Sussex World's Mark Dunford is joined by Brighton & Hove Albion writers Derren Howard and Sam Morton.
Albion picked up a famous win over Roma on Thursday - but it wasn’t enough as the Seagulls’ European adventure came to an end
We pick over the bones of Brighton’s Europa League exit, and their Premier League win over Nottingham Forest, plus we’ll look back at yet another excellent week for 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.
Albion picked up a famous win over Roma on Thursday - but it wasn’t enough as the Seagulls’ European adventure came to an end
We pick over the bones of Brighton’s Europa League exit, and their Premier League win over Nottingham Forest, plus we’ll look back at yet another excellent week for 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 Hi, welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast, where we take a look at the
00:06 latest goings on at Brighton & Hove, Albion, Crawley Town and Sport in Sussex. I'm Mark
00:11 Dunford and this week I've been joined by Brighton & Hove, Albion writers, Derren Howard
00:15 and Sam Morton. Albion picked up a famous win over Roma on Thursday, but it wasn't enough
00:19 as the Seagulls European adventure came to an end. We'll pick over the bones of Brighton's
00:23 Europa League exit and their Premier League win over Nottingham Forest. Plus we look back
00:28 at yet another excellent week for Crawley Town. You can read all the stories we are
00:32 talking about with videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk/sport. You can check
00:37 out other great videos on shotstv.com and Freeview channel 276. You may also be watching
00:43 on Latest TV, so thank you for tuning in. So Brighton's Europa League adventure ended
00:48 at the last 16 stage, despite their victory over Roma at the Amex on Thursday night. RDZ
00:54 side had their chances, but a 4-0 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico in the first leg meant
00:58 this task was beyond them. It was a great performance on the night, wasn't it, Sam?
01:01 But the damage was done in the first leg, wasn't it?
01:04 Yeah, exactly that, Mark, really. It was always going to be pretty much an impossible task,
01:11 obviously, barring an absolute miracle. And you felt that Brighton needed an early goal
01:17 to be able to give themselves the best chance of doing it. And I think they weren't able
01:22 to quite do that. They had the chances. They started really well. The atmosphere was brilliant.
01:26 The fans were really up for it. Blew in every touch of the ball from Roma and cheering every
01:31 ball that was touched by Brighton. And I really liked the moment as well where the ball went
01:36 out for a throw in and Isiso turned to the fans and properly like, cheered them up. It
01:41 was really kind of up for the occasion kind of thing. And you really felt like Brighton
01:46 were sensing a miraculous comeback and they just needed that early goal. And they obviously
01:51 got one eventually with a superb strike from Danny Welbeck. It really was brilliant from
01:57 long distance into the top corner. And Roma then started to use a bit of their European
02:02 experience, a bit of their know-how to slow the game down.
02:06 Dark arts.
02:07 Dark arts, yeah. And it was really frustrating to watch, to be honest. And I think after
02:14 the goal, it must have been about five minutes where the ball was barely in play, I think.
02:17 I saw Pascal Gros get really frustrated when he's waiting to take a free kick and it was
02:21 all this chaos going in the penalty box and no one really knew what was going on. And
02:27 I think the fans were getting quite restless. But yeah, no, I think Brighton played well
02:32 really and I think in the second half particularly, they had so many chances to get more goals.
02:38 I think Idinga should have scored. They had two really good headed chances, especially
02:42 the second one. Van Gecke came up for a couple of chances with headers. So they had the chance
02:47 to get more chances, absolutely. I think especially if that Idinga header goes in, it could have
02:51 been a different story. But I think God's credit Brighton for the way they responded
02:56 and the way they performed last night. And they definitely probably put Romund under
03:00 a little bit of pressure. They must have been a little bit worried, I reckon. And obviously
03:05 it was a bit feisty. I think it was about eight yellow cards, including to both managers
03:08 as well. So yeah, it was a really entertaining game to watch.
03:12 And then the fans had a blinder with their sign in reply to their distasteful sign that
03:17 they had at the Stadio Olimpico. I'm not going to say what it said there, but the one last
03:21 night was great, wasn't it?
03:23 Yeah, no, it was excellent. I really, really enjoyed it. Obviously, it was just taking
03:27 them, taking the nick out of De Rossi and putting pineapple on pizza, which is a really
03:31 light-hearted way of poking fun at the Italians after what they said about the Queen and everything
03:37 last week. So yeah, that's what football's all about, I think. And then, yeah, it's brilliant,
03:41 brilliant to see.
03:42 I don't like to have a go at the Italians, but the way they treated us at that entry
03:47 gate, Sam, I'm happy for anybody to slag off the Italians. So yes. Anyway, it's been a
03:53 marvellous European adventure for the Seagulls, hasn't it, Darren? Albion fans will no doubt
03:57 cherish the wins over Ajax and Marseille, but RDZ side can certainly hold their head
04:02 high after that run, can't they?
04:05 Absolutely, yeah. To actually get to that stage where they were competing with some
04:10 of these famous names across Europe, it was a great achievement for the club. And hopefully
04:15 it's given them a taste to do it again as well. They're still well in the mix to finish
04:21 within the European places again for next season. And that's the challenge now. They've
04:26 had a taste of it now. The fans really enjoyed it. It was a great occasion for the club and
04:32 a great experience for a lot of these younger players who have come through at Brighton
04:38 recently. And yeah, the challenge is really now to finish the season strongly. They've
04:43 got a break now until March 31st because of the international break. They play Liverpool
04:49 then. But yeah, they really need to sort of take stock now, have a little bit of a breather,
04:56 hopefully get some of the injured players back, such as Jal Pedro, James Milner, and
05:00 then really push on for these last tranche of games where they can hopefully qualify
05:05 for Europe once again.
05:07 I'm going to put you both on the spot a little bit. What are all the permutations? I saw
05:14 we were messaging each other last night and it was like, with West Ham winning and Aston
05:19 Villa obviously going to win, probably win the Conference League and Arsenal win the
05:23 Champions League. They won't. Yes, and Liverpool probably winning. What are the permutations
05:29 and does it matter how many teams in the Premier League can actually get into Europe next year?
05:34 Yeah, as it stands at the moment, Brighton are in a European spot. So that's eighth in
05:38 the table at the moment and in a European place. Whether that's going to be Europa League
05:44 or Conference, Europa Conference League, we're not too sure at the moment. But yeah, it could
05:50 go down as far as potentially to ninth place this year, depending on who wins.
05:55 Crazy, isn't it?
05:56 Yeah, it could be in certain competitions. So yeah, the door is definitely open for Brighton
06:01 to get into Europe once again.
06:05 Yeah, and obviously they started that on last Saturday when they beat Norton Forest 1-0.
06:11 It wasn't pretty, was it, Sam? But they did the job.
06:14 Exactly that. It was one of those games where they had to just get the job done by any means,
06:18 really. I think we've seen so many times really at home against teams they should be beating
06:23 that they drop points. We even saw it at home against Sheffield United and Burnley. So I
06:27 think this time it was so vital that they got that win. And it was a definite good way
06:37 of responding after the defeat at Rome to get that 1-0 win, obviously for a known goal
06:43 from a Pascal Gross assist, because of course it was. So yeah, it was, as you say, not a
06:51 pretty game and Sheffield United on another day could have nicked an equaliser.
06:55 Norton Forest.
06:57 Sorry, Norton Forest. And obviously, Yakim Odeh was very fortunate, I think, as well.
07:04 He could have seen red.
07:05 How that wasn't a red card was unbelievable.
07:06 Yeah, it could have. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It could have been a repeat
07:10 of that Sheffield United game where Tahoud got sent off and then Sheffield found an equaliser
07:15 afterwards. So yeah, it's fortunate that Lightning didn't strike twice in that sense.
07:20 But yeah, no, good, good victory and a much needed one to get back to winning ways.
07:25 Yeah, I mean, going back to the Odeh thing, because you look at John McGinn's challenge
07:30 where he got given a straight red, which I think it was a straight red. I've seen people
07:35 saying that they didn't think it was, but it wasn't quite as bad as Jacob Odeh's challenge,
07:40 was it? I didn't think.
07:41 No, both were quite bad, weren't they? I think especially, I was watching that John McGinn
07:46 one at the time it happened and it was, it looked dreadful, the kind of force that he
07:50 went in at. But yeah, Odeh was very high, wasn't he? Very high up with the challenge.
07:57 So yeah, very fortunate.
07:59 Yeah, absolutely. So, owing to the international break, which you mentioned earlier, Darren,
08:04 and their FA Cup exit, Brighton won't be kicker ball until the 31st of March. Seems a long
08:08 way off, actually, when they visit title challenging Liverpool. Has the break come at a good time
08:13 for them now, do you think? Can they take stock after the Europe exit?
08:17 Yeah, I'd say so. I'd say it's a perfect time to have a break, especially now that they're
08:23 out of Europe, they can really focus on the rest of the Premier League season. And yeah,
08:30 just get a chance to just to see where they're at. And as I said earlier, just the likes
08:35 of Jal Pedro hopefully coming back will be a huge boost for Brighton.
08:41 He's key, isn't he? He's key to their running.
08:43 Yeah, he's got 19 goals so far this season and he was so good in the Europa League matches
08:48 as well and missing him and the likes of Karam Atoma as well. And Fiso still isn't, you know,
08:54 he's not fully firing either as yet. So, they're three big attacking players for Brighton.
09:00 And I know we were speaking just before the podcast about Ansu Fati as well. He's struggled
09:08 really on loan. He came from Barcelona with high expectations in his loan period and he's
09:14 had a tough time. He physically doesn't look up to the Premier League and you just hope
09:19 that he can just show some of his class in the final stages and try and make a success
09:25 of his loan as much as possible. So, yeah, there's still a lot to play for, but they
09:31 need a little break and then come back refreshed and then really go for it hopefully.
09:35 Yeah, absolutely. And Sam, you were quite excited. I remember you getting quite excited
09:39 when Fati, they signed Fati. You couldn't quite believe it. Has he been a bit of a disappointment
09:42 to you?
09:43 Yeah, you've got to say he has really. I think, as you say, for the excitement and the kind
09:49 of the shock that was just around the whole of football when he did sign for Brighton.
09:53 No one could really believe that they'd managed to pull it off really. You'd probably expect
09:58 more from him performance wise. I think we've seen glimpses, obviously in the Europa League,
10:03 where he got a couple of goals against Ajax. I think he scored a consolation goal against
10:07 Manchester City and a couple of other goals here and there. But he's not pulled up many
10:13 trees, really. Obviously, he had that long injury break, which came at a bad time. He
10:18 was just starting to find a little bit of form at the time, a couple of goals and then
10:21 he had his injury. And since returning, he's really, really not been at it. I think he
10:26 showed glimpses when he came on last night. He nearly scored a screamer from about 20
10:30 yards out that forced him into a great save. And it was one at a moment at the byline where
10:34 he kind of slipped over, but he managed to keep the move going. So a couple of moments,
10:39 but that's all it's really been with Fati, really. You've not seen anything consistent
10:44 and any kind of world-class moments that kind of get you off your chairs, really. But it's
10:50 a frustrating one. And time is obviously running out for him to make a big impact. And hopefully
10:57 he can do that in the final Premier League games. Obviously, Brighton have got a lot
11:01 to play for. We're trying to get into Europe and they can also have a huge say in who eventually
11:05 wins the title as well, because they've got to play Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester
11:09 before the end of the season. So similar to last year, they could have a really big say
11:13 in how the title race goes. And just hopefully we start to see the best of Antti Fati. And
11:19 I suppose it makes it more frustrating, more noticeable when there's so many other key
11:23 players out. When you've got your Jaap Heijer and Kerwin Sooms out, you're relying on your
11:28 Antti Fati to really step up. And he probably hasn't done as much as we would have liked
11:33 to have seen him.
11:34 Yeah, cool. Right, enough boring Premier League chat. Let's talk about League Two. So we're
11:39 going to take a quick break and then after the break, Deren's going to take the reins
11:42 as the chairperson and me and Sam are going to talk about Crawley.
11:47 OK, Crawley Town have their League Two playoffs firmly within their sights after a pair of
11:54 fine 2-1 victories last week, starting away at Harrogate Town on Saturday. That was a
11:59 good performance, wasn't it, Mark? Sum that up.
12:02 Yeah, it was. It was a funny one because they started off brilliantly and then on 20 minutes,
12:07 Dion Conroy, one of their more experienced players and captain on the day, went down
12:13 injured. Joey Mckayner came on, who hasn't had many starts this year. He's played in
12:17 the EFL trophy, came on a couple of sub performances, but he came on and then they just looked a
12:23 little bit tentative after that. For about 10 minutes, they conceded the goal and they
12:27 went in and towards the end of the first half, they played really well and could have had
12:31 a couple of chances. The Harrogate keeper, I think his name's James Balshaw, he was making
12:36 his 200th appearance, pulled off a couple of brilliant saves, one from Harry Forster
12:40 and one from Clydie Lollos. And it sort of gave Crawley a bit of a boost. The second
12:44 half, there was only one team in it. Crawley were brilliant. And yeah, Forster scored first
12:48 with a header from close range after a really good build-up and then Clydie Lollos, we're
12:51 going to talk about him a little bit more later, scored an absolute brilliant goal.
12:57 It was the kind of goal, I think me and Sam discussed it, the kind of goal if like Messi
13:00 scores it, it's the greatest goal ever scored kind of thing. But reminiscent of Delhi Allies
13:05 against Crystal Palace a few years ago for Tottenham, where they chessed it, went on
13:09 the edge of the area, volleyed it home kind of thing. It was a really good goal. And yeah,
13:14 they thoroughly deserve the win. And yeah, second half, they just seemed to play much
13:18 better. Kellen Gordon on the right was absolutely brilliant. And I'm sure Sam will mention him
13:22 again when we talk about the Notts County win. But Kellen Gordon's been great in the
13:26 last two games and been a real pivotal figure in setting up the two wins. But yeah, no,
13:32 really good winner, Harrogate. And yeah, it set them up nicely for Notts County.
13:36 Yeah, good stuff. Good stuff. And so, yeah, they are within two points now at the playoffs
13:42 against the Reds today. So come from behind victory at Notts County on Tuesday. Sam, how
13:48 impressed were you by Crawley and their sort of never say die attitude on the night?
13:53 I can't speak highly enough of the performance from Crawley against Notts County. Really,
13:57 it was in all the years I've been covering Crawley, it was right up there as one of the
14:01 best and the most exciting I've seen. Right from the off, Crawley were on the front foot
14:07 trying to take the lead. And it was really against the run of play when Notts County
14:14 went 1-0 up in the first half. And you felt that Crawley did not deserve to be behind
14:19 at half time. And Marcus just mentioned Kellen Gordon was incredible, really. I think I lost
14:24 count of how many crosses he put into the box and even had a couple of shots on goal
14:28 as well. And I think the Notts County players didn't seem to be picking them up. They seemed
14:31 to have so much space on that right flank. You could just see him show so much frustration
14:37 that after one of his many crosses, he turned around and he threw his arms out and said,
14:41 "How many crosses do I need to put in before they score?" kind of thing. I think Danilo
14:46 Walsey had a bit of an off night and he could have connected with a couple of crosses. I
14:50 think any one of the players in the Crawley show could have connected with a Kellen Gordon
14:53 cross, which is so perfectly weighted almost every time. And yes, it was a real kind of
15:00 sense of frustration. They weren't leading at half time or at least drawing, but they
15:05 responded so well. And they did have to wait a little while to get that equaliser. But
15:10 it was Clydie Lollos who had a bit of a quiet first half that came to life in the second.
15:15 And it was a classy finish from Harry Forster past the level of the scoring. And that did
15:20 come not long after a red card, I should mention, for Notts County, which was the key turning
15:26 point, you would say. But it was more than deserved to get that leveller. And then it
15:31 was Adi Adeyemo that fired a winner a few minutes later that you just knew, you just
15:37 felt it was coming. You felt after the equaliser there's only going to be one winner. And it
15:40 was brilliant to see Adeyemo. It was such an accurate finish from a short corner routine.
15:45 And it was his first goal in professional football as well. And we spoke to him after
15:48 the game and he couldn't hide his smile really, just how excited he was to get that goal.
15:52 And it's such a huge moment and such a huge win. And yeah, as I say, it was a brilliant
15:57 game. Really, really enjoyed it. And the win eventually was the least I deserved, I think.
16:03 Yeah, absolutely. Great performance. Yeah.
16:05 Yeah, no, it's been good to see that they're doing so well. But the big question now, Mark,
16:11 I guess, is, you know, can they get to Wembley? And what's the feeling around the camp? And
16:16 how many more wins do you think they need to sort of guarantee that playoff spot?
16:20 Well, the quick answer is yes, they can get to Wembley, I think. But yeah, they've got
16:25 so it's 10 games left now. They started that run against Stockport at home on Monday. Obviously
16:31 not going to be easy because Stockport are title chasing along with Mansfield and Wrexham.
16:37 But Stockport are having a bit of a dodgy run at the moment. I think they've only won
16:41 one in their last six. So it's a good chance to play. And they played last night against
16:45 Stockport, Salford, sorry, and Drew. So yeah, it's a good chance to play. And they've got
16:50 now travelled down to Crawley on Sunday for the game on Monday. And then but then Crawley,
16:55 they've got a tough little run where they've got Tranmere away, Newport away, Mansfield
17:01 away and Wrexham away all within sort of two or three weeks of each other. In the middle
17:06 of that is Doncaster at home on Good Friday. But if they can get through that and pick
17:11 up a couple of wins, their last four games are actually quite generous on paper. I mean,
17:16 nothing's ever easy. But so I mean, they're two points off the playoffs at the moment
17:21 with two games in hand. If they can pick up five or six wins from those last 10 games,
17:28 they can win half the last games. I think six wins would take them to 73 points. And
17:32 if they can get a couple of draws, that'll be more than enough. And I spoke to Scott
17:37 Lindsay yesterday and I tweeted a video clip of it of the press conference yesterday this
17:41 morning where he basically said he would back his team against anyone over two legs and
17:47 he would back his team against anyone at Wembley because of the playing service and the nature
17:52 they play. So it's funny. I sort of said to him, I said, I've interviewed lots of managers
17:56 over the years. Like when you talk when Littlehampton were going to FA Vars final. I won't mention
18:05 his name, but a former Crawley Town manager when they're about to play Leeds and that.
18:09 He sort of start talking to him. Oh, you're at a play is not, oh, they're not allowed
18:12 to talk about that game because we've got another game ahead of it kind of thing. And
18:17 yeah, they just don't like to talk. I don't want to see as the distraction. Scott Lindsay
18:21 is actively encouraging talking about going to Wembley because he wants the players to
18:24 believe they can get there. And it was really interesting here and talking about that. And
18:30 there is a confidence there and that look at the form table. They are way above everyone
18:34 else. Last six games, one five lost one. I think everyone else is like one, two drawn
18:39 to lost two. And there's yeah, they he talks a lot about it's about who holds their nerves
18:44 now and Crawley seem to be the ones even when they last two games, they've gone behind.
18:48 They've been one nil down a half time and they've won both games. There's a lot. There's
18:52 a lot. Yeah. A lot of confidence in that side. And I think, yeah, five or six wins could
18:57 do it. But the way the other teams are playing at the moment and dropping points less than
19:01 that could be enough for Crawley.
19:03 Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I like it. I like it when managers do that as well, rather
19:07 than just, you know, say, oh, you know, it's one game at a time. I like it when we're going
19:12 for it.
19:13 He's been such a breath of fresh air this year. Scott Lindsay, he just doesn't. He's
19:17 got a great job. Yeah, he does. Yeah. He's done a great job and he doesn't hold back
19:21 in his press conferences. He says what he's thinking. He does that stuff. He holds back,
19:25 obviously, because he doesn't want to give away too much to the opposition's and that.
19:28 But he yeah. No, he's been an absolute breath of fresh air.
19:32 Good, good. And one player on the pitch who's enjoyed a fabulous week is Klaydi Lalos. The
19:38 striker netted in both of the Reds wins this week, taking his tally to eight for the season
19:42 in all competitions. How impressed have you been with him, Sam, since his summer switch
19:47 from Oxford City?
19:50 Really impressed, actually. I think I've seen him a number of times and he's always stood
19:54 out as being one of the most technically gifted players in the team. He just looks like he
19:58 makes something happen out of nowhere, which is vital to have in this league, really. If
20:04 a game's a little bit cagey, you just know that he might be able to put a moment of magic
20:08 as we saw against Harrogate. It was a superb, superb goal. And his one against Notts County
20:14 was brilliant as well, which is such a kind of a casual, outside the boot finish after
20:18 being played in. And yeah, he's just such a classy player, really. And he doesn't look
20:24 like a League Two player. He definitely could play in a higher division, I think. And hopefully
20:29 we'll do that for Crawley next season if they do get promoted. But yeah, he's been one of
20:34 the standout players, absolutely. And one of the main reasons why Crawley are doing
20:40 as well. And he links up really well with the other forwards as well. He has a good
20:44 kind of working relationship with Danilo Orsi. And it's great to see them working off each
20:49 other with Adam Campbell next to them as well. And I think it's just such an exciting attacking
20:54 line-up that Crawley have got now. And that seems to be why they can score more goals.
20:59 And they definitely have improved defensively. And Corey O'Day has been fantastic lately.
21:03 So everything seems to just fall into place nicely at the same time for Crawley, which
21:08 is great to see.
21:09 Good, good, good, good. Yeah. And the Reds are without a game this weekend. Instead, they'll
21:15 be welcoming Stockport to the Broadfield Stadium on Monday evening. Can you tell us a little
21:19 bit about why Crawley won't be kicking a ball this weekend, Mark? And how do you see the
21:23 one on Monday night going against against Stockport?
21:25 Yeah, I sort of referenced that earlier. Yeah, because the Stockport game against Salford
21:31 last night was picked for TV, basically, and it was moved to last night. Yeah, they obviously
21:37 can't play against Saturday. I think I understand Stockport wanted to play Sunday, but Brighton
21:42 women play at Crawley, so they couldn't play on the Sunday. So yeah, it goes to Monday.
21:46 And actually, Scott Lindsay said yesterday it works. This whole fixture change for Stockport
21:51 might have been on TV and that, but it works in Crawley's advantage. Stockport played Thursday
21:55 night, got to travel down to Crawley on Sunday for them, are ready for the Monday game and
22:00 that. So it's everything. And Crawley have had a rest since Tuesday. It'll be nearly
22:04 a week since they played. So it all works in their favour. So I mean, the way Crawley
22:08 are playing, it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, I don't think it would be a shock if they
22:12 beat Stockport as well, although Stockport, I think they're still third in the division.
22:15 Oh, they went up to second last night with their draw. I don't see it as a shock if Crawley
22:22 win. I think they're more than capable of beating them. They drew three all earlier
22:26 in the season thereafter. They were two nil down. Crawley went three, two up and then
22:30 Stockport got a late equaliser. So then, yeah, more than capable of winning that game on
22:35 Monday.
22:36 Good stuff. Good stuff. And just some score predictions then. How do you see the Crawley
22:41 versus Stockport, Sam? Obviously, Mark was saying they've got a great chance, haven't
22:46 they?
22:47 Yeah, they really have got a great chance. You mentioned they've only got one win in
22:49 the last six games, Stockport. And they've got games in hand to go top of the league,
22:55 actually. So their form before that was brilliant. So you know that they could cause some problems
23:01 for Crawley. But I think this will be a draw. I'm going to go with a one all draw, which
23:06 I think would be a good result for Crawley.
23:08 Yeah. Yeah. Do you think...
23:10 I think one all is a good result for Stockport, I think.
23:13 Yeah, I was going to say. Yeah.
23:16 Do you think they'll go better, do you, Mark? Do you think they'll go better?
23:20 I can see the third, two, one on the bounce kind of thing. And you can probably see them
23:24 going behind again, but fighting back. I mean, I think there was a sort of a little bit of
23:29 disappointment with how many fans were there on Tuesday night, because I think it was two
23:32 and a half thousand. But I think they were expecting a bit more for such a big team like
23:35 Notts County to come and visit. So yeah, but I think if they can get a bit more there,
23:41 Monday night, it'd be like Monday night football. I mean, I know Carragher and Neville won't
23:45 be there. I think, yeah, if they can get the fans there, I mean, it'll be... the place
23:50 will be pumping if Crawley can get an early goal and really put Stockport under pressure,
23:54 I think they can win.
23:55 You think they can win. Yeah. Good stuff. Good stuff. And just quickly, Sam, you've
23:59 had a lucky, lucky sort of role of being able to cover Brighton and Crawley this season.
24:05 How have you enjoyed both of the experiences? Because obviously Brighton have been going
24:09 well in Europe, apart from last night, and Crawley are going as well. They've got lots
24:15 to play for as well.
24:16 Yeah, it's a journalist's dream, really. It's really great to cover both teams at the kind
24:22 of the high points, really. Obviously, we saw the best of Brighton last season in what
24:26 was an historic season to get to Europe. And now this season, obviously, I had the opportunity
24:31 to go up to Amsterdam and to Rome as well, which has been two incredible experiences,
24:37 really. And even to watch them at home against these teams, it's been brilliant and really
24:42 surreal, really, to see Brighton competing against European's best clubs. And obviously
24:47 in the league as well, they have struggled to kind of find that consistency with the
24:51 injuries they've had. So it's been a real interesting season to cover for Brighton.
24:56 And obviously Roberto Di Serbi has remained kind of so stubborn all the way through, isn't
25:03 he? With his tactics and everything. And it's been interesting to see how he deals with
25:07 the situations that come at him. But I think they've done a brilliant job, really, in the
25:11 circumstances to do as well as they've done with the amount of players out. I think Di
25:15 Serbi said last night, actually, you mentioned the Roma players that weren't playing last
25:19 night. But imagine if you didn't have them for months on end, like we've not had our
25:23 best players kind of thing, which I think was a really good point and just summed up
25:27 the situation at Brighton are in. And yeah, as you mentioned, with Crawley Town, it's
25:30 been brilliant to cover them. Scott Lindsay's got them playing the best football that I've
25:34 seen them play ever, really. It's been so exciting to watch. And I never thought we'd
25:40 be saying last season when they were on the brink of relegation, that a year later they'd
25:44 be potentially going to Wembley for a playoff final, if all goes well. So very exciting
25:50 times for Crawley. And they're great to see. I think it's two clubs that are on the up,
25:56 Brighton and Crawley, absolutely.
25:57 Yeah, in Sussex. Great to see them. Good stuff. Well, you can catch up with all the latest
26:02 sports news covering everything we've talked about today at sussexworld.co.uk. And you
26:07 can watch more excellent videos on shotsdv.com and Freeview channel 276. Thanks for joining us.