Match Reports
07/11/09
Crawley 1's 1-0 Men's 2nd XI
Brighton & Hove Men's 2nd XI are turning into the Guy Fawkes of the hockey world. They take time to plan and get into position, but when it comes to the last step, they get caught in possession and fail to cause the final explosion. This was again the story in a home match against Crawley 1's when they fell to a 1-0 defeat, their first home defeat of the season. Despite some good possession, in the final third Brighton lacked a spark and could only force the Crawley keeper into one routine save.
Brighton started with an enlarged squad of 14, Kenny Rogers added to the 13 on duty last week. The bench looked very strong, with Captain Oli Postlethwaite, Vice-captain Luke Williams and super-fit Andy Wheeler on the side. It was their strongest bench of the season, but alas, it meant it was not their best starting eleven. Also on the side were "Weekday Coach" Neil Burlinson and "Matchday Manager" Jamie Hendrix, who continues to battle back from his various injury problems. With Williams "Weekend Coach", some may have suggested there were Three Wise Men on the side of the pitch. However, it was more like Compo, Clegg and Foggy as they could sit and compare notes on their range of ailments. Hendrix took it one step further by turning up dressed like Compo, although rumours he likes to chase after Nora Batty-esque women have yet to be confirmed.
The game got under way with Crawley happy to chuck aerials at Brighton, whilst Dan Hacking was happy to chuck aerials back or smash the ball as hard as possible towards the forwards. Neel "Cafu" Sharma has already got two goals from his attacking right-back spot and has stated he wants to be top scorer this season. He certainly played like a Brazilian right-back by bombing forward but he seemed to take the football analogy a bit too far when he thought Brighton were playing the offside trap. That can be the only reason why every time his forward ran behind him in anticipation of an aerial, he stood still and let the ball sail over his head.
Crawley were quick to get 10 men behind the ball and Brighton were finding it tough to break them down. The away side always looked dangerous on the break and from one such foray, a ball was played across from the right and the ball was deflected goalwards. Goalkeeper Phil Orriss was on his way down but extended his left arm up to make a great save. The ball was floating wide when a Crawley player did his best Andre Agassi impression with an overhead smash. That was not the only Agassi impression in the game, as when you look at Dermot Cameron you cannot help but think Agassi is not the only one to have dabbled with psychosis-inducing drugs. Anyway, the umpire harshly penalised Orriss for a lifted ball and awarded Crawley their first short corner. The drag flick beat Orriss low to his right but Sharma was on hand to clear it off the line. At their next short corner, Crawley tried to slip it to their left but Brighton had changed their defence to close this option down. Some might say this was because of a clever reading of the game, but actually resulted from them overhearing the Crawley bench telling their captain to slip it left.
Brighton won their first corner and Elliott Smith's strike was straight down the middle and forced a routine save. Simon Acott was left kicking his heels on the edge of the D after his drag-flicking skills were overlooked. Some said he went red with anger, but that was just his hair.
Hacking decided Orriss needed a bit more work and decided to pass the ball straight to the opposition forward. This saw Crawley have a two-on-one with the keeper and the ball carrier charged down the right before crossing to his team mate for what seemed a certain goal. The Crawley player made a good connection and it was destined for the top corner. However, Orriss produced an amazing save, diving to his right and somehow getting his stick up to the top corner to make the save. The stop will not be bettered this year and marks an impressive turnaround for the Brighton keeper, who at the start of the season set out to give away more penalties than an over-active traffic warden but was now showing how good he can be.
From another Crawley attack Williams had to sprint back and make a diving clearance off the line before falling into the net. Sadly this was to be the only time Brighton got anything into the goal all afternoon.
The second half continued in much the same vain as the first, with Brighton having some good possession but never looking creative. Rogers was moved to the right of midfield and at times looked dangerous but the one time he found himself in a position to shoot, the umpire blew up against him for a foot. Unless he has giant clown feet, the ball was nowhere near him. However, perhaps it was payback for the first half when it looked as if he had deliberately aimed a free-hit at a Crawley player. One of the Crawley subs got very upset but he should have known it was not deliberate as at the moment Brighton never hit the target. Matt Banister has been nicknamed "Scar" for a sinister look reminiscence of the villain from Lion King but no-one could come up with any devious plots, instead some of the play looking like it was orchestrated by Timon and Pumbaa.
At the other end Orriss made a couple more decent stops and Hacking made it three goal line clearances when Williams was caught in possession and Hacking plucked the ball out of the air. Crawley always looked a threat but having been denied so many times, it looked like it could be Brighton's day. However, at a short corner Orriss was finally beaten. The ball ended up at the stick of Sharma and he began to run the ball out of the D. But he forgot that you need to keep the ball on your stick and instead just ran straight off, leaving the ball sitting invitingly six yards out. The Crawley forward duly obliged and dispatched the ball into the bottom corner.
Brighton needed to respond and a couple of through balls caused panic when they bounced back off the post. Alex Coyle then worked his way in the D and hit a shot that ricocheted to the back post. The goal was open and Sharma was displaying his good side as he had ghosted up the right wing to find himself a yard out with an open goal. What happened next is yet to be confirmed as for some reason the ball never found its way over the line. Discussions afterwards suggested that there may have been a stick tackle, but the umpire probably thought Sharma hardly deserved one after squandering the initial chance.
A Crawley forward was sin-binned and then as soon as he came back on, was sent-off again. It was getting chilly at Falmer so a tracksuit top was an inviting prospect. Williams must have wanted to put one on as his customary reckless tackle saw him heading off before the umpire even produced a card. To his relief, and surprise, only a green card was forthcoming. Howling Mad Dermot was not so lucky when he was dismissed for taking the ball down above his shoulder and although Brighton tried to press with only 10 men, they struggled to win the ball back.
On reflection, Crawley deserved the win as they created plenty of chances and were only denied by some excellent keeping and three goal line clearances. The home side never used the ball well enough and lacked the nous to break down a resolute Crawley side.
Next week Brighton face their toughest trip so far when they travel to unbeaten leaders Holcombe 2's. Who are they going to call? John and Edward might say Ghostbusters, but Brighton need to find some Goalbusters if they are to improve on their record of just six goals in six games.