[Archived] Match Report: Brighton 1 - 0 Blackburn Rovers

[Kamy100]

Parsonblue's match report from yesterday's game at Brighton:

Saturday 22^nd August 2015 – Football League Championship

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 v 0 Blackburn Rovers

Brighton & Hove Albion (1) 1

LuaLua 35

David Stockdale; Bruno Saltor, Gordon Greer, Uwe Hyuenemeier, Gaetan Bong; Jamie Murphy (Solly March 78), Dale Stephens, Beram Kayal, Kazenga LuaLua; Sam Baldock (Rohan Ince 84), Tomer Hemed (Chris O’Grady 88).

Subs not used: Niki Maenpaa (gk); Lewis Dunk, Jake Forster-Caskey, Liam Rosenior.

Manager: Chris Hughton

Blackburn Rovers (0) 0

David Raya; Ben Marshall, Grant Hanley, Shane Duffy, Tommy Spurr; Craig Conway, Danny Guthrie, Hope Akpan, Tom Lawrence (Matt Kilgallon 83); Nathan Delfouneso, Fodé Koita (Modou Barrow 69).

Subs not used: Jason Steele (gk), Marcus Olsson, Lee Williamson, Corry Evans.

Manager: Gary Bowyer

Referee: Mr. A. Madley (West Yorkshire)

Bookings: Brighton & Hove Albion – Gordon Greer, Beram Kayal, Uwe Huenemeier, Kazenga LuaLua

Blackburn Rovers – Shane Duffy, Ben Marshall, Danny Guthrie

Attendance: 22,659

The one element that any manager, player or club ultimately needs to be successful is one that cannot be bought in the transfer market or honed on the training ground. Luck, as the saying goes is a “fickle mistress” and certainly one who seems to have turned her back on Blackburn Rovers this season. Ultimately, a deflected goal was the difference between a Brighton side who now find themselves joint top of the Championship and the Rovers who are now third from bottom.

The team that started at The American Express Stadium, contained five of the summer arrivals – of which four were freebies and one a loanee – with another loanee on the bench. At a time when our near neighbours can spend £9 million on a relatively unproven Championship striker it merely underlines the impact which FFP is now having upon the club.

Two points from a possible twelve is not a crisis, certainly not in August, but it is a start we could have done without and one which needs to change and change quickly. There is no doubt that Gary Bowyer’s hands have been handcuffed by FFP over the summer but the bottom line is that this club cannot afford to drop out of the Championship like Wigan Athletic and Blackpool. Whilst promotion may never have been a realistic target for this season there is no question that relegation is unthinkable. Bowyer, whilst relatively new to management, has been in the game long enough to know that it is a results driven business. Ditching the high earners and revamping the squad whilst in the comfort of mid-table is one thing but slipping into a relegation dogfight is something completely different and the pressure will ultimately build on the manager as with the rumours that circulated after this game.

With Jason Lowe and Adam Henley being ruled out by illness and Jordan Rhodes still on the injured list Bowyer was again forced to reshuffle his resources for this game. Ben Marshall dropped to right-back which allowed Tom Lawrence to make his debut on the left of midfield. Tommy Spurr retained his place at left-back and Bowyer kept faith with young David Raya in goal. Once again he went with a two man strike force in Fodé Koita and Nathan Delfouneso. However, with the sudden withdrawal of Henley and Lowe the Rovers only had enough available players to have six men on the bench. In the past Bowyer has always taken a couple of the kids to away games for experience and it seems strange that on this occasion, when they might actually have been needed, we were left short-handed.

The kick-off was delayed due to the tragic events surrounding the nearby air show – events which put the result of a football match in true perspective and render it meaningless.

When the game began the Rovers started brightly and within the first minute Koite worked the ball out wide and from Marshall’s cross the ball was eventually cleared for a goal kick.

A couple of minutes later Koite was in the thick of the action again when he took a long ball from Grant Hanley and moved into the right channel before cutting inside, beating a couple of defenders and then blasting a fierce shot which David Stockdale did well to hold.

The home side struggled to make any meaningful progress in this opening period as the Rovers dominated possession and took the game to the opposition.

Delfouneso and Koite combined to get the ball out to Lawrence who, in turn, found Craig Conway whose shot on goal was deflected by a defender just past the post. From the resultant corner there was a scramble in the goalmouth which ended when Stockdale collected a header from Koita.

The Rovers came again when Hope Akpan slipped the ball to Danny Guthrie and he hit a defence splitting pass which enabled Conway to get behind the defence and face Stockdale in a one-on-one situation. Conway shot hard and low and the ‘keeper saved with his legs.

It wasn’t until the twenty-sixth minute that Brighton mustered an attack that carried any real threat and this ended with Dale Stephen skipped past a defender and then fired wide.

Koita was brought down on the edge of the area but nothing was given whist at the other end Raya had to be on his toes to race out to dive at the feet of Tomer Hemed.

Brighton finally started to exert a little pressure and Shane Duffy was forced to head clear but the Rovers were still a threat and on one break Conway was again able to cut inside and hit a decent shot which Stockdale held.

However, despite all the pressing and making all the running it was the Rovers who fell behind after thirty-five minutes. Whilst there was more than a touch of good fortune about the goal there was also, once again, some slack defending on view.

Stephens mishit a pass Sam Baldrock which completely took Hanley and Duffy out of the equation, he then rolled it across the edge of the area for Kazenga LuaLua, who had totally evaded the clutches of Marshall. The Brighton man ran onto the ball and struck a fierce shot which seemed to be covered by Raya. However, Hanley had raced into the area and threw himself to try to block the shot only to see the ball deflect off him and away from Raya and into the back of the net.

The Rovers began the second-half on the front foot and Marshall almost caught out Stockdale with a long range effort which just flew over the bar.

However, Brighton looked a far more positive outfit after the break and Hemed in particular began to find gaps to exploit in and around the penalty area. A corner to the near post was just headed wide by Hemed as, once again, he escaped his marker.

However, on fifty-two minutes the Rovers had a glorious chance to pull level when Koita showed an adroit piece of footwork to play in Delfouneso on the left of the penalty area. The former Villa man found himself on a one-on-one situation with Stockdale and tried to beat the keeper by hitting a low shot between the ‘keeper’s legs. However, Stockdale, who was quick to come out and meet Delfouneso and blocked the shot with his legs.

Within a minute Raya was called upon to make a spectacular one-handed save when LuaLua found Hemed with a cross and his clever flick seemed goal bound until Raya leapt to get fingertips to the ball. However, Brighton kept the ball alive and when the it was played back into the box Stephens found himself in space to shoot for goal but, once again, Raya pulled off a superb save.

The game began to open up and the chances came thick and fast as both sides looked to attack at every opportunity. The lively Hemed sent another effort over the bar with a spectacular overhead kick whilst on sixty-one minutes Duffy met Conway’s corner and saw his powerful header cleared of the line by Jamie Murphy.

Seven minutes later and again it was Hemed who caused problems for the Rovers with a neat turn and shot which flew just over the bar.

Bowyer made a switch with Barrow coming on to replace Koita who had started to tire in the unrelenting heat. However, the Rovers were unable to make use of the Swansea man’s speed and struggled to find him with the right quality of pass.

Whilst Akpan continued to drive the midfield forward, Guthrie started to show signs of tiring and for the last ten minutes of so, Bowyer changed the tactics by pushing Duffy up front and playing more long balls to the head of the former Everton man. To keep the balance of the team, Matt Kilgallon came on to replace Lawrence and Marshall moved further forward.

Right at the end the Rovers might well have snatched a well-deserved equaliser when Conway’s cross was met by Duffy but his header just flashed over the bar.

Whilst the performance had been encouraging it was another disappointing result for the Rovers. On the positive side, David Raya again showed impressive form to reinforce his claim to be the number one ‘keeper at the club. His handling was safe throughout and his natural athleticism enabled him to make a couple of truly outstanding saves.

Hope Akpan again impressed in midfield with a tireless display. On an incredibly hot afternoon he never stopped working and covered every blade of grass in the middle of the park. Danny Guthrie was less impressive despite one or two intelligent balls which opened up the home defence. However, he tired in the second half and struggled to maintain his first half performance.

Up front Nathan Delfouneso and Fodé Koita worked incredibly hard and appear to be developing a good understanding. Both are starting to look fitter and complement each other well.

Whilst there is no doubt that the Rovers aren’t enjoying the best of luck at the moment the fact remains that a win is badly needed for the sake of everyone at the club. As it is the pressure is building on the manager and the post-match rumours of his sacking, later withdrawn, do nothing to help morale within the camp. These are definitely challenging times for all concerned at Ewood Park.

[K-Hod]

I'll grab some popcorn and wait for the reaction to this one!

Those first few paragraphs will go down like a pork pie at a bar mitzvah with a lot of the frequent fliers!

[chaddyrovers]

Thanks ParsonBlue for the report

[DE.]

I'll grab some popcorn and wait for the reaction to this one!

Those first few paragraphs will go down like a pork pie at a bar mitzvah with a lot of the frequent fliers!

Pretty sure Parson's doing it on purpose at this point

[ABBEY]

Gone from match report to a parody

[Boner]

Thanks, Parson.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Thanks Parson - did we play a higher line - or is our pace up front pushing teams back a bit ?

Also - Duffy/Hanley - is the partnership showing further signs of improvement (thought last home match they were a lot better - though still occasional lapses)

[Tom]

Thanks for the insight as always Parson

These are always laced with optimism but for me the first four paragraphs takes that a little too far.

We've had some good fortune as well as bad this season.

[tomphil]

I'm really struggling to think of any good fortune so far, although they do say fortune favours the brave. Hopefully it will arrive on Friday night and we can put that lot from Manc land to the sword.

[Amo]

Blackburn Rovers (0) 0

Defouneso 60

You what, mate?

[47er]

Gone from match report to a parody

An apologia. Beyond belief.

Thanks for the insight as always Parson

These are always laced with optimism but for me the first four paragraphs takes that a little too far.

We've had some good fortune as well as bad this season.

Those first 4 paras are editorial.

[ABBEY]

Brighton & Hove Albion (1) 1

LuaLua 35

David Stockdale; Bruno Saltor, Gordon Greer, Uwe Hyuenemeier, Gaetan Bong; Jamie Murphy (Solly March 78), Dale Stephens, Beram Kayal, Kazenga LuaLua; Sam Baldock (Rohan Ince 84), Tomer Hemed (Chris O’Grady 88).

Subs not used: Niki Maenpaa (gk); Lewis Dunk, Jake Forster-Caskey, Liam Rosenior.

Manager: Chris Hughton

Blackburn Rovers (0) 0

Defouneso 60

David Raya; Ben Marshall, Grant Hanley, Shane Duffy, Tommy Spurr; Craig Conway, Danny Guthrie, Hope Akpan, Tom Lawrence (Matt Kilgallon 83); Nathan Delfouneso, Fodé Koita (Modou Barrow 69).

Subs not used: Jason Steele (gk), Marcus Olsson, Lee Williamson, Corry Evans.

Manager: Gary Bowyer

talk about biased.

edit...just seen toppers post ha

[Parsonblue]

Apologies for the Delfouneso error. I use a template for the teams and goalscorers section of the reports and simply change that from match to match. I'm afraid that 13 and half hours of travelling yesterday caught up with me today and hence the lateness of the report and the error. Again, apologies.

[Tom]

I'm really struggling to think of any good fortune so far, although they do say fortune favours the brave. Hopefully it will arrive on Friday night and we can put that lot from Manc land to the sword.

The first goal this season for us was one of the luckiest you will ever see, later in the same match there was a blatant penalty ruled as a dive.

We've had plenty of bad luck but some good luck in there as well.

[Amo]

Apologies for the Delfouneso error. I use a template for the teams and goalscorers section of the reports and simply change that from match to match. I'm afraid that 13 and half hours of travelling yesterday caught up with me today and hence the lateness of the report and the error. Again, apologies.

Ha, no worries. Figured it was something like that.

[tomphil]

The first goal this season for us was one of the luckiest you will ever see, later in the same match there was a blatant penalty ruled as a dive.

We've had plenty of bad luck but some good luck in there as well.

Forgot about the pen but we lost the game anyway so doubt it would have made a world of difference. Yes the goal was a bit fortunate but Rhodes was on hand ready to tap it away anyway

[chaddyrovers]

Players rating from the LT

http://m.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/13621400.PLAYER_RATINGS__Brighton___Hove_Albion_1_Blackburn_Rovers_0/

[Kamy100]

Apologies for the Delfouneso error. I use a template for the teams and goalscorers section of the reports and simply change that from match to match. I'm afraid that 13 and half hours of travelling yesterday caught up with me today and hence the lateness of the report and the error. Again, apologies.

No need to apologise parson. Also my fault for not checking fully before hitting the publish button. Have corrected it now.

[Rover_Shaun]

Another good match report once you got past the unncecessary opinion piece.