Vote for your WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Month for March 2019
On the face of it, March was a very good month for the Albion as they picked up six league points out of nine and advanced to the semi finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1983.
Yet, aside from the 2-1 derby day win at Crystal Palace, the performances weren’t actually that good. Prior to that famous triumph at Selhurst Park, the Albion could only scrape a 1-0 victory against rock-bottom Huddersfield Town and then it took one of the most catastrophic mistakes you’ll ever see from a professional goalkeeper to salvage a draw against a Millwall side in the bottom four of the Championship.
The Albion eventually overcame the Lions on penalties but that it went that far was only because of a brilliant cameo from the bench from Solly March. That’s enough to put him on the shortlist while Anthony Knockaert also makes it based on a blistering showing against Palace which was rounded off by one of the best goals you’ll ever see.
The rest of the candidates are drawn from the back five, which tells you everything you need to know about a March that appears to have papered over some pretty severe cracks.
Bernardo
Him and fellow full back Martin Montoya were the only two players who could come out of the Southampton defeat with their heads held high. That rounded off another solid month in which he was particularly impressive when dealing with the threat of Andros Townsend in the victory away at Crystal Palace.
Shane Duffy
Lewis Dunk may be having a fine season, but that his defensive partner continues to outshine him says everything about the way that the Irishman has performed so far. He was a one-man blocking machine away at Millwall, didn’t let Michy Batshuayi get a kick for Palace and played his part in helping secure a clean sheet in the win over Huddersfield.
Anthony Knockaert
The Little French Magician had endured a frustrating start to 2019 and hadn’t made a league start until the final game of February against his former club Leicester City. He has started every game since then however with his winning goal at Selhurst Park being a strike that nobody will ever get bored of watching. He finally seems to be rediscovering the form that made him the winner of our September Player of the Month.
Solly March
It says much for the winger’s impact in the FA Cup game at Millwall that that performance alone is enough to earn him a place on the shortlist. Introduced in the 67th minute for the ineffective Alireza Jahanbakhsh, March almost single handedly dragged the Albion into the semi finals by setting up Jurgen Locadia for the Seagulls first goal and then scoring the second himself. A stunning individual display.
Martin Montoya
The Spanish right back gave the best showing of his Brighton career so far in the Southampton game and was desperately unlucky to hit the bar with a shot out of nowhere from 30 yards. He also managed to turn Wilfried Zaha into a virtual spectator in the Palace game which is some achivement given the havoc that the Eagle’s golden child normally wreaks on the Albion.
Maty Ryan
The Australian number one had looked a little out-of-sorts throughout February since his return from Asian Cup duty with the Socceroos but he was bang in form in March, particularly away at Millwall where he pulled off three brilliant saves which helped take the game to penalties and then made a superb stop in the shoot out from Mahlon Romeo for good measure.
Poll closes at 8pm on Sunday 7th April
