Host Matt Pole and guest Sam Morton and Steve Bone reflect on an excellent couple of wins for Brighton & Hove Albion, take a look at a mixed week for Crawley Town, and bring you all the latest from Sussex County Cricket Club - where it has been anything but quiet during the closed-season
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:10 Welcome to this week's gold math action podcast where we take a look all the
00:15 latest goings on at Brian Hove Abbey and Crawley Town and Sporting Sussex.
00:19 I'm Matt Powell and I'm joined by Sam Morton who covers both Brian Hove Abbey
00:23 and Crawley Town as well as Sussex Sports guru Steve Bone.
00:26 Away wins at Nottingham Forest and AK Athens and should Brian Hove Abbey and
00:29 enjoyed a stellar week.
00:31 Ten men have been recorded their first Premier League wins in September 24th
00:34 courtesy of the three to success of the city ground.
00:37 The seagulls then followed that up with a hard fought one nil victory at AEK
00:41 to ensure qualification from the Europa League group.
00:44 We'll pick over the bones of an excellent couple of wins for Brighton plus,
00:47 we'll take a look at a mixed week for Crawley Town and
00:49 bring you all the latest from Sussex County Cricket Club,
00:51 where it has been anything but quiet during the closed season.
00:54 You can read all the stories we're talking about with videos and
00:56 pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk/sport.
01:00 And you can check out other great videos on shotstv.com and freeview channel 276.
01:05 Up starting on Saturday, substitute Jao Pedro scored twice as ten men Brighton
01:09 contend Nottingham Forest to a first home defeat of the season and
01:11 a fiery five goal through the city ground.
01:14 Sum that game up for us Mr. Morton.
01:17 >> Well, it was a brilliant result really for Brighton.
01:19 Yeah, I think it ended their winless run that they've been kind of struggling with
01:23 in the league.
01:24 They've obviously been brilliant in Europe, but
01:26 really struggling to pick up wins late in the league.
01:29 So it was so important that they got that three points on Saturday.
01:33 Obviously wasn't easy at all with the number of injuries and
01:35 suspensions that they had.
01:37 So it's remarkable really that they go to a really tough place.
01:40 And I don't think many people were expecting them to win the game
01:42 in the circumstances.
01:44 You got to a really poor start with Anthony Alanga making it 1-0 to
01:48 Nottingham Forest within a few minutes of the game starting.
01:51 You kind of fear the worst at that point.
01:53 But they bounced back really well Brighton and
01:56 got a leveler through Evan Ferguson.
01:57 It was a superb finish.
01:59 And it's great to see him back among the goals.
02:01 He's been a little bit injury prone as of late.
02:04 So really good to see him get some more minutes.
02:07 And then from then on they kind of took control.
02:09 I think Giselle Pedro grabbed the goal before halftime with a brilliant header.
02:14 And followed that up again in the second half with a penalty.
02:18 So it was a really good response from Brighton to going 1-0 down and
02:23 kind of putting all their problems behind them.
02:25 And they did obviously have a bit of a problem later on with Lewis Dunn getting
02:28 sent off, giving away a penalty.
02:30 And that made it a bit of a nervy finish.
02:32 But they held on with 10 men, a kind of weakened squad and
02:36 still managed to get the three points.
02:37 And that obviously sparked jubilant celebrations with Roberto Di Serbi running
02:41 off to celebrate with the fans and the players.
02:44 And you really saw that passion from him and kind of how big that win was for
02:48 Brighton.
02:49 And obviously got a little bit of stick for not shaking Steve Cooper's hand before
02:53 running off.
02:54 But you can't really blame him.
02:56 I guess probably just the emotion took over.
02:58 And that's what makes him such a good manager, is how much he cares and
03:02 how emotional he gets.
03:04 So yeah, a fantastic win for Brighton and really important.
03:07 They ended that run of games with that win.
03:10 What do you make of the whole him not shaking his hand at the end, Sam?
03:14 Yeah, as I say, I don't think you can blame him too much for it.
03:16 I think in the moment, yeah, as I say, the kind of emotion just takes over, doesn't it?
03:21 Especially when you're playing with 10 men for a period of time,
03:24 you're kind of desperate for a win.
03:27 When the final whistle goes, he probably just completely lost himself, I guess.
03:31 So I don't think there was any kind of malice or deliberate acts there at all to
03:36 kind of snub Steve Cooper.
03:37 But yeah, I'm sure you can understand why he'd be a little bit miffed, I guess,
03:42 especially after losing.
03:43 He wasn't happy with some of the decisions in the game.
03:46 So yeah, I don't think it's one to dwell on too much.
03:50 I don't think Steve Cooper is still thinking about it.
03:54 If you were Steve Cooper, Mr Bone, how would you react to it?
03:57 Would you say, fair enough, hate at the moment, or would you have tried to have swung for him?
04:00 Yeah, I mean, the whole handshake thing has become a sort of tradition, hasn't it,
04:07 in football for managers to shake hands.
04:08 I'm not sure it used to happen a lot in the old days.
04:12 Maybe it did, and we just didn't talk about it.
04:15 There are times where there's clearly needle between managers,
04:19 and they've got history, and you just know they're not going to shake hands, and they don't.
04:23 This was a bit different to that because I think De Zerby was so sort of pumped up to get the win,
04:28 you know, despite everything that had gone against his team in the lead up to the game
04:32 and on the day, that he just sort of lost himself.
04:35 I think if he'd thought about it, maybe he would have shaken hands first and then run off to celebrate.
04:39 We don't know, do we?
04:41 But yeah, it's not a big deal at the end of the day.
04:43 I don't think fans worry too much about whether their manager was shaking hands with the other manager.
04:48 The Brighton fans would have been delighted to see De Zerby coming over and celebrating with them.
04:53 So, he's doing his job in a way, isn't he, as Brighton's manager.
04:57 Well, the only negative to come from the game, as Morton mentioned,
05:01 was the red card shown to Lewis Dunne for arguing with referee Anthony Taylor over a penalty decision.
05:05 The Brighton skipper, who became the first player in 15 years to be sent off for dissent during a game,
05:10 will miss Albion's Premier League game at Chelsea on Sunday
05:12 and the home match against Brentford three days later.
05:15 What did you make of the sending off, Sam?
05:17 And how big of a loss will he be for Albion?
05:19 It's another player who's out for him, isn't it?
05:21 It's another huge blow.
05:22 Yeah, it's really frustrating, isn't it?
05:25 It's the last thing they really need with so many players out injured.
05:29 And just that extra man couldn't really get more important as players come, really.
05:34 He's obviously so vital to Brighton's team.
05:39 Him not being there is so obvious.
05:42 I think we obviously saw that in the Athens game at the beginning of the season,
05:45 when they lost their debut in the Europa League,
05:47 mainly because he wasn't there, when they conceded from three set pieces.
05:51 And then when he returned last night, it was a completely different story defensively.
05:55 So, a real shame that he's going to miss the next couple of games.
05:59 And a little bit petulant from him.
06:01 I don't think he would look back on it with fondness, because he's such an experienced player.
06:05 You'd probably expect him to control himself a little bit.
06:08 But yeah, so a frustrating one.
06:10 You can obviously understand that emotions, as I say, take over in football, don't they?
06:14 And if he's really angry at decisions, sometimes it can be difficult to rein yourself in.
06:18 But yeah, he should know better than that, I think.
06:21 And he'll definitely look to make sure he doesn't get unstuck with something like that again.
06:27 Absolutely. And hopefully the other players can learn from it too.
06:29 Steve, if you were Roberto De Zerbi and you see your captain getting sent off for descent,
06:34 would you be pulling your hair out?
06:35 Or would you be kind of glad to see that he's sticking up for the cause?
06:38 It's a difficult one, isn't it?
06:40 Because I suppose as a captain, you have got extra responsibility.
06:45 You need to be sort of leading that team by example.
06:47 And at the same time, you want your captain to be speaking up for the team.
06:55 I suppose you've got to know, as an experienced player,
06:57 Dunker's got to know where to draw the line.
07:00 And maybe the line has changed.
07:01 There's obviously a clamp down on descent.
07:04 We're told we're going to see more red cards for it.
07:09 Whether we'll get consistency, not sure.
07:11 But I think Dunk will have learned a lesson from that.
07:15 And he'll know next time he might find there's a way to make his point to the referee
07:23 without going too far.
07:25 But it's difficult, isn't it?
07:26 It's easy for us to say in the heat of the moment, in that game,
07:30 in that battle that they were in, he's done what he's done.
07:35 But I'm sure he'll learn from it.
07:38 Thursday evening saw Abby in advance to knock out stages of the Europa League
07:41 with a 1-0 win at AK Athens.
07:43 It was far from pretty, was it Sam?
07:44 But by hook or by crook, Abbey and Roberto Di Zerbi got it done eventually.
07:48 Yes, absolutely.
07:50 It was a really poor first half.
07:53 It was one of those games, really, where you just fear the worst.
07:57 Obviously, it was a similar game to, similar kind of build up to the Forest game.
08:00 There were so many injuries, suspensions,
08:02 and you wonder how they're going to cope with it, weigh it.
08:06 The European side, it was a bit worrying.
08:09 I think I wasn't confident that Brighton would get the three points.
08:12 And it didn't start great at all.
08:14 Well, actually, in the first few minutes,
08:15 Brighton actually looked quite lively and had a couple of chances,
08:18 but it quickly fell away.
08:20 And they kind of lost control of the midfield, lots of loose passes.
08:23 And Athens dominated, really, for the whole of the first half.
08:27 And it's crazy they didn't score.
08:29 And the chances they had, it was one where they had the ball at the back post,
08:32 had a shot, Lewis Dunk deflected it,
08:34 and it hit the post.
08:36 It was an excellent piece of defending from Dunk,
08:39 but extremely lucky that it hit the post and not the inside of the goal.
08:43 But I think, yeah, I think they couldn't,
08:45 I think it was good that they kept the score level despite not playing well.
08:48 And I think for a half-time,
08:50 Serbi could have got them in and tweaked a few things.
08:53 So it was brilliant, really, that they didn't concede
08:57 and improved in the performance, really.
08:59 And it didn't take long for them to get the opening goal via a penalty.
09:03 It was Joao Pedro that was pulled down in the box,
09:05 and he stepped up to slot it away.
09:07 And he is honestly one of the best penalty takers I've seen.
09:10 One of those players you just know he's going to score,
09:13 which is incredible, really,
09:14 because penalties are so much harder than they look, 100%.
09:19 And he makes it look so easy.
09:20 I think it's his five goals he's scored in the Europa League this season,
09:24 joint level with Aubameyang in the charts,
09:27 and his four penalties as well, three of them have come against Athens,
09:30 so they must be sick of the sight of him, sick of penalties.
09:33 But yeah, there was a great way to put Brighton in the lead.
09:37 And their life was made a bit easier as well
09:40 when Athens went down to 10 men for two bookings.
09:44 And they honestly could have had another red card.
09:46 I think Vida went really heavy into a couple of challenges on Pedro.
09:50 So I think it was maybe a little...
09:53 The red card itself was maybe a little bit harsh.
09:54 He was unlucky, but I think they were very lucky
09:57 that they didn't already have a red card.
09:59 And it kind of evened itself out a little bit.
10:01 And it made Brighton's life a little bit easier as the game went on.
10:05 And they managed to hold on and grab the three points,
10:09 which is historic, really, for the club.
10:11 It means they're through to the ninth quarter-round.
10:13 Going to finish at least second in the group.
10:15 It was just a shame that Marseille edged it last night.
10:18 I think the Ajax keeper had a bit of a mare
10:20 and gave away a penalty needlessly at the end.
10:22 So Marseille are back in charge of the group.
10:25 So yeah, it's all to play for in the final game.
10:27 And really looking forward to that.
10:28 Marseille travelling to Brighton.
10:30 And Marseille, obviously, a point will be enough for them to top the group.
10:33 So Brighton will have to win.
10:34 I suppose we can't really avoid it.
10:38 Unfortunately, the game was soured at the end.
10:40 Brighton supporters had, was it, tear gas fired at them.
10:42 Sam, can you explain a little bit more about the incident at the end of the game?
10:45 Yeah, yeah.
10:46 So crazy scenes, really.
10:48 So the police were trying to get the Athens fans to leave the stadium.
10:54 They were, I think, sticking around when they shouldn't have been.
10:56 Maybe trying to intimidate the away supporters.
10:58 So some tear gas was fired to kind of remove them.
11:02 But they didn't take into consideration the wind, or the way the wind was flowing.
11:06 So a lot of the Brighton fans that were still in the stadium
11:08 were obviously affected by the gas.
11:11 And they had to cover their mouths and noses with their t-shirts.
11:15 And there was some video footage you've got on Twitter.
11:17 But there was a statement from the police liaison officer for the club to say that
11:22 it definitely wasn't aimed at Brighton.
11:24 It was just bad luck.
11:25 And obviously, I apologise to them for that, really.
11:28 And the police actually did praise the Brighton fans for the way they behaved in Greece.
11:33 So crazy scenes, really.
11:35 You don't see that very often.
11:36 And at least it was a genuine mistake.
11:40 And hopefully, that doesn't happen again.
11:41 Very quickly, Sam, the games continue to come thick and fast for Albion.
11:45 Excuse me.
11:46 Sunday sees Brighton meet Chelsea, who boast ex-Albion heroes Robert Sanchez,
11:50 Marc Cucura and Moses Caicedo for a home clash against Brentford on Wednesday.
11:54 Very quickly, how do you see those two going?
11:56 I think there's no reason why Albion shouldn't be aiming for six points there.
11:59 Well, yeah, I think it's incredible they've got six points from the last two,
12:04 Forest and Athens, in these circumstances.
12:07 And if you saw the celebrations that the Serbi had against Nottingham Forest,
12:12 I think they'll be even more extreme if they were to get another six points against Chelsea.
12:16 Because having four games in such quick succession,
12:19 when you've got so many players out, is the worst thing, really.
12:22 And I'll be very surprised if they do pick up six points from these two really, really tough games.
12:27 Chelsea, obviously, might not be in the best of form,
12:31 but they have picked up a little bit lately, scoring lots of goals.
12:34 So, yeah, it's never going to be easy away at Stamford Bridge.
12:38 And especially without Lewis Dunk, that's going to be a tough kind of test for Brighton,
12:45 see how they cope without him.
12:46 But I'm confident that Igor can step up.
12:48 He was great last night, same with Van Hecke, who missed last night for his suspension.
12:53 He'll be back to face Chelsea and Brentford.
12:57 So he's been brilliant this season, really, really good.
13:00 So hopefully they can form a bit of a partnership.
13:03 And in Dunk's absence, hopefully, it should be OK.
13:06 But yeah, I think it's going to be a really tough game,
13:08 especially having so many games in quick succession and going on to Brentford as well.
13:13 Yeah, last season was a topsy-turvy game.
13:17 Brentford scored goals, Brighton scored goals, and more of the same would be nice.
13:21 Brilliant. Well, thank you very much for your contribution, Sam.
13:24 We're going to take a quick break.
13:25 And when we return, we're going to talk all things Crawley Town
13:27 and Sussex County Cricket Club.
13:28 Saturday saw Crawley Town harrogate Town's run of four successive League Two wins.
13:34 Clydie Lollis' second-half header saw the Reds claim a hard-fought 2-1 victory
13:38 at the Broadfield Stadium.
13:40 How did Crawley manager Scott Lindsay see that one, Sam?
13:42 And what were your thoughts on the game?
13:45 Sorry, Matt, was that harrogated today?
13:47 Yes, it was indeed.
13:48 Yeah, it was a really good win for Crawley.
13:52 And harrogate a really tough side to play.
13:55 I think they know away form has been really good this season.
13:57 And getting that three points is really important.
14:01 They knew that after that, they were going to travel into Knox County,
14:03 which is one of the toughest places they need to go.
14:05 So it was really important to go into that on the high and get the three points.
14:09 And it was a really poor game, really.
14:13 I think I was there and it was a real lack of quality.
14:16 I think neither side looks great, to be honest.
14:19 I think Scott Lindsay, by his own admission, at the end, they did ride their luck.
14:24 And on another day, harrogate probably would have come away with the three points.
14:29 They had quite a lot of chances to score harrogate.
14:32 But Crawley did defend well.
14:34 Luca, Ashby and Hammond in goal had a really good game.
14:37 So they managed to stay in it, which is what you need.
14:41 And anything can happen at that point.
14:43 And they did manage to get the winner through Claudia Lollis at the end.
14:47 So a good three points and they did play well.
14:51 So you can't complain with that.
14:52 Well, Tuesday evening saw the Reds crash back down to earth with a 3-1 defeat at High Fly,
14:57 Knox County.
14:58 Crawley have now gone seven away games in all competitions without a win.
15:01 Why have performances been so poor away from home, Sam?
15:05 And what must the Reds do to rectify this?
15:08 Yes, it's a tough one, isn't it?
15:11 As I say, Knox County is one of the toughest places you can go in the league.
15:14 They went there, obviously, in the FA Cup recently and lost out there.
15:18 And a positive performance, but they just lost out because Knox County have got
15:22 some really big players.
15:24 Obviously, they've come up from non-league, but they have one of the biggest budgets
15:27 in the country, or in football league, despite being in non-league.
15:30 So they're definitely on their way up and looking to secure back-to-back promotions 100%.
15:37 It's a really tough place to go, but I don't think there's too much to be concerned about
15:42 in that sense for Crawley.
15:43 I think it's important they win at home.
15:44 I think it is a kind of factor, really, in league, too, that teams do win more at home
15:51 than away.
15:52 And so it's so important that Crawley keep that home form going.
15:55 They've got three consecutive home wins, which is really good.
15:58 So, yes, it's a difficult one.
16:00 It's one of football's biggest questions, really, is how can you replicate that away
16:04 from home?
16:06 And it's obviously always difficult if you can't bring as many fans to the other side
16:09 of the country as you would if it was a little bit closer, I guess, as well.
16:12 So, yes, as I say, it was a decent performance.
16:16 They managed to get on the score sheet through Adam Campbell against his former club.
16:20 It's a really good start to the game.
16:21 And it's just a shame they couldn't hold on.
16:23 I think they won all by the 20th minute.
16:25 So I think if they get the early goal, they might need to tighten the back line a little
16:31 bit and put some men behind the ball.
16:34 The Reds are without a league game this Saturday due to League Two clubs' involvement in the
16:38 FA Cup.
16:38 However, they do have a home game on Tuesday in the EFL Trophy against Bristol Rovers.
16:42 Sam Morton, how do you see that one going?
16:45 Is this viewed as a winnable tournament for the Reds?
16:47 I know that there's still some big guns left from League One left in the competition.
16:50 Yeah, absolutely.
16:53 I think they should be taking it seriously.
16:55 I think they've never obviously been to the knockout rounds before of this competition.
16:59 So it was good to see them get through the group stage.
17:03 And it's obviously going to be a really tough tear.
17:04 I think they always seem to get drawn against Bristol Rovers in cup competitions.
17:08 I think that's a sign of them.
17:10 So hopefully they can put past Ghost behind them and get a really big win.
17:17 Obviously, as you say, in League One, I think they're lingering in mid-table.
17:20 So definitely a winnable game with the home crowd behind them.
17:25 And the Cawley fans do love a midweek game in the cup.
17:29 So hopefully there should be a good turnout and they can pick up the win and move on in
17:35 the competition.
17:35 Meanwhile, it's been an eventful couple of weeks for Sussex County Cricket Club.
17:40 Ali Orr swapped Hove for Hampshire on November 20,
17:43 signing a multi-year deal at Sussex fierce rivals.
17:45 Former England Sussex players Ian Gould and Chris Adams subsequently resigned from backroom
17:50 roles at Hove, citing Orr's departure as the catalyst before former Sussex captain Chris
17:55 Adams described the club's release of Orr to Hampshire as reckless at best and unforgivable
18:00 at worst.
18:00 Strong words used there, Steve Bone.
18:03 But what do you make of the decision to let Orr go?
18:05 And I don't know if this is a word that's thrown around much in cricket, but are Sussex
18:09 in crisis?
18:10 Yeah, I think as things stand at the moment, you'd have to say they probably are.
18:16 Because they've lost a lot of good players in recent years for different reasons.
18:22 Players get big money offers and move on to bigger counties.
18:25 Sometimes that happens.
18:26 But Sussex have lost other players that they wouldn't have expected to lose and haven't
18:32 moved on for that reason.
18:33 I thought Ali Orr's departure was quite a shock.
18:35 He was one of those, they've got a crop of young, not as young as they were when they
18:42 first came to the side, but youngish players who have got great potential and have done
18:47 well already for Sussex in different formats.
18:50 Ali Orr's played well in four day cricket and one day cricket.
18:53 And I think a lot of supporters would have seen Orr as one of the sort of central sort
19:01 of planks of the team for the future, you know, for the next three or four years.
19:05 So to lose him to Hampshire, you know, it's not just losing him to another county, but
19:09 it's the rivals up the road that they've lost him to without at this stage any obvious
19:15 sign of a direct replacement for him.
19:17 I think that's got fans worried and I think you can see why some of those figures that
19:21 you talked about, Adams and Gould and so on, have decided to come out and make a bit of
19:27 a stand over it.
19:28 It seems to be the case at the moment that Paul Farr Brace has the sort of ultimate responsibility
19:36 for the shaping of the squad in terms of who goes, who he wants to sign, who leaves.
19:40 And at the moment, I think fans are thinking, well, I mean, the start of the season is four
19:47 months away.
19:48 We've got to remember that there is still time for Sussex to build.
19:50 But at the moment, they do seem to be going backwards in terms of getting a squad together
19:55 that can get the county championship promotion that they've been trying to get for several
20:00 years and do well in the one day cup and in the 2020 as well.
20:05 So, yeah, I don't think crisis is too strong a word at the moment to use for it.
20:09 Big few months ahead of them as they look to get some, you know, some incomings to balance
20:15 out the outgoings.
20:17 Well, last week also saw the release of the 2024 county championship, T20 and one day
20:21 cup fixtures.
20:22 You kind of touched on it there, Steve.
20:24 Have Sussex fans got much to be excited about at the moment?
20:26 There was a comment on Twitter that made me laugh that said, minor counties, here we come
20:30 after the release of our league.
20:31 Yeah, yeah, they're not quite in the minor counties championship yet, and I'm sure that's
20:36 not where they'll end up.
20:37 I think those fixtures are probably out as well, but we don't need to look at them just
20:41 yet.
20:41 Yeah, the release of the fixtures for cricket fans is always a big thing for cricket fans.
20:46 They can start to look ahead and they can start to plan their summer.
20:49 It still seems a long way off, doesn't it?
20:53 But the 5th of April when they start their first game at home to Northampton, the championship
20:56 will soon be upon us.
20:58 I'm sure it will be about three degrees and probably a threat of snow flurries as it usually
21:02 is in the first week of the championship.
21:03 Yeah, I suppose in a way difficult for fans to get too excited about it at the moment
21:08 because they don't know who's going to be in the team.
21:10 Sussex have made a couple of overseas bowling signings that we should mention.
21:15 Jadon Seals, Nathan McAndrew, both coming back for both for different parts, I think,
21:20 of next season.
21:21 So that's something.
21:21 They have made a couple of other signings as well.
21:24 Danny Lamb from Lancashire is joining.
21:27 So there are sort of signs of hope there, but certainly between now and that first game,
21:32 Sussex fans will want to see more.
21:35 And then it'll be a case of which format Sussex is going to have a good season in, if any,
21:39 maybe more than one.
21:40 Championship starts is the sort of dominant format in April, May.
21:44 2020 is split into two next year.
21:48 So the first three weeks of June, I think, is the first half of the 2020.
21:53 And then they have a couple, they break then for a couple more championship matches, come
21:57 back and finish the 2020 group.
21:59 About time Sussex got out of their 2020 group.
22:01 They've failed in the last couple of years.
22:04 They'll need a better squad than they've got at the moment to do that.
22:07 And then at the end of July, we get the one day cup.
22:11 So that'll be eight games in the group.
22:14 Sussex did well in that in 2022, terribly at it in 2023.
22:20 So hopefully they'll be back to the 2022 mode in that.
22:23 They won't, probably won't have too many players that they will lose to the 100, which is played
22:29 at the same time.
22:30 That could go in their favour, but that was the case last year and it didn't help them.
22:33 So we'll see.
22:34 So yeah, a lot of games to look forward to, but I think for Sussex fans, they'll be looking
22:39 forward to it more when there's two or three more players in the door.
22:42 Before we have a quick stroll down, Steve, in the score prediction corner, best of luck
22:46 to Horsham at Sutton United in the FA Cup second round.
22:49 You can follow live coverage of that on sussexworld.co.uk/sport.
22:53 Best of luck to the Hornets.
22:54 I'm predicting a 1-0 win for Horsham and a delightful away trip to Newcastle in January,
23:00 which would be good.
23:02 So yeah, score predictions, Chelsea against Brighton on Sunday.
23:05 Sam Morton, how do you see that one playing out?
23:07 A high scoring game, I think.
23:12 I think, as I say, Chelsea have been scoring goals lately.
23:14 Brighton conceding goals this season, especially without Lewis Dunne.
23:18 I think they might struggle to get another clean sheet.
23:21 So I'm going to go with a two-all draw.
23:23 Oh, Steve Bowne, I just see it going.
23:27 Yeah, I think Chelsea are slowly but surely improving, finding their feet under Pochettino.
23:33 I think Brighton will still be, have their minds sort of half in Athens a little bit.
23:38 Certainly the fans probably will.
23:40 I'm going to go 2-0 Chelsea.
23:41 And Brighton-Brentford, Steve, win for Brighton there?
23:49 Yeah, I think by then they'll be back on track.
23:53 Brentford, not quite the force they were last year.
23:56 Going to go 3-1 Brighton.
23:58 And Sam Morton, how do you see it going at the Amex?
24:06 Yeah, similar kind of prediction.
24:10 I think 2-1 Brighton for that one.
24:12 And yeah, Steve says Brentford haven't been as prolific as they were last season.
24:17 Definitely missing Ivan Toney up front.
24:21 So yeah, I think a Brighton 2-1 win.
24:24 Bristol Rovers, Crawley in the EFL Trophy.
24:26 Finally, Sam Morton, are we back in a win for Crawley there?
24:29 Oof, a tough one to predict that.
24:35 Yeah, I'll be optimistic.
24:38 I'll say 2-1 again, 2-1 Crawley.
24:42 Oh, Steve Bowne, we're getting giddy and we're being optimistic.
24:45 We're going for a Crawley win.
24:46 I'm going to go beyond that and I'm going to predict that this season's EFL Trophy final
24:53 will be an all-Southern affair.
24:56 Crawley against Portsmouth, both going to get to Wembley.
24:58 Crawley to beat Bristol Rovers 1-0 next week to take the next step.
25:03 Excellent stuff, we'll fingers cross that happens.
25:06 That'll be great.
25:07 Thank you very much this week, chaps, been brilliant as ever.
25:10 You can catch up with all the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about today at
25:12 sasktv.co.uk and you can watch more excellent videos on shotstv.com and free of you channel 276.
25:18 Thank you very much for listening.
25:20 Thank you very much to Steve and Sam and we will see you all next week.
25:34 Bye.