A VIEW FROM WEST STAND LOWER

Captial One Cup Round 1

6th August 2013

Brighton and Hove Albion (1) 1
Barnes 18

Newport County (0) 3
Crow 81 and 94
Washington 102
(after extra time)

Attendance: 8,409

Welcome Oscar! Welcome to the rough and tumble of the Football League. Welcome to the good fortune and outragous injustices and welcome to consistently incompetent refereeing.

2 games in and Ocar is learning the hard way about life in the Football League where matches are as much decided by the decisions of officials as they are by the quality of the players.

He could have been purring over 2 victories but a combination

Gully's travels: checking out the beer in Vancouver

of poor decisions by officials and wastful finshing means he has to look back and learn from 2 harsh defeats made worse by a growing full back crisis.

Against Leeds a handball which everybody except the referee appeared to see cost the Albion a point with just 10 seconds to go. I wonder what the referee thought when he saw the television replay assuming he cared at all. Even the Leeds manager confessed to the handball.

But Oscar is a realist and noted that if Will Buckley had scored with a header set up for him on plate by a combination of Bruno and LuaLua a few minutes before the end, the Albion would probably have been looking back on a third successive win at Elland Road.  

The Newport game followed a similar pattern. The Albion scored early on and as the match moved through the second half the home team exerted more and more control and looked likely to get the much needed second goal at any time until the fateful 66th minute. 

Newport's Byron Anthony broke quickly down the right wing following a clearance but never really had the ball properly under control. The advancing Calderon stretched for the loose ball and there was a sickening collision. The sound of breaking bone echoed around the West Stand. Initially it was not obvious who had come off worse but it soon emered that it was Anthony and he was stretchered off with a double break to the leg.

The assumption was that it was an accident, nothing malicious was intended and both players were going for a 50/50 ball. Mr. Malone saw it differently and showed a red card to the distraught Calderon. 

I sit in the West Stand and was nearer to the incident than the referee or the linesman and it clearly was not a foul but a very sad accident. I wonder if the Mr. Malone was influenced by the excitable Newport manager. Oscar just shook his head with a sad look of resignation. The television reply also supports the unfortunate accident view of events. Let's hope that the Albion's appeal is successful

Gully's travels: to many beers in Toronto

but given the FA's track record I would not hold my breath. 

As with the Leeds game the Albion should have had the game sown up before the officials intervened. They had the ball in the net 3 times in the first half but only 1 counted. TV replays seem to indicate that Forster-Caskey's early header was not off side and should have counted.

LuaLua and Barnes failed to convert a 3 on 1 break away and Ince was unfortunate with a powerful long range drive. As the game moved into the second half a Buckley drive missed by the width of a coat of varnish and a spectacular 25 yard shot from El-Abd flew inches over. 

Barnes had a excellent header cleared off the line but was wasteful with several other chances and his old hang dog expression returned. 29 attempts on goal only gave a return of 1 goal - a problem Oscar has been quick to highlight.

Newport exploited their numerical advantage well and consistently moved the ball wide with the Albion unable to block a succession of crosses. Despite a lot of endeavour they had rarely threatened before the sending off but they rode their luck and seized their chance.

The makeshift Albion team did not play badly and there were a number of pluses. David Lopez got more game time as did the impressive Agustien. Buckley showed glimpses of a return to form and Maksimenko looked sound defensively when he replaced Calderon.

The big revelation was Rohan Ince. His power, pace and control helped the Albion dominate in midfield and was unlucky not to score. He was able to do something rarely seen at the Amex - win headers in midfield. If he maintains his rate of progress he may be a fixture in the first team earlier than most expect.

The bottom line after 2 games is that the Albion need to take their chances if results are not to be left to "Lady Luck"  and they really want to challenge this season. Oscar knows this. Didn't Gus used to say something similar?

MAGIC MOMENT: The fine interplay down the right between Ince and Buckley leading to Barnes's goal on 18 minutes.

REFEREE WATCH: Saw the oportunity for his 5 minutes of fame and took it. Looked genuinely distraught at the hostile reception he received

Gully's travels: checking out the home of the Blue Jays in Toronto

when he walked off.

MY PERSONAL ALTERNATIVE MAN OF THE MATCH: Rohan Ince - a very exciting prospect who should prosper under Oscar's guidance.