Brighton and Hove Albion 0-1 Nine Man Walsall

During their 12 year stay at Withdean Stadium, Brighton and Hove Albion put on their fair share of horror shows among the trees and scaffolding of their temporary home.

There was the infamous 5-1 defeat to Stoke City when the South Stand began cheering Stoke’s goals and their hat-trick hero Adam Rooney got a standing ovation.

Mansfield Town were bottom of the entire Football League when they eliminated Dean Wilkins’ side from the FA Cup at the third round stage in 2008 and Dean White’s sole home game in caretaker charge was an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Crewe Alexandra, leaving the Albion staring relegation to League Two in the face.

None of those though comes close the ultimate Withdean Horror Show of Saturday 20th September 2008 – Brighton and Hove Albion 0-1 Nine Man Walsall.

The Saddlers went down to 10 men with just 15 minutes played. By the time the game had reached the half hour mark, they were down to nine.

Brighton had two more players than Walsall for over an hour and could not find a way to score. Even more remarkable was the fact that the Albion managed to find a way to concede and lose the game despite their numerical advantage.

As far as cock ups go, Brighton 0-1 Walsall was spectacular even by the Albion’s pretty high standards.

This was not how things were meant to be. When Dick Knight had controversially rewarded Wilkins for finishing seventh in League One at the end of the 2007-08 season by replacing him with Micky Adams, we were told that the returning boss would be the man to lead us back into the Championship.

A glorious future awaited under Adams playing at a new stadium on which construction work would start within the next year in a muddy field in Falmer.

The reality was proving to be very different. Adams was yet to taste victory at home in the league since his reappointment and the Albion’s last outing at Withdean had seen them destroyed 4-1 by Scunthorpe United.

If there ever can be a defence for losing 4-1 at home to Scunthorpe, then you could clutch your straws and say United were at least expected to challenge for an immediate return to the second tier under Nigel Adkins following relegation at the end of the previous campaign.

Walsall had no such grand designs. They arrived at Withdean seventh in the table but that was not expected to last, with most pundits tipping them for a season of struggle.

If Brighton were serious about being in the promotion race, this was the sort of game they needed to be winning against 11 men, let alone nine.

Rhys Weston was the first Walsall player to see red for a two footed lunge on Dean Cox with a quarter of an hour played.

He was joined for an early bath on 33 minutes by Netan Sansara who was dismissed for hacking down Gary Hart.

Sansara had been off the pitch for 11 minutes when the Albion found themselves in the frankly ridiculous position of going behind to a side playing with nine men.

The Saddlers had introduced midfield Chris Palmer in place of forward Marco Reich in response to the red cards. It was Palmer’s free kick a minute before the break that found Dwayne Mattis who headed home to make it Brighton 0-1 Walsall.

What happened in the second half was even more ludicrous than the fact that the Albion had contrived to go behind to nine men.

Adams’ answer to getting back into the game was to continually float crosses straight into the arms of Walsall’s 6’5 goalkeeper Clayton Ince. It was effectively catching practice for Ince.

Watching from the stands, it was almost like viewing a video tape that had been put onto a constant loop, repeating itself until you wanted to stick your foot through the screen.

It went something like this: Michel Kuipers rolls ball to Adam El-Abd; El-Abd passes left to Matt Richards; Richards passes ball up the line to Cox; Cox cuts back and crosses into the box; Ince catches ball and leathers it back down the pitch to Kuipers.

This went on for the entire duration of the second half. 45 monotonous minutes in which Adams, White and Bob Booker on the Albion bench could not seem to grasp or understand that hitting crosses towards a giant goalkeeper eating them for breakfast may not be the most effective tactic.

Even when Adams turned to his bench, it was for like-for-like replacements. Jake Robinson replaced Gary Hart on the right and Jonny Dixon was introduced in place of Nicky Forster. No attempt to change shape, no attempt to change style, nothing.

The only goal scoring opportunity that Brighton managed to muster came when a cross from Hart actually managed to find the head of Glenn Murray.

On that occasion, Ince had to make a save, tipping the ball over the bar. It was the only thing he did not catch all afternoon.

Frustrations understandably began to boil over and there were even words exchanged between Richards and the crowd.

The on-loan left back took issue with some criticism when his 76th cross of the second half floated harmlessly into the hands of Ince.

The Withdean crowd were merciless at the final whistle as those of the 5,679 in attendance who hadstayed until the bitter end let the players know exactly what they thought with a crescendo of boos.

Adams described the performance and result as “embarrassing” afterwards and demanded a reaction in the Albion’s next game.

He certainly got that as Brighton went onto knock Manchester City out of the League Cup on penalties.

From losing 1-0 to 10-man Walsall to beating the richest club in the world. Nobody could ever complain that being an Albion fan is dull.