Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for March 2013
Just two wins from six games in March but nobody was overly bothered about that as Brighton and Hove Albion got the result they wanted, hammering arch rivals Crystal Palace 3-0 in a St Patrick’s Day massacre at the Amex.
Needless to say, the shortlist for our WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month reflects the key performers from that day. Leonardo Ulloa scored twice, David Lopez hit a stunning free kick, Wayne Bridge had Wilfried Zaha in his pocket, Tomasz Kuszczak was a one-man wall as Palace threw everything forward in the opening 20 minutes and Liam Bridcutt ran the show against the Eagles in the middle of the park.
Palace aside, the months only other win came at home to Huddersfield Town with Ulloa becoming the first man to hit a hat-trick at the Amex in a stunning 4-1 success. February’s Player of the Month Kuszczak was again superb in keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw at Bristol City and his importance was hammered home in the one game he missed when Casper Ankergren let a shot and two points slip through his legs in the last minute of the 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.
The less said about the other two games, the better – a hugely disappointing 1-0 defeat at Bolton Wanderers in which Ashley Barnes decided to trip up the referee to earn himself one of the more braindead yellow cards in Albion history was followed by a 2-1 defeat at Barnsley.
Liam Bridcutt
Was suspended for the victory over Huddersfield and missed the draw at Nottingham Forest through illness, but he again ran the show in the games he played, particularly dictating when play against Palace. All that was enough to earn him his first Scotland cap at the end of the month in the Tartan Army’s away game against Serbia.
Wayne Bridge
No coincidence that when the left back returned to the side in March, we looked far more solid defensively. He had his best game of the season against Palace – and that is saying something as he has been pretty outstanding throughout. It would be no surprise to learn that Wilfried Zaha is still in his pocket today.
Inigo Calderon
An injury to Bruno gave him his first real run of games of the season in the starting XI and he responded superbly with an excellent month that culminated with the taming of Yannick Bolasie in the victory over Palace.
Gordon Greer
Such has been the form of Adam El-Abd and Matthew Upson that Gus Poyet’s favourite had to wait until El-Absd was suspended against Palace to make his own return to the side and he responded with a couple of excellent performances which makes it hard to see how El-Abd will now reclaim his place.
Tomasz Kuszczak
We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve written this season about him winning points we simply wouldn’t have got in 2011-12. That was highlighted in one game he missed – Casper Ankergren letting a shot through his legs in the last minute at Nottingham Forest – and in one he played when being a one-man brick wall in the 0-0 draw at Bristol City.
David Lopez
Lived up to his reputation as a DB7-esque set piece expert with a superb strike free kick for the second goal against Palace. Had he have been on the pitch at Barnsley, it’s not unreasonable to think we’d have taken a point as there is little chance he’d make the complete cock up out of the penalty that Leonardo Ulloa did.
Leonardo Ulloa
That penalty against Barnsley aside, it was an incredibe month for the Argentinan striker. He fired in seven goals in six games including the first Amex hat-trick against Huddersfield and a brace against Palace. Already he appears to have been an absolute steal at just £2.5m.
Matthew Upson
It is no coincidence that the conceding woes of the end of 2012 and start of 2013 disappeared with his arrival on loan from Stoke City at the end of the January transfer window. Superb all month, he has become a vital cog in the team and gave no opposition attackers a chance.
