Charlton 0-4 Brighton was “nearly perfection” for Poyet

Taking time from navigating the insane amount of horse shit left on the streets of Charlton, one Albion fan turned to another and said “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” They were not referring to the bowel movements of the plethora of police horses the Metropolitan Police inexplicably thought they needed but rather 90 minutes of astonishing football which had ended Charlton Athletic 0-4 Brighton.

The Addicks were one of the favourites for promotion out of League One. They were unbeaten at the Valley. And they were, according to pundits and fans of other clubs in the division, going to be the side who “found Brighton out”.

Gus Poyet He Who Must Not Be Named’s men topped the table but the consensus away from Withdean was that their lofty position was because they had enjoyed a gentle run of fixtures to start the campaign.

The Albion had played just two other promotion contenders in their opening 11 games and failed to beat either of them.

Sheffield Wednesday had defeated Brighton 1-0 at Hillsborough back in August and a week before Charlton 0-4 Brighton, Plucky Little Bournemouth had taken a point from a 1-1 draw at the Theatre of Trees.

The theory went that Brighton would begin faltering when they faced the better teams in League One. Of which Charlton were clearly one.

It turned out to be a pretty crap theory. The Bournemouth game seven days earlier had ended in controversial fashion when the Cherries were awarded a last minute penalty after their own centre forward Steve Fletcher handled the ball outside the box.

Somehow, referee Darren Sheldrake and his assistant concluded that it was actually Tommy Elphick with his arm raised in the air and the offence had taken place in the area, giving Marc Pugh the opportunity to level the tie right at the death.

Poyet was furious and so too his players at being denied a deserved three points. The injustice gave them motivation to put things right at Charlton before you even consider what so much talk about them being in a false position at the the head of the standings added.

Unfortunately for the Addicks, they bore the brunt of the reaction. Come full time of Charlton 0-4 Brighton and no Albion fan could quite believe what they had seen.

It was the Seagulls biggest win on the road in a decade, since hammering Chester City 7-1 back in 2000. Chester were relegated from the Football League that season; Charlton were meant to be one of the favourites to secure a place in the Championship.

The complete and utter domination of a very good side away from home offered strong claims that Poyet had masterminded the greatest victory on the road in Albion history. Well, for a fortnight at least…

Poyet purred afterwards: “It was nearly perfection. When you play against a team like Charlton at the Valley and the way we performed today, the way we defended and the way we scored goals, you can not ask for more.”

“The way they moved, passed the ball and created chances, went forward. I don’t think there’s been a better performance from us away from home. We were spot on, really aggressive and did the job.”

“Our support right from the start was excellent. To come and see an away end packed with Albion supporters is one of my favourite sights in football – and they were exceptional.”

“The support has been Premier League-class ever since I arrived to take over – and of course soon we will have a stadium to match.”

Poyet made two big calls in his selection. Gordon Greer had endured a slow start to his Brighton career, starting off suspended thanks to a red card for Swindon Town at the backend of the 2009-10 season.

Greer then marked his Albion debut with another red, earning a three game ban. The late birth of his baby daughter followed by injury meant that Greer had played just once when getting sent off against Rochdale before Poyet pitched him in for the trip to Valley.

The Brighton captain took the place of Elphick, ruining a fair few anytime goal scorer bets in the process. Elphick had been good for a goal from a set piece all season, most notably when opening the scoring at Plymouth Argyle a few weeks earlier.

Turns out all you need to make a 500-mile round trip on a Tuesday night to Plymouth bearable is a 40/1 winning bet and three points from the Pilgrims. Anyway, come 5pm at the Valley, nobody cared that they had wasted a few quid on Elphick.

There was also a slight tactical adjustment with Brighton changing to a diamond in midfield. That caught the Addicks by surprise and they never got to grips with the slick passing and movement of Radostin Kishishev, Gary Dicker, Matt Sparrow and Elliott Bennett which enabled the Albion to be dominant.

Nearly 16,000 Charlton supporters turned up expecting to see their side extend their impressive home record. Brighton meanwhile were backed by a sold-out away end of 3,400 who, although confident in the Albion, had little idea of the 90 minutes which were about to follow.

Brighton took the lead with 26 minutes on the clock through Inigo Calderon, a man who loved playing at the Valley. Eight months earlier and Calderon had struck a memorable first goal for the Albion from distance as Poyet’s side won 2-1 to pick up a big three points in the battle against relegation.

Calderon’s goal this time around was less spectacular but equally important. Charlton failed to deal with a corner, Dicker crossed and Calderon slotted past Addicks goalkeeper Rob Elliott.

The home fans were quietened although they did have reason to feel bullish as Charlton finished the first half strongly.

Lee Martin fired over and Casper Ankergren had to take a temporarily break from working his way through a packet of 20 Marlboro Lights by producing a fine save from Kyel Reid.

Brighton were attacking their support in the Jimmy Seed Stand in the second half, which was all one-way traffic.

Glenn Murray doubled the lead on the hour mark when toying with a couple of Charlton defenders and smashing into the net from a matter of yards after seizing on a poor back pass.

The introduction of Kazenga LuaLua from the bench then caused the floodgates to open. LuaLua had only been on the pitch five minutes when he shifted a short free kick to the right and beat Elliott with a trademark rocket from 30 yards.

Charlton fans began streaming out with 10 minutes still to play. Those who remained until the bitter end booed their team off, one of the most satisfying noises you ever hear as an away fan.

Nobody in the Brighton end was going anywhere early; a lengthy wait in a queue at Charlton Station was a worthy exercise as every time Brighton came forward, it felt like they were going to score again.

LuaLua was central to that. You could sense the anticipation from Brighton and the trepidation from Charlton (or those left anywhere) whenever he got the ball.

The final goal to round off a quite incredible afternoon was of course made by LuaLua. He escaped down the left flank and crossed for Sparrow to convert, making it Charlton 0-4 Brighton.

It was only whilst sinking pints around London Bridge afterwards and still trying to process what we had just witnessed that the enormity of the result truly sunk in.

This was not just three points for Brighton; it was a mauling that sent shockwaves through the rest of League One and left nobody in any doubt that the Albion were going to be big players in the promotion picture.

As for that fan who declared “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” Wonder what he made of events two weeks later when Brighton went and won 3-0 away at second-in-the-table Peterborough United, a performance arguably even more impression than the Charlton game?

That 2010-11 season really was a special, special time to be an Albion supporter.