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After picking up just two points in October, Brighton and Hove Albion bounced back in style in November to go through the month unbeaten with three wins and three draws.
It could have been even better had the Albion been able to defend in injury time rather than thinking the job was done after 90 minutes, as a 90th minute equaliser for Wolverhampton Wanderers and and a 90th minute equaliser for Bolton Wanderers cost the Albion four points in a 3-3 away draw and 1-1 home draw respectively.
One of the Albion’s own winners did come late on admitedley, Stephen Dobbie scoring the only goal of the game in a 1-0 home win over Peterborough United while there were also maximum points claimed thanks to Will Buckley’s brace which provided a 2-1 win at Huddersfield and a 2-0 home victory over Bristol City.
The other draw was a typically entertaining encounter with The Leeds United which ended 2-2 right at the start of the month which featured a brace from Craig Mackail-Smith, keeping up his remarkable scoring record against the world’s biggest club.
Bruno
Another excellent month that included his first Albion goal, a dipping volley from 25 yards at home to Bolton. The right back was solid again and showed previously unknown versatility by playing most of the second half at Wolves in the centre of midfield as we attempted to battle back into a game against opposition who were down to ten men.
Will Buckley
Gus Poyet raised a few eyebrows when came out and said that Will Buckley was worth more than Wilfried Zaha but the winger has seemingly been desperate to prove his manager right, scoring an excellent goal at Wolves and following that up with a double at Huddersfield. Maybe not on Zaha’s level yet, but he has frightened the life out of the opposition all month.
Stephen Dobbie
The summer signing from Swansea City looks like he is finally settling in at the Albion, scoring in back-to-back games with thelast minute winner at home to Peterborough and an emphatic penalty (take note Ashley Barnes) at Wolves. Based on that, he should be getting more game time.
Tomasz Kuszczak
Missed the Huddersfield game and it was notable how much shakier the defence looked with Peter Brezovan deputising. He continues to look like one of the best players at the club and there is no doubt he is playing a huge role in the fact we are battling for the play-offs far more convincingly than we were last season.
Craig Mackail-Smith
He seems to love facing The Leeds United, adding another two goals to his haul against them in Albion colours although a missed penalty did mar the performance slightly and deny him his first Brighton hat-trick. He was soon back on the goal trail though, adding another fine effort away at Wolves to maintain his place at the head of the scorers chart with nine for the season – already equaling his league tally from 2011/12.
Andrea Orlandi
It’s taken a while, but the summer signing from Swansea is finally match fit and completing 90 minutes, bringing creativity to the side that was lacking in the previous month when we managed only two goals. He opened his Albion account against Bristol City, alebit it with a big helping hand from the Robins goalkeeper.
