Also see The Great Escape II section
What a tense afternoon, having to rely on results elsewhere (fortunately the wife thought to bring a radio!) It was quite clear that we were not going to make it easy by winning the game. To be fair, the team came out and showed some passion and intent for the first quarter of an hour or so, and were camped round the Brighton goal. Unfortunately there was nothing to show for it. However, Hore was clearly out of his depth from the start (although any confidence no doubt evapourated after two nasty fouls by one of the Brighton defenders in the space of a couple of minutes).
The play then deteriorated rapidly and by the end of the first half all the action was round Keen's goal. It was so inevitable that Brighton would score - our defence seemed to have the usual problems clearing the ball. I was suprised we went in only one behind.
The second half was dire, with little sign of intent or desire from our players. To be honest, I didn't think Prokas' departure altered the way the match was being played much at all (there did seem to be a lot going on between Prokas and some of the Brighton players, but most of it was on the other side of the pitch, so I didn't see exactly what was happening). Every free kick we got was wasted - the ball almost always went out of play before anyone could reach it. Teale was particularly guilty of this. It was the same old story of balls being hoofed forward, only for Halliday to be beaten in the air by tall defenders. On the odd occasion he did get the ball at his feet his skill was immediately apparent, but the team as a whole clearly do not have the confidence to play the ball on the ground. However, this problem has been apparent for ages, and yet nothing has been done about it...
There was one incident in the second half (after a corner? it's all a bit of a blur...) when Brighton's keeper seemed beaten and there were several of our players in front of an empty net, but one of their defenders managed to clear the ball. That's the only real scoring opportunity I can remember. Keen made at least one fantastic save that I can remember, and in general seemed to have a good game. I keep forgetting that in at least one of the games he played earlier this season he had a broken ankle and couldn't even kick the ball).
It was a terrible moment when we heard the Shrews had scored (esp when we realised it was 2 in 2 mins). Of course, it was a relief when Posh scored, but tempered by the fact there was still time for them to come back. Even when Chester's defeat came through as final, I was still worried we'd concede two quick goals before our final whistle! When the whistle came, the feeling was relief mainly. It was hard to feel very happy after team's performance.
After the match, we got on the wrong bl**dy Park & Ride bus and had a nice trip all round Brighton, returning to the ground without ever getting to our car. By the time we got back all the football buses had gone and so we had a lovely walk up the A23 to the football Park and Ride. Fortunately, we got there just before our car got towed away...
Relieved for now, but pessimistic about next season...
P.S. We were pleased to see Forest Green stayed up, Paul!
P.P.S. I was really sorry to hear about the Swansea fan who died after pre-match trouble.
Dave Herrick
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