Brighton v Barnsley: Match Report

Brighton are a class act in the Championship. They made the play-offs last season and have strengthened their team over the summer, including ex Premiership striker Glenn Murray on loan to Brighton for the season from Bournmouth. They have gates well over 25,000 and a manager hugely experienced at this level. The day got off to a bad start. I couldn’t find my lucky red socks when I set off at 8:00 a.m.

As early as the 2nd minute Glenn Murray was finding the gaps between our defenders and receiving short quick passes from midfield. He broke through on the Barnsley left after only 3 minutes and Davies managed to get in the way of his shot rather than save it.

Brighton seemed to be dominating the early exchanges and seemed to be targeting Barnsley’s defensive weaknesses. Whenever Davies received a back pass, a Brighton forward would quickly close him down. On two occasions in the first half he was lucky that kicks charged down bounced out for goal kicks, rather than into the goal.

Many of Brighton’s attacks came down their right. Kpekawa struggled in the first half against Knockaert (who was the target of several Premiership Clubs during the transfer window) and was quite often outnumbered when the Brighton right back joined attacks. Defending isn’t Hammill’s strong suite and whilst he always tracked back he rarely managed to get a tackle in.

On a rare Barnsley attack, on the 14 minute Brighton broke quickly in numbers feeding the ball out to their right wing. Roberts, sprinting back, chased the ball rather than covering the centre. A deft turn from Knockaert took three defenders out of the game and his pass into the middle saw Barnsley defenders outnumbered. A slick passing move and Murray finished coolly from around 8 yards.

Murray missed an easier chance on 22 minutes when he put a simple chance wide. He was simply too clever in his positional play for Barnsley’s centre halves.

Several times Knockaert had the Barnsley defence on toast with great wing play. I was amused to see Hammill go over to him and high-five him after one particular piece of skill. But the reality of the game is that Barnsley weren’t at the races as an attacking force. Hammill’s opponent was always quick enough to stay with him and on the other wing Watkins never really produced much. Winnall was a peripheral figure, never having the pace to go past players or the strength to hold the ball up against powerful centre backs. He spent a lot of the game on the floor appealing for free kicks. We were restricted to a few long range shots that never looked like going in.

A header from a well-worked free kick on 36 minutes was the closest we got. By contrast Brighton always looked dangerous when attacking and I went for a coffee at half time pleased we were only 1-0 down.

That quickly changed at the start of the second half. A simple free kick and Murray’s ability to find space gave him a headed goal. It was game over.

Brighton’s midfield were too strong for Scowen and Hourihane. It looked like men against the under 14s with Scowen scampering about, but Dale Stephens always easing him off the ball. Brighton’s midfield were more technically gifted. They always found a man when under pressure and seemed well in control of the game.

Barnsley made their substitutions, but the pattern of the game didn’t really change all that much, though Kent brought a real injection of pace down the right when he came on.

A plus for me in the second half was Kpekawa’s play against Knockaert. He got much closer to him in the second half, making his tackles as the winger received the pass, rather than letting him run at him. Though he took a booking for one tackle when he dumped him almost into the crowd, I think our new defender may be a quick learner. He has pace and strength.

Late on, a remarkable header (possibly from Sam Winnall) nearly crept in and Barnsley’s best passing move of the game resulted in a shot from Scowen that the Brighton goalkeeper saved brilliantly. It was too little, too late though.

We were well beaten by a better side. Good-luck to Brighton, I think they’ll be in the play-offs again.

When the public address system announced the number of Barnsley fans at the game (well over 700) the Brighton fans around me stood up and applauded our travelling faithful.

Barnsley were outplayed by a better team. Our defensive weaknesses were exposed by a Premiership striker who was always streets ahead of Roberts and MacDonald. Our forwards were too isolated and not powerful or quick enough against Brighton’s defence. I also thought we were tactically out-thought by Brighton, who always had more men in the critical areas of the field at critical times. But we’re a young team with very limited experience at this level. We’ll get over it and go again.

So what really went wrong? I couldn’t find my lucky red socks. Sorry lads. But we’re Barnsley fans and we’re looking forward to the Villa game. I’ve found my lucky socks and I’ll be wearing them on Tuesday night.