A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

"This story shall the good man teach his son"

Brighton and Hove Albion (0) 0

Middlesbrough (1) 1
Emnes 21

Attendance: 26,293

In the world of soccer there are 2 names that send a chill down my spine - Middlesbrough and Andy D'Urso. Together they create the perfect storm for the Albion. 

A sentiment we all support

I am old enough to remember that fateful day in August 1958 when the Albion played their first ever game in the second tier of English football. Hopes were high after hitting 6 in the team's last ever Third Division (South) game the previous April as they headed north for Middlesbrough. As a callow 10 year old I was glued to BBC TV's Grandstand as the old World War 2 teleprinter from the Admiralty typed out the final scores. "Middlesbrough 9 Brighton 0" it bashed out. Perhaps it was a typing error so I waited until the wooden blocks were sorted into place and the classifed results were read. The score was confirmed and to his credit the reader did not snigger or giggle. I walked into the kitchen of my Craven Vale council flat to inform my mother of the fateful result as if it were my personal responsibility.

4 months later and time for revenge with the return fixture at the Goldstone. I was not allowed to go to Saturday games without a parent and as my father worked that day Goldstone visits were limited to those late afternoon kick offs at the beginning and end of season. I was, therefore, dependent on BBC Radio's Light programme to know how my beloved Albion were getting on. It was to be decades before the Seagulls label stuck. At 4.05pm we had the half time scores and the Albion were 2-0 down. I then had to wait until Sports Report at 5pm for the final score. In those days there was just no way of knowing the progress of a game without being in the ground. The score reader reached Division 2 and said "Brighton and Hove Albion 4" and yes I thought a great fight back and some revenge for the first day slaughter and my hopes soared only to come quickly crashing down with "Middlesbrough 6". From that day forth my approach to the Albion became one of hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. I suspect conceding 15 goals against the same team in a season is some kind of League record but do not really want to know. From that day on Middlesbrough have been a bit of a jinx team and we have never delivered revenge for those 1958 defeats.

And what of Andy D'Urso? He belongs to that elite group of refs who seem to be in charge of a game totally different from the one I am watching. His comedy capers are fun if it is not your team on the receiving end of his bizarre decision making. On Saturday he saw fouls nobody else in the ground could spot and missed the more obvious. He gave 3 examples in a masterclass.

Albion practice for the BBC1 circles between programmes

Midway through the first half Hammond slid in with what appeared to be a perfect tackle. No player was hit and sent spriralling into the air and nobody appealed.  D'Urso gave a free kick which the visitors fluffed. He must have been feeling sorry for them as a few seconds later he gave them another free kick for an offence only he saw. Just after that a Middlesbrough player brushed through a powder puff tackle from Lopez which did not stop his momentum and the whistle blew again. In the second half Steele appeared to handle the ball outside the area under pressure from CMS but the ambling ref was to far way to see. Certainly from my seat in the West Stand it appeared as if Steele's momentum had taken him out the area. Perhaps we need 4 linesmen rather than goaline techology. 

Lastly, we witnessed a show of shall I blow my whistle of not and yes perhaps I will. A Middlesbrough player committed the worst foul of the game and was rightly booked. Andy put the whistle to his lips and, even though there was no particularly advantage to the Albion from playing on midway in their own half,  he withdrew the whistle only to change his mind and eventually blow. This only served to frustrate further an already frustrated Albion and Greer was booked for, I guess,  telling him what a twat he was. At the final whistle few Albion players found it in themselves to shaker the officials' hands and D'Urso departed to the booing he must be very familiar with by now.

He clearly was not interested in 3 penalty appeals - 2 which appeared harsh but have been given in the past but the defender who wrapped both his arms around CMS's neck and wrestled him to the ground was very lucky.

To be honest it was not the ref that cost the Albion the game - it was their wasteful finishing. We had enough chances to have buried the visitors. Home games are beginning to take on a familiar pattern to the extent I am thinking of asking Paul Barber for a refund as I have now watched the same game 3 times in a row. 

Games now have 3 phases:

• 15 minutes or so of pretty football which brings ripples of warm applause from the stands with the odd half chance coming and going
• between the 20 and 30th minutes we have 10 minutes of Sudoko moments in which the Albion concede a goal
• and finally 60 minutes of attack versus defence which includes missing several clear cut chances  

 To be brutal CMS should have scored when from a break away Bridge delivered the perfect centre only for the striker to hit the ball into the only part of the goal Steele could have palmed the ball away from. In the second half CMS and Barnes combined to miss the best 2 chances within seconds of each other. A perfect Hammond centre should have been headed in by Barnes but he got too far over the ball and headed it down into ground. Steele palmed it into the path of CMS who could not bundle it in. Lopez could perhaps have scored with a chance that fell to his weaker left foot and given a free shot in the penalty area Crofts tamely miscued the ball wide. Barnes stung Steele's fingers and Buckey drifted a shot just over the bar. Dobbie dribbled past 3 defenders only to tap the ball into the Steele's grateful waiting arms. Back in the first half Hammond planted a header into the South Stand from a perfectly delivered Lopez corner which found him in acres of empty space in front of goal.

The significance of this wastefulness is that like Brum and Ipswich before them the visitors scored with there only meaningful attempt on target and that came from a cruel deflection. Visitors sit back and let us play passing patterns in front of their defence and when the early sugar rush has worn off pop down the other end score and man the barricades until the ref mercifully ends the suffering of the home faithful.

The Amex's much appreciated memorial garden

During the close season the consensus was that we needed a new goalkeeper, full backs, added strength in midfield and a striker who could hold the ball up. Gus attended to all of this accept the striker. Unless we recruit a big striker with a bit of physical presence we will not get the best out of CMS. We are just to dependent on him to score the goals and when he does not we look pretty forlorn.

Finally, a word for Ashley Barnes. He is expected to be a striker, midfielder and defender all at the same time. Perhaps we should forgive his occasional misses and misplaced passes given the amount of covering he gets through in a game.

My personal alternative man of the match: This must go to David Lopez who worked well in partnership with Bruno and showed much creativity. His set piece deliveries should have brought at least one goal and was unlucky not to score.