SussexWorld's Matt Pole is joined by Brighton & Hove Albion writers Sam Morton and Richie Mills, and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford. Brighton & Hove Albion enjoyed a fruitful Christmas period, taking four points from two games against London opposition.
We’ll pick over the bones of Albion’s two games, and take a look at all the latest goings on at Crawley Town.
You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at SussexWorld.co.uk/sport, and you check out other great videos on ShotsTV.com and Freeview channel 276.
We’ll pick over the bones of Albion’s two games, and take a look at all the latest goings on at Crawley Town.
You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at SussexWorld.co.uk/sport, and you check out other great videos on ShotsTV.com and Freeview channel 276.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 [Music]
00:12 Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast where we take a look at all the latest goings on at Brighton & Hove Abbey in Crawley Town and Sporting Sussex.
00:20 I'm Matt Palm and this week I'm joined by Brighton & Hove Abbey and writers Sam Morton and Richie Mills and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
00:26 Brighton & Hove Abbey enjoyed a fruitful Christmas period taking four points from two games against London opposition.
00:31 An excellent 4-2 home win over Spurs on the 28th December was followed by a goalless draw at West Ham on the 2nd January.
00:37 We'll pick over the bones of Abbey in these two games and take a look at all the latest goings on at Crawley Town.
00:41 You can read all the stories we're talking about, videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk/sport and you can check out other great videos on shotstv.com and freeview channel 276.
00:52 A superb display saw Brighton overcome Tottenham in the Premier League at the Amex Stadium.
00:57 Jack Hinchinwood's goal purfaced a Stupinien's Thunderbolt and Gilles Pedro's double saw Abbey take the points. Sum that game up for us Sam.
01:04 An incredible game really for Brighton. It's a fantastic result obviously. Everything seemed to go right for them.
01:13 It's a big surprise actually. I think obviously Spurs have had injuries as well but I think Brighton obviously went into the game with lots of players unavailable.
01:21 I don't think many fans would have expected the game to go the way it did in all honesty.
01:27 And to score the amount of goals they did in spectacular fashion as well.
01:31 I think it was a superb goal from Jack Hinchinwood at the beginning of the game to open the scoring.
01:35 It was a thunderous strike which we've not seen from him before.
01:40 We've seen him score a header but we've certainly not seen him score with such power and such a professional finish from the youngster.
01:46 And obviously a couple of penalties from Gilles Pedro and a screamer from Pervez Estupinien who was returning from injury as well.
01:55 Returning in the best possible way. It was just a fantastic result.
01:59 It's a shame obviously about the goals at the end which has been a recurring problem for Brighton.
02:04 When they're dominant in a game they maybe switch off a little bit and they concede a couple of goals when they really probably would have wanted the clean sheet to make it a perfect evening.
02:13 But still I don't think that should take the shine away from what was a fantastic night at the Amex.
02:18 And as De Serby said, probably the best performance of the season.
02:23 Yeah, Sam's mentioned it there Richie. It's pretty hard to disagree with Roberto De Serby after that resultant performance.
02:30 Yeah, I think so. Just given the context of 10 or so players out and the fact that Brighton,
02:39 a team that are very reliant on having wingers, didn't have any wingers.
02:43 They had the sprightly young player, James Milner. He played fantastic in midfield.
02:52 I think that's a real sign that going forward he should be played more in midfield because I think he's turning 38 this week.
03:00 So he's not quite as quick as some of the youngsters in the league.
03:05 And I think it's a bit unfair for him if you put him at fullback every time because he's just going to get skinned quite a lot.
03:11 But he still has a lot to offer, I think, in midfield. So he was fantastic.
03:17 And it was interesting from the start, it looked like it was going to be, it could be a tough evening because Spurs raced out the blocks.
03:26 But then after a few minutes, Brighton really took control of the game and played some absolutely brilliant football.
03:32 It was sort of shades of their best last season because it was just such crisp passing.
03:39 The team were in sync, lovely layoffs. Like Jao Pedro was just beating players for fun.
03:46 It was a real statement of intent. And I'm not sure about you guys, but I was a bit miffed with Postacoglou's post-match comments where he basically right from the off said we were tired.
03:59 But if you look at basically every single barometer, Brighton have more excuses because they had, I think, the same, if not more players out.
04:08 They had played more games in December. They had played more games this season because of the Europa League.
04:16 It was just a bit of a lazy, impetuous remark, I thought, and didn't really do Brighton the credit they deserve.
04:23 So, yeah, a fantastic result in a busy schedule. So, yeah, hats off to them.
04:31 West Ham and Brighton then shared the points in a Dow Premier League goalless draw at London Stadium.
04:35 Albion had the bulk of possession and better chances in their first match of the year, but they were unable to break through a Hammers defence,
04:41 which has now kept four consecutive clean sheets. Sum that result up for us, Sam.
04:46 It certainly won't live long in the memory, will it, that game?
04:49 No, no, it certainly won't. It was quite a poor game, to be honest.
04:54 I think probably West Ham edged the first half and they probably had the best of the attacking moments, I would say.
05:01 I think Jared Bowen looked lively and Jason Steele had to be alert for most of the first half, really.
05:06 But second half, Brighton completely dominated the possession and West Ham seemed to be very happy with the point.
05:14 And they really did keep all the men behind the ball and it made it very difficult for Brighton to create clear goal scoring opportunities.
05:20 I think probably the best chance has fell to Pascal Gros with the header.
05:24 João Pedro ran through the defence brilliantly and then shot straight at the keeper.
05:29 I think Gros had another good chance, good chance saved.
05:34 But Arreola was man of the match, but he made a lot of saves, but he didn't really have to dive for any of them, really.
05:40 They were all kind of straight at him. So it was a frustrating finishing for Brighton,
05:44 but I think they were very pleased with the dominance they showed in that second half.
05:48 Or I would say it was, at least. Anyway, he said hitting the game is one of the best performances of the season again.
05:53 And I suppose in the context of the amount of players they had unavailable, the first clean sheet, the Premier League season as well,
06:00 even though they didn't have Lewis Dunk, which was a huge positive.
06:04 And I think Jan-Paul van Gecke was superb. Adam Webster returning from injury alongside him as well was really good.
06:12 And he told us post-match that it was a shock that he was even able to play, really,
06:17 because he was coming back from a calf injury that had kept him out for nearly two months.
06:21 And then he had a virus over Christmas as well and he wasn't able to train properly.
06:25 So it was a miracle that he managed the last 74 minutes.
06:29 And it did look like he was a bit uncomfortable as he was leaving the pitch.
06:32 And there were fears that he might be injured again. But thankfully, it was only cramp.
06:37 And that's a real positive as well to have him back.
06:39 And to be honest, if he didn't play, I don't know who would have done because they were the only two centre-backs in the squad.
06:45 And on the bench as well, there was no obvious centre-back to bring on.
06:50 And the server did make that clear afterwards how kind of grateful he was to Webster that he played.
06:56 And same for Estupinan as well, who's only just coming back and played the game as well.
07:01 So definitely positives there. And I think the clean sheet is definitely the real takeaway.
07:06 But just frustrating that they couldn't turn the possession and the chances they had into goals.
07:12 You mentioned it there, Sam. The clean sheet was the first of this season and ended a club record 24-game run.
07:18 After the West Ham draw, Deserby joked about happy journalists after they finally earned the clean sheet.
07:23 But it's been long overdue, isn't it, Richie?
07:26 Yeah, for sure. I mean, it just makes it so much harder for you to try to win games.
07:32 Just if you look at the number of 1-1 draws that they've had against Burnley, Sheffield United, Fulham and Co,
07:41 Deserby has said they've dropped points. So it was interesting that he said, almost straight off the bat,
07:49 this is more important to the journalists than it is to us. But surely he can't be happy with the fact that it's taken so long.
07:56 Yes, they've had clean sheets in the Europa League. And I think Deserby has even alluded to the fact that that's an impressive feat.
08:03 So, yeah, it seemed a bit of contradiction in terms for him to do that.
08:07 But it's a strange one because I think, I think I mentioned this before, I don't think Brighton defended badly as a team.
08:15 It's just they've made poor errors on certain occasions, just passing out from the back and being caught out.
08:21 But Van Gek's been fantastic, maybe Brighton's best player of the year.
08:26 Lewis Dunk's still been pretty darn solid. Hinchelwood, obviously a midfielder, 18-year-old, has come in and been fantastic at right back.
08:35 So, yes, I mean, hopefully this can be a springboard for them to sure up the defence because they can't always just rely on the sort of Kevin Keegan tactic of, you know, you score three, we'll score four.
08:52 Well, Sam Morton, who stood out for you for having over the Christmas period? I'm giving you a couple of examples.
08:58 Jal Pedro was among the goals again, while James Milner, who's previously been mentioned already, made his 632nd appearance on Tuesday to take him second in all-time Premier League appearances.
09:09 He also had a great game against Tottenham as well, didn't he, Sam?
09:12 Yeah, both of those players have been great, as you say. Milner's really, really done well of late.
09:17 I think he had a few ropey moments early on in the season when he first joined Brighton.
09:23 He was a little bit slow in moments, I think, as you'd expect for a player of his age.
09:30 But I think he's definitely come into it and he's really using his experience in key moments.
09:35 And with Brighton having these injuries and just having someone to rely on like him, who's so versatile, we can play in so many different positions, I think it's such a boost to Brighton.
09:43 And he was brilliant against Spurs and I think he did really well against West Ham as well.
09:48 I really like the moment where he lost the ball in the second half and then he instantly won it back and just showed that kind of determination he still has, despite playing for all these years.
09:57 I think that was great to see. But in terms of other players, it really impressed me.
10:01 I think Billy Gilmore's been superb. He really has come on leaps and bounds and he's starting week in, week out now.
10:09 And you can just see the confidence he's playing with and the kind of control he's had in games.
10:14 And the same as Richie mentioned, Van Hecker has probably been one of the players of the season.
10:19 So he's absolutely superb. And when Dunk's not there, he is the next kind of best defender, I think, that they really rely upon.
10:28 He just showed that against West Ham, even though they didn't have their captain in Dunk, they still managed to get that clean sheet.
10:33 And Van Hecker was pivotal in getting that. So definitely those players.
10:39 And Jack Hinshaw, as you mentioned as well, he's been brilliant. Again, so versatile.
10:43 And that helps so much when you've got these players out and you've got players you can rely on that can play in different positions and to really help the team out in difficult times.
10:52 Very quickly, Richie, off the field, Seagulls chairman Tony Bloom was appointed an MBE in the New Year's Honours list.
10:58 Bloom, who began the role in 2009, was honoured for services to football in the local community.
11:02 And I think it's safe to say, Richie, it's a thoroughly deserved honour.
11:11 Here on mute, Richie.
11:14 Sorry. Yes, I think while most football fans wouldn't admit it, I reckon a heck of a lot of them would love to have Tony Bloom as their chairman.
11:24 I mean, he's pumped in 400 or 500 million into the club. He's wiped clean loans and debts of the people who own him and stuff like that.
11:34 And he's pumped so much into the local community in terms of various projects and charitable endeavours.
11:41 And yeah, I think so much of Brighton's success is down to him. So, yeah, it's definitely well deserved.
11:49 Brilliant. Thank you very much for that. And we're going to take a very quick break.
11:51 When we come back, we'll quickly look at Albion's FA Cup game against Stoke and take a look at Crawley Town's mixed festive period.
11:58 Saturday sees Albion travel to Championship Club Stoke City in the third round of the FA Cup.
12:03 Richie, how do you see that one going? I think most people are expecting an Albion win here, although they will be shorn of several stars, I think.
12:11 Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what team Dezerby goes with. Obviously, he's very short on options, but perhaps some of the under-21s will be given a go.
12:20 I wonder where his priorities lie. I think probably going deep in the Europa League and finishing up, you know,
12:29 potentially trying to qualify for the Champions League is probably the priorities.
12:32 But, you know, I think they've got a week off after this, so there's an extra bit of time to recover.
12:38 So I reckon he would probably go for a similar line up to the West Ham one.
12:45 I think Stoke have brought in Schumacher from Plymouth. They're unbeaten, I think, in this four or five games, but I think every one of those bar one has been a draw.
12:55 So, yeah, they're obviously unbeaten, but they're still, you know, not far above the relegation places in the Championship.
13:03 Brighton did beat Stoke, I think, 1-0 in the fifth round of the FA Cup last season, and I do think they will beat them again.
13:12 Very quickly, Sam, how do you see that one going?
13:15 Yeah, it's funny because they played Stoke in the Cup last season as well, and I think Brighton will comfortably win, I think.
13:23 I'll go, yeah, I'll have a score prediction later on so I won't jump the gun. But I think, yeah, I think it'll be a comfortable win.
13:28 Meanwhile, Crawley Town enjoyed a mixed festive period, recording two wins and two defeats in four games.
13:35 How would you assess the Reds' Christmas and New Year, Mark Dunford?
13:39 Yeah, it was definitely mixed. So, yeah, it started on the Friday night, didn't it, before Christmas.
13:44 They played AFC Wimbledon and I was there. They lost, what was it, 2-1, 3-1? I can't even remember now.
13:50 That's shocking, isn't it? But they were bad and Scott Lindsay was, I've never seen him so cross after a game.
13:58 He's normally very good, very measured, but he was visibly angry after that performance.
14:03 But certainly the first half, they were very poor. I mean, AFC Wimbledon were good, but they were very poor.
14:09 And then on Boxing Day, I think after that result, everyone expected, oh, God, we're going to go to Gillingham and lose.
14:15 But they won 2-0. Lindsay said actually afterwards, we were absolutely rubbish today, but we got the win.
14:21 That's the main thing. Then on Friday night, they lost 2-0 to MK Dons, but then Scott Lindsay praises players for how well they played.
14:29 By all accounts, they absolutely dominated that game and lost. So all over the place, performances, results.
14:35 But then on New Year's Day, it all came together with a brilliant performance and a brilliant win against Scott Lindsay's old club.
14:41 So I think overall, Lindsay will probably be disappointed he didn't get anything at MK Dons and certainly would have expected to get something at home
14:49 against AFC Wimbledon, who the very next game lost 1-0 to Sutton at home, who are bottom of the league.
14:56 So, yeah, this league is just all over the shop. But I think Lindsay will be just looking for more consistency in results now
15:04 as they look to climb up that table. They're only three points off the playoffs after Christmas.
15:09 So I think in anyone's eyes, that's a pretty good place to be.
15:13 Well, as a neutral, it did strike to me the crowning achievement of this festive period was Crawley's 3-1 win over Swindon Town on New Year's Day.
15:20 Just how good were Crawley against Swindon Mark? And as I say, Scott Lindsay must have been over the moon.
15:28 Yeah, it was. It was the first game this year that I've seen where they've absolutely dominated and got the result they deserved
15:35 because there's been so many games where they just haven't got over the line after dominating, etc., with possession stats and shots on goal stats, etc.
15:44 But, yeah, and it was a different way of winning as well because quite a few people have criticised the team for not having a plan B.
15:54 So they played a lovely passing possession-based football, 3-5, 2-1 or whichever way you want to look at it.
16:00 And, yeah, they just, yeah, he just don't think they have a plan B. But he did this time. He pressed slightly differently.
16:09 He went into quite a lot of detail in this post-match. He looked quite smug, to be honest, and you would do after beating your own side.
16:15 Old side, 3-1. But he was saying that, yeah, instead of attacking the wide central defenders, Ronan Darcy and Nick Cerrulla,
16:24 who were playing as wing-backs, pressed more inside and sort of kept it tight in the midfield.
16:29 And it just, yeah, Swindon didn't have an answer for them. And they had Dan Kemp and Jake Young, who have been brilliant for Swindon this year with goals and assists.
16:37 And, yeah, didn't have an answer for him. And Jay Williams coming back from suspension, he missed three games over Christmas before that one.
16:45 He came back and he was told to man Mark Dan Kemp, who Scotland, he said, is the best number 10 in League Two,
16:51 and didn't get a sniff really other than the free kick he got when he scored right at the end.
16:56 But it was a really, really good performance and, yeah, quite a statement victory, I think.
17:02 And now it will give him huge confidence going into the next few games, which have got some quite busy and hard weeks coming up now.
17:10 Well, this week says, sorry, Croytown travel to Bradford in League Two before a, I think it's an EFL trophy game against Peterborough.
17:19 How do you see these games going, Mark?
17:22 I see them probably putting a little bit more emphasis and focus on the Bradford game than the Peterborough game,
17:27 but I might be wrong there. I don't know about that.
17:30 Yeah, I think so. I think everyone at the club wants to get further in that cup, in the EFL trophy,
17:37 because it is a chance to get a Wembley-Crawley, as we've said many times,
17:40 they're one of the few teams in the Football League that have never had a game at Wembley, old or new.
17:45 So it will be, but I think Scotland's focus is always on the league.
17:51 And Bradford away, I mean, on paper, it looks quite tough going to Bradford, big stadium, huge crowd.
17:58 But Crawley have got a great record against Bradford. In the last eight games, Crawley have won five of them and drawn three.
18:05 So they haven't lost in eight games. And that includes the opening game of this season where they won 1-0 thanks to a Will Wright free kick.
18:12 So they've had a change of manager. It started off the season with Mark Hughes, Bradford,
18:16 and then now they've got Graham Alexander, who was at MK Dons at the start of the season.
18:22 Scott Lindsay, mastermind, did a 2-1 victory over them at the beginning of the season,
18:26 MK Dons, when Alexander was in charge. So he'll be looking to do the same again.
18:31 And I think they can go after that Swindon performance and winning away at Gillingham as well.
18:37 I think it just gives them great confidence in going there. Bradford are just a couple of points behind Crawley in the league.
18:44 So it's going to be a very even match. It will be tight. But yeah, you just said Scott Lindsay has got a lot of confidence now,
18:52 certainly with the way they beat Swindon, I think, him and the players.
18:56 And the fact that they beat Swindon as well without Ben Gladwell and Liam Kelly, who are two of their most influential players, both out injured.
19:03 So, yeah, I think they will. But the EFL trophy, I mean, as much as they want to do well,
19:09 they couldn't have had a tougher draw in terms of geography and the standard of the team they're playing.
19:16 They're third in League One at the moment. Peterborough is a two and a half hour journey on a Wednesday night as well,
19:24 because Peterborough are playing some team, I don't know who it is, some team from up north away on Sunday.
19:31 But yeah, I think they'll go there again with confidence.
19:36 But it'd be interesting to know what team he puts out, because he has stuck with the sort of B team, as it were,
19:42 or the people that haven't been playing a lot of first team in every round.
19:46 They went out and beat Bristol Rovers in the last game. So why not keep the same team,
19:52 see what they can do against Peterborough? But yeah, it's a tough ask.
19:56 But if they win, they'll make club history. They've never been, they would never have been that far in that competition.
20:01 So good luck to them.
20:03 We shall see. Quick whip round the score predictions, starting with Stoke against Brighton in the FA Cup on Saturday.
20:09 Richie, how do you see that one going?
20:12 I'm going for a 2-1 away win for Brighton.
20:15 Mr Morton?
20:17 I think 3-0 to Brighton. I think last time they played it was very close. It was a 1-0 win.
20:24 Evan Ferguson got the goal on that day, but I think it'll be more comfortable today.
20:28 I think Stoke have only had one win since October. So I think the quality will shine through for Brighton and it'll be a comfortable win.
20:34 We're going for a quick, clean sweep of Brighton wins then, Mark?
20:37 Yeah, I'm going 2-0. Yeah, very comfortable. An early goal and then a late goal, I reckon.
20:43 And then Bradford-Crawley on Saturday, Mark. How do you see that one going? Again, it could go either way, I think.
20:48 I think it could. I'm going for Crawley to sneak a 2-1 win there.
20:52 And I think, yeah, a Dion Conroy header towards the end will seal the win for them, I'm going for.
20:58 Sam Morton, how do you see it going?
21:02 Tough game. I think it'll be a draw. I'm going for 1-0.
21:07 Orsi's been on a bit of a scoring run. I think he'll score in a 1-0 draw.
21:11 And Richie, it goes without saying that you're the Oracle when it comes to Crawley Town. How do you see that one going?
21:17 Well, I think a respectable 7-3.
21:22 And can we expect a similar scoreline when they take on Peterborough in the EFL Trophy, Richie?
21:29 15-9.
21:34 I'll put a picture on that and see what happens. Sam, how do you see that one going at Peterborough?
21:41 And would it be any great disappointment if they were to lose at Peterborough?
21:45 I think it would be disappointing. I think they've been on a good run and I think they'd like to keep that going.
21:50 And as Mark said, to be able to get to Wembley for the first time in the club's history would be amazing, really.
21:56 So I think they would really love to do that. And it's a really tough game again.
22:01 And I think it's one of the worst possible draws they could have got in the competition.
22:06 So, yeah, I'm not optimistic. I think Peterborough will win 2-1.
22:10 Do you share Sam's pessimism, Mark?
22:13 No, I think they could pull off a draw and then obviously Pen-Weas is an absolute lottery after that.
22:19 But you'd expect Peterborough to win. But I'm going for a draw and then maybe Crawley sneak through on Pen-Weas.
22:25 Excellent stuff. We shall see. Well, thank you very much for joining us this week, chaps.
22:29 Brilliant as ever. You can catch up with all the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about today at sussexworld.co.uk/sport.
22:37 And you can watch more excellent videos on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 276.
22:42 Thank you very much for watching or listening. And we will see you all next week.
22:46 [END]