Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for February 2014
It was a mixed February for Brighton and Hove Albion as two victories and two defeats saw the Seagulls keep in touch with the Championship’s play offs but exit the FA Cup after a replay defeat to Hull City.
The two victories were based around solid defensive showings and they featured the months only clean sheets in 1-0 home wins over Doncaster Rovers and The Leeds United while the two defeats came on the road against fellow promotion chasers Watford and at home to a Wigan Athletic side eyeing an immediate return to the Premier League.
As for the FA Cup, well the Albion second string held Premier League Hull to a 1-1 draw in a game that was bizarely chosen to be shown live on televions before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat at the KC Stadium in the replay.
As for this months shortlist, well only one man scored in February so it really should be a forgegone conclusion that Leonardo Ulloa wins it for his five goals, form which again went a long way to covering up the clubs inability to sign a striker during the January transfer window (for the avoidance of doubt, David Rodriguez and Jonathan Obika do not count).
Rohan Ince
January’s Player of the Month had an equally impressive February, especially when not looking out of his depth against top flight opponents in Hull City. He is making light of the decision to sell Liam Bridcutt to Sunderland during the last transfer window.
Tomasz Kuszczak
Two more clean sheets for his collection in the months two victories. He was rested for both of the FA Cup games with Hull City and who knows what might have been had he been between the sticks instead of Sexy Pete Brezovan? Potentially, a first FA Cup Quarter Final since 1986.
Kazenga LuaLua
After impressing early on in Oscar Garcia’s reign, he seems to have found himself once again in the role of impact sub with telling contributions coming from the bench in the home victories against Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United and the defeat against Wigan Athletic.
Leonardo Ulloa
Now fully recovered from injury, what can you say about the Man from Argentina’s form in February, other than that the fact he scored all five of the Albion’s goals means we are effectively playing as a one man team currently. Imagine if he’d been fit all season.
Matthew Upson
Made his first mistake in over a year of playing for the Albion when giving away the first goal in the defeat against Wigan. Other than that, he was a model of consistency once again, helping secure the clean sheets against Doncaster and Leeds.
Stephen Ward
Another impressive month for the left back who played a key role in those two clean sheets. He was rested for the home game with Hull City but proved to be a great attacking threat in the much improved second half performance in the replay.
