“and Will Buckley fires home a late winner for Brighton & Hove Albion!”

It’s got a nice ring to it hasn’t it? For the third time this season, Buckley snatched the points at the death. However, unlike the victory over Nottingham Forest (and arguably the Amex opener against Doncaster!) this was a thoroughly deserved result, and comfortably our best performance on the road since the visit to Cardiff in August.

The first 45 minutes were simply fantastic. We controlled the game and dominated the play, almost as if we had a point to prove  after the alleged sex scandal that has dominated the press coverage this week. Nothing got past our defence, the midfield were fantastic, and the forward were as hard-working as ever. Admittedly, our first goal was a fluke, the wind carrying Buckley’s free kick into the far corner, but who cares? We were one nil up and deserved to be.

Of course, we were the away side, and Peterborough were always going to come at us. They did so after a 20 minute passage in the second play, and, unfortunately for us, nicked a goal out of nothing really.

But no matter. Buckley was on hand to drive home the winner, after superb work from Toby Agdestein, on as a late substitute, and sent the 2000 Albion fans on the London Road terrace absolutely wild.

We love the Amex, it’s brilliant, but there’s something about celebrating a last minute winner on a terrace behind the goal that just can’t be beaten!

Newcastle next week? Easy peasy…

The front page of the Argus newspaper today revealed the identities of the 5 Brighton and Hove Albion players along with  Bournemouth’s Steve Cook who were arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault on Thursday.

The move has been greeted with mixed reactions among Albion supporters. Some are glad that players not involved won’t be unfairly speculated about while others are concerned with the unfair attention that the arrested players will get as they are yet to be charged  for this alleged assault.

Well, sort of.

Obviously, recent events meant numbers were a little short at training today. So why not get a couple of 90’s Premiership and Chelsea Legends to help out?

Now, as much as we like Alan Navarro and Will Hoskins, we wouldn’t have any complaints if Dennis Wise and Gianfranco Zola found themselves in an Albion midfield at the weekend….

Who’s next? Tony Yeboah? Dennis Bergkamp? Perhaps that French bloke who played with his collar up for Man United who liked kicking Crystal Palace fans fancies a game, you never know….

More excellent photo’s of today’s training session with Wise and Zola can of course be found on the club’s official website. Check them out!

Albion have unveiled the following ticket news for their clash with Newcastle United. Get them while they’re hot!!

Tickets for Albion’s FA Cup fourth round tie with Newcastle United will be available online from 5pm today, and by phone on 0844 327 1901 and in person from 9am on Friday 20th January.

General matchday tickets are available to supporters with 250 loyalty points or more.

Season ticket holders have until 5pm on Monday 23rd January to secure their seat for this game.

Tickets will then be available to supporters with:

200 loyalty points or more from 5pm on Mon 23rd Jan - online only - and other methods from 9am on Tues 24th Jan.
100 loyalty points or more from 5pm on Tues 24th Jan - online only - and other methods from 9am on Weds 25th Jan.
50 loyalty points or more from 5pm on Thurs 26th Jan - online only.
10 loyalty points or more from 9am on Fri 27th - online only.

All sales dates are subject to availability.

The Queens Road ticket office will be open between 10pm and 4pm on Sunday 22nd January for season ticket holders and fans with 250 loyalty points to purchase for the Newcastle game.

Prices aren’t cheap, but that’s not surprising given the quality of the opposition:

Prices

Zone A
North Stand / South Stand
Adult £24.00
Senior £17.00
Under 18 £12.00
Under 10 £6.00

Zone B
West Stand Upper
Adult £28.00
Senior £19.00
Under 18 £14.00
Under 10 £7.00

Zone C
West Stand Lower / East Stand
Adult £30.00
Senior £21.00
Under 18 £15.00
Under 10 £8.00

Zone D
West Stand Lower / East Stand
Adult £33.00
Senior £23.00
Under 18 £17.00
Under 10 £9.00

Zone E
West Stand Lower
Adult £35.00
Concessions N/A

Zone F (Family Stand)
East Stand
Adult £25.00
Senior £18.00
Under 16 (accompanying) £6.00
Under 10 (accompanying) £3.00

How many of your mates have already used the dreaded words “what are my chances of getting a Newcastle ticket?” - well, here’s  your answer. Not likely unless you’ve purchased before!! You never know, we might put up a showing more like Liverpool’s visit in September, rather than last night’s against Wrexham….here’s hoping anyway!

Peterborough away. One of the best away days out on the calendar owing to it being just about the right distance from Brighton, the best terrace left in the country (which we will apparently be on for the last time) and the fact that we always seem to do well at London Road, more often than not handing out a footballing lesson. Even with what was largely considered to be the worse team in Brighton and Hove Albion and possibly Football League history, in 1997 we managed to win there, prompting the song that used to reverberate around the Moyes End of “Cheer up Barry Fry”. Last seasons 3-0 win over a side pushing all the way for promotion was easily the highlight of the campaign, although anybody who is expecting a repeat of that should bear in mind that it’s three goals in our last nine away league games. And we probably had more shots during the Nightmare on London Road than we’ve managed away from home in the entirety of the current campaign so far.

Who are Peterborough?
The Posh mainly spent the last decade floating around the bottom two divisions of the football league which prompted one of the best footballing documentaries ever made. Ok, it wasn’t Leyton Orient’s “Club for a Fiver” when the whole country had the pleasure of watching manager John Sitton suffer a complete meltdown, but it came close as Ron Atkinson rocked up at London Road in order to help manager Steve Bleasdeale in “Big Ron Football Manager” (conveniently, we couldn’t find a Peterborough song/be bothered to look for one so the first episode of Big Ron is takings it’s place). The result was Bleasdeale quitting, pouring scorn and embarassment on this once proud club. The other result was bringing Peterborough to the attention of Darragh MacAnthony, who purchased the club, piled in the money and delivered on what appeared at the time a somewhat sensationalist promise of back-to-back promotions from League Two to the Championship. After falling out with Darren Fergusson it appeared for a while as though the Irish businessman was losing the plot as relegation followed, but the two reconciled their differences with the result being an instant return to the Championship where, despite being a lot of peoples comfortable favourites for relegation, they are holding their own. Even if some team did nab their top scorer

Their history with Brighton?
We’ve played each other a number of times since the 1990’s and as already noted, have turned London Road into a bit of a fortress on our visits. The away end is always packed and we always seem to get a result, with Barry Fry in particular having a pretty good relationship with the Brighton faithful. More of the same Saturday wouldn’t go amiss.

Last time we met?
Brighton went to the top of the early Championship table with a 2-0 victory over Peterborough with Craig Noone and a stunning free kick from debutant Ryan Harley doing the damage. Nobody likes a bragger but sod it, we’ll mention that 3-0 win at London Road last season again. The Posh last defeated us in the 2008-2009 season at Withdean when a typically woeful defensive performance combined with their frightening amount of fire power saw a 4-2 victory for the visitors. Our last defeat there came on the opening day of the 1995-1996 season with a 2-1 loss.

Who has played for both?
Craig Mackail-Smith was a goal machine for Peterborough and can expect a warm welcome on his return. While he has struggled to hit the net since his big money move, he hasn’t enjoyed the glut of chances that the Posh used to create for him but nobody would be happier to see him notch his first goal since the end of November than the Albion fans - even if the man with the black eye will no doubt not celebrate it. Another forward to have represented both was Zeke Rowe who looked to have bags of potential during an impressive loan spell in the 1995-1996 vintage Albion side, netting three times in nine games. He moved to Peterborough afterweards and hit three in 30.

Who to look out for?
Captain George Boyd was the man responsible for creating most of CMS’ goals - a Paul Watson to his Bobby Zamora if you like. He’s been linked with a move away from London Road in the transfer window with a number of Albion fans claiming that signing him would be the best way to get more out of our record signing. Darren Fergusson is well connected thanks to the sperm that produced him and that has seen Sir Alex send Ryan Tunnicliffe on-loan to Peterborough this season and he has impressed in midfield while striker Paul Taylor has six goals in 17 appearances

Prediction?
If we’re ever going to break this horrendous goals for record away, it will happen at Peterborough. They’ve conceded 20 times in 12 games at home this season continuing their cavalier record of scoring for fun and conceding for fun. An entertaining games should be on the card though which will be a nice treat given the dirge served up at Coventry, Reading and Middlesbrough, so we’ll go for a 2-2 draw.

http://www.seagulls.co.uk/page/Latest/0,,10433~2582059,00.html

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club can confirm that five men associated with the club are assisting police into the investigation of an alleged offence in July last year.

The club will make no further comment at this stage.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/19/brighton-alleged-sexual-assault?intcmp=239

A number of men, believed to be Brighton and Hove Albion footballers, have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman in the city, according to the BBC.

Sussex police said five men from Brighton and one from Dorset had been questioned about an attack in July.

The force said an 18-year-old man, a 19-year-old, two men aged 20 and one aged 24, all from Brighton, and a 20-year-old from Dorset had been arrested. Brighton and Hove Albion Football Club has not yet commented.

A spokesman for Sussex police said: “All have been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and taken to different custody centres in Sussex where they will be questioned in relation to an alleged sexual assault on a woman in July last year. This was reported at the time and the suspects were identified on Friday last week, 13 January, leading to these arrests.

“Four of the men were arrested in Brighton at around 4.20am this morning, a fifth, also in Brighton at about 7.20am and the sixth in Dorset at 10.30am.”

A spokesman for AFC Bournemouth said that one of the six men arrested was one of their players, who is not being named. A statement from the club is expected later.

A short statement from Brighton and Hove Albion said: “[We] can confirm that five men associated with the club are assisting police into the investigation of an alleged offence in July last year. The club will make no further comment at this stage.”

It’s another international player from another flair South American country joining the Albion squad as Gus Poyet looks to have addressed the problem position of goalkeeper with the capture of Columbian David Gonzalez on a contract until the end of the season.

Gonzalez was a free agent having cancelled his contract with Premier League leaders Manchester City for whom he never played a game. Earlier this season he was on-loan at Aberdeen where he played 14 times while he spent the latter half of last season on-loan at Leeds United where he was third choice. Before that his last regular first team football came in the Turkish second tier with Çaykur Rizespor.

At 20, he became the youngest goalkeeper to win the Columbian League title with Independiente Medellín in 2002 and he played for his home town club for 127 games. His two international caps came in 2005 in friendlies against Switzerland and Paraguay, both of which Columbia won.

Poyet has said that he expects Gonzalez to come in and challenge Sexy Pete Brezovan for the number one jersey which seems to be his to loose given the recent improvement in defence and some of his heroics in last nights FA Cup penalty shoot out win against Wrexham. He basically has until the end of the season to make an impression and earn a longer deal at the club, which given some of the woes we have suffered with between the sticks at points this season may not be as hard as you would think even though he is effectively starting as third choice.

And who knows. Maybe we’ll be seeing something like this at The Amex before the end of the season:

And if not, let’s just hope he is better than our last goalkeeping signing from Scotland - Graeme Smith anyone….

…just.

A superb Ashley Barnes header levelled the scores after Wrexham totally dominated the majority of the match.

Let’s be honest here - we were bloody fortunate to get a win. Over 180 minutes, Wrexham looked like Championship opponents. At times, they made us look poor. And their fans are a credit to their club.

We’re not going to be too negative here - most of you will have seen the game with your own eyes, either at The Racecourse, on TV or online, some of you even having had to endure commentary in Welsh (although it was probably better than Chris Waddle!) and will know that much improvement is going to be needed if we’re going to get a result on Saturday at Peterborough, or indeed in the next round against Newcastle. We were outplayed.

What’s important though is that we’re through. It’s another Saturday of getting wrecked at The Amex, it means more in gate receipts for the club, and there’s extra TV money too as the game is on ESPN.

A big pat on the back to all the penalty takers, and especially big ’sexy’ Pete Brezovan. According to Argus journalist Andy Naylor on twitter, Albion are signing Colombian keeper David Gonzalez on 5-month contract to end of the season. Well, he’s going to have a fight for the number 1 jersey from the giant Slovakian if tonight’s performance is anything to go by.

So, Albion through to the next round, if somewhat fortuitously.

Looking forward to Newcastle United visiting the Amex, it’ll be good to see a load of Geordies drinking the town dry, and it’ll be interesting to see the inevitable ticketing chaos.

Magic of the cup? Can’t beat it!

Well, this is a match preview we were hoping we would never have to write. But thanks to Gus Poyet deciding to end the FA Cup Third Round tie at The Amex with six members of his development squad on the pitch, the Blue Square Premier side have got their replay at the Racecourse Ground in front of a full home house and what should be a decent away attendance as well given the fact that you can watch it on television. We nearly got away without having to write it having been out all day Monday, but Mother Nature being what she is decreed that the pitch would be frozen, putting the game back 24 hours until Wednesday. A home tie with Europe-chasing Newcastle United awaits the winner as well as a load of money for appearing on ESPN - so expect a Wrexham win as Poyet fields a reserve side and then complains about lack of funds

Apologies if this Match Preview offers readers a sense of deja vu - trying to rehash something that is only ten days old is particularly difficult. All complaints can be directed towards the football club for cocking up the third round game in the first place

Who are Wrexham?
The current Blue Square Premier leaders, they have been playing in non leagues top tier since 2008. A raft of financial difficulties saw them nearly plunge into non-existence in the last decade but now under the ownership of their supporters trust the good times look set to return to North Wales with promotion back to the Football League a realistic goal and let’s be honest, the visit of Premier League Newcastle to the Racecourse in the FA Cup Fourth Round a distinct possibility if Gus Poyet puts out anything like the side he has threatened to and the Red Dragons can match their efforts at The Amex.

Their history with Brighton?
Both clubs were asset stripped by their owners nearly forcing them out of business. Wrexham managed to retain their stadium while we spent 14 years homeless and the bond struck up between both clubs through various Fans United events was obvious when they made the trip to Brighton with a friendliness that wouldn’t have looked out of place whenever Tony Blair and George Bush met up for a good old chinwag.

Last time we met?
An entertaining clash that finished 1-1 at The Amex way back on January 7th. Jake Forster-Caskey gave Brighton the lead before Adrian Cieslewicz equalised when Sexy Pete Brezovan bizarrely decided to dive the wrong way. The big Slovak made up for it with a couple of late saves as Wrexham nearly secured an outright shock win in the last few minutes. Our last visit to the Racecourse ended in a 2-0 win on the last day of the 2003-2004 regular season while Wrexham last came away from an encounter with the Seagulls with victory in August 1994 at the Racecourse.

Who has played for both?
Mickey Thomas who was a complete and utter waste of time during his spell at the Goldstone but scored the famous goal that knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup twenty years ago. There have been very few others and it comes to something when Mark Cartwright is one of the most notable, with his most memorable moment in an Albion shirt coming when he replaced Michel Kuipers at half time of his debut at Southend in August 2000. Who would have thought then how both mens Brighton careers would turn out

Who to look out for?
We were very impressed with player-manager Andy Morrell in the first leg as he did the typical lower-league target man job down to a tee, holding up the ball and bringing others into play well. If he plays again it’s a good test for whichever two centre backs (most likely Grant Hall and one other) get the nod. Cieslewicz’s goal was also a decent one and he looked to cause a few problems

Prediction?
If we’re being honest, we would take being knocked out of the FA Cup if it means victory at Palace three days after the scheduled date of the fourth round tie. Gus obviously feels the same if he is contemplating the entire development squad getting a run out which he seems to be and bouyed by a large and loud home crowd and an intimidating, traditional atmosphere we can see some of our young guns struggling. 2-1 Wrexham. Just be thankful the embarassment is confined to S4C and the commentary will be in Welsh so nobody will have a bloody clue just how much rubbing in the commentators are doing

Craig Mackail-Smith had to be withdrawn from action early against Bristol City on Saturday due to suffering an eye injury after he was accidentally thumbed by City’s Lewin Nyatanga.
That evening, compulsive twitterer Craig posted a picture of his eye…

Very nasty looking indeed. Craig also tweeted to say

Had an eventful day at work today..The defender thought it’d be funny sticking his thumb in my eye socket..#ThanksPal”

Along with….

If any1 feels my tweet b4 was having a pop at the defender today for what happened to my eye that is not correct. I dn’t hold anyone responsible4the black eye. Footballs a physical game&every1 who plays the game knows this

Gus Poyet moved quickly to calm fears that his star striker will miss any league action by asking ‘do you really think he’s going to miss Peterborough away?’