten, the last Rovers win coming in August 2004, Lee Thorpe and Richard Walker scoring to give Rovers a Carling Cup win over the then Championship side. Peter Beadle scored the winner the last time Rovers beat Albion in the league, that result being as far back as April 1996.

The only link between the two squads is James Tunnicliffe, currently on loan at Rovers from Brighton, but due to the Sussex side being his parent club the big central defender will not be allowed to take part in the upcoming tussle.

This Saturday's referee will be Pat Miller. The Bedfordshire official has been in charge of 20 games this season, handing out 72 yellow cards and 6 reds, including 8 bookings in a League 2 fixture between Barnet and Stevenage and 7 yellows and a red in a Championship game between Reading and Barnsley.


Rovers will be able to once again call upon Danny Coles and Chris Lines after the pair served the final game of their suspensions against MK Dons in the week.

Stuart Campbell and Dave McCracken are major doubts after both were removed from the midweek game with hamstring injuries.

Bulgarian midfielder Radostin Kishishev could make a return to the Brighton squad after recovering from a back injury.

Defender Jim McNulty is out for the rest of the season after having an ankle operation while midfielders Jamie Smith and Alan Navarro will also be unavailable with a broken metatarsal and a ruptured cruciate ligament respectively.

Dave Penney knows that he is running out of time and that his team need to start earning points soon, saying:

"What we need to do is get some consistency, the goals we're conceding are poor.

"There's nobody firing them in from 25-30 yards into the top corner, you can criticise any goal but the ones we're conceding are poor from our point of view.

"Every game you don't get points in is a worry, the games are ticking by and we need to pick points up quickly if we're to get out of this position."

Brighton assistant manager Mauricio Taricco came out and spoke to the Brighton media, commenting that despite the massive gulf between the sides in the table, anything can happen in League 1:

"Bristol are having a tough time at the moment but that doesn't mean anything in this league. They are going to be at home and from their point of view they need to win more than us, and that will make it tough.

"We also want to win because out target is to win the league and get promoted but at the same time they need a win to survive in this league. At the moment they are in a very difficult situation so that's going to make it a difficult game for us.

"It remains up to us though, so we have got to be ready for Saturday and we must play better than we did on Tuesday night if we are to win the game."

Midweek League 1 Round Up - 25/01/2011

Six fixtures took place on Tuesday evening in League 1, the highlight being Brighton, top of the division, taking on Colchester at the Withdean but there were also important games taking place at Hillsborough and The County Ground in Swindon.

Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 Colchester United


With MK Dons being the only other member of the top six to be playing Brighton had the chance to extend their lead at the top of League 1 to six points and they didn't disappoint, remaining at the head of the table for the 18th consecutive game.

Albion threatened early and loan signing Chris Woods nodded a shot towards goal, only to see it come back off of the post, but it was just before half time that the home side took the lead, Inigo Calderon stroking home, the full backs fifth goal of the season.

With 75 minutes on the clock Brighton doubled their advantage thanks to Craig Noone's first goal for the club since joining from Plymouth at the start of the month, beating numerous before driving past Ben Williams from the edge of the area. Colchester will be without Pat Baldwin for their next game after the defender was shown red for a second bookable offence late on.

Leyton Orient 2-2 MK Dons


Despite a patchy run of form MK Dons find themselves sat in fifth place in League 1 following an exciting encounter at Brisbane Road. A win would have taken the Dons up to fourth but Orient are decent at home, having gone unbeaten in their previous eight fixtures at their own place including a thumping 4-0 weekend win over big guns Sheffield Wednesday. Orient were without manager Russel Slade for this game, the gaffer having to spend time in hospital following minor surgery, so assistant manager Kevin Nugent was to take charge, and it wasn't long before they found themselves behind in a pulsating first half.

It was Stephen Gleeson who gave the Dons the lead with a stunning volley from 25 yards out having controlled the ball on his chest. Two minutes was all the lasted, though, Scott McGleish taking advantage of Dean Lewington's slip to draw Orient onto level terms. That goal totally changed the game and the O's started to make real headway, Dean Cox rifling a shot back off the post before the winger turned provider, sending in a cross for experienced defender Terrell Forbes to head home and it remained that way until 56 minutes. Sean O'Hanlon heading in from close range from a Peter Leven delivery.

It remained that way until the end pushing Orient a point further from the relegation zone and propelling the Dons into the play-off zone, although the away side would have preferred the victory they arguably deserved, having a negative goal difference and playing at least two games more than many of the teams on their tail.

Walsall 1-1 Oldham Athletic



Before this game Walsall were cut adrift at the bottom of the table, nine points behind 20th placed Swindon Town and after this draw nothing had changed. Oldham on the other hand knew that a win against the strugglers would see themselves jump Charlton, Peterborough and possibly the MK Dons and into the play-off places.

Much of the early pressure came from the hosts but on a number of ocassions striker Will Grigg, recently called up to the Northern Irish under-21 side, found himself unable to beat Oldham stopper Ben Amos and they were punished for their carelessness when Filipe Morais scored in his second successive game to give Latics the lead. Just past the hour mark Walsall levelled thanks to a fierce Darryl Westlake effort from just inside the penalty area.

It was a result that will do no side any great favours as they continue in their own personal battles at either end of the league table.

Sheffield Wednesday 2-2 Yeovil Town



Following an appauling mauling from Leyton Orient on Saturday Sheffield Wednesday looked to get their play-off challenge back on trakc against relegation threatened Yeovil, but there was to be no relief for under fire Owls boss Alan Irvine following a clash that had it all.

Dean Bowditch opened the scoring for Yeovil, running into the area and seeing his shot take a deflection off of a home defender to loop over the stranded Nicky Weaver and into the net. It was down to Wednesday's new signing Gary Madine to level it up for the home team, heading in from six yards out. Two melees took place on the pitch as the game really started to heat up and tensions boiled over.

The Somerset side took the lead again in the second half, Paul Huntington heading goalwards from an Andy Welsh corner before the context of the game changed due to a second yellow card for Yeovil full back Luke Ayling. Adam Virgo came on to shore up the Glovers defence, only to be sent off for fouling Madine in the area moments later. It was down to Giles Coke to level it up for Wednesday and if it weren't for Paul Heffernan encroaching into the area it would been, but as it stood the penalty had to be retaken and this time it didn't end well for the former Motherwell midfielder as he skied the ball well over the crossbar.

With four minutes left, however, Wednesday drew level. Despite a fine double save from Yeovil man of the match Stephen Henderson Reda Johnson knocked the ball over the line to deny Yeovil a battling win. The home side sit 10th, off of the pace and will hope for an up turn in fortunes between now and the end of the season. Yeovil remain in the relegation zone but their good form in recent games will give them the confidence that they need to stay up.

Hartlepool United 1-1 Notts County



Injury hit Notts County faced a trip to Hartlepool where a draw always looked the likely result. County were unbeaten in their last four games on the road, drawing three and winning one trip, while Pools had gone 419 minutes without scoring a goal.

It was Hartlepool who made the breakthrough in the 38th minute, Gary Liddle the scorer despite claims of offside from the Notts defence. The Magpies had to wait until the second half for their equaliser, Lee Hughes stepping off of the bench to secure a point for the visitors, knocking the ball over the line from a position he could hardly miss from. The striker is the subject of transfer interest from Sheffield Wednesday, who are looking to bolster an already strong frontline in their promotion challenge.

County moved a further point away from the relegation zone while Hartlepool have now failed to win in five games.

Swindon Town 0-0 Tranmere Rovers



Following Saturday's 3-1 defeat to local rivals Bristol Rovers Danny Wilson is starting to look down the barrel as his side slip deeper into relegation trouble. Tranmere have moved slightly away from trouble after they shocked Southampton 2-0 at the weekend.

The best chance of a dour game fell to Charlie Austin but the wantaway striker saw his penalty saved by former Fulham goalkeeper Tony Warner after Michael Timlin was fouled in the area by Joss Labadie. Tranmere's best chance fell to Lateef Elford-Alliyu who hit the post while Rovers also saw two penalty shouts turned down. In the second half Austin had another great chance but his drive from a tight angle hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing to safetey for the Merseysiders.

A draw does neither of the sides any real favours as they both remain in trouble at the wrong end of the League 1 table.