Brighton 2-1 Brentford: Homegrown Hinsh beats Benham for Bloom
Did anyone else leave the Amex after Brighton 2-1 Brentford feeling particularly old? I blame Jack Hinshelwood.
Yes, Hinshelwood has been around the senior squad for most of this season having made his debut on the final day of the previous campaign.
And yes, we all know he is son of former Albion defender Adam. That incredible, incredible own goal against Colchester United on Boxing Day 2008 has been referenced on multiple occasions these past six months since Jack first arrived on the scene (although still not nearly enough for this website’s liking).
But it was not until Hinshelwood used his head to crash home the winner in Brighton 2-1 Brentford that the realisation truly dawned.
It does not seem that long ago that Adam was one of the young, great hopes coming out of the Albion youth system. How is it now possible we are watching his son play?
Of course, Adam had his career wrecked by injuries. Even so, Jack is already playing at a higher level with a scary amount of potential to improve.
The jump in ability from father to son is impressive. Or as @jonny_pickup posted on Twitter: “I’m looking forward to seeing the next Hinshelwood in 25 years time. If the generational improvements carry on he is going to be AMAZING.”
Adam’s grandson playing in the stripes as Brighton win the Champions League in 2048? Terrifying to think how old that will make everyone feel.
In the here and now, Roberto De Zerbi has not been backward in coming forward about Hinshelwood. Before Brighton 2-1 Brentford, the Albion head coach claimed Hinshelwood could be the next Pascal Gross.
Praise does not comer much higher than that for an Albion player. Or so we thought. Because after Hinshelwood helped Brighton beat the Bees, De Zerbi went further by saying Hinshelwood was actually the son of Gross. Sorry, Adam.
“He played another great game,” De Zerbi said. “He deserves to play now because he plays like an older player.”
“Yesterday I said Jack is Gross’ son because he is very young but he plays like an older player. He has personality, he is very smart on the pitch, he can play full-back, midfielder in every position.”
Gross was the other Brighton player on target against Brentford on a night when the Albion had to show character, coming from behind to win a Premier League game at the Amex for the first time since beating Plucky Little Bournemouth 3-1 in September.
It took a while for there to be much action on the pitch with the first opportunity either side could muster not arriving until the 20th minute.
Needless to say, it involved Gross and Hinshelwood. Billy Gilmour threaded an outrageous lofted pass to the right, Hinshelwood surged forward from full back and his cross was struck towards goal by Gross charging up from the other full back position. Mark Flekken made the save.
De Zerbi likes his full backs to play with attacking freedom, but even by those standards Gross and Hinshelwood were going for it.
That they were able to was thanks to Carlos Baleba doing an intelligent job and dropping into defence on a frequent basis. Like Hinshelwood, Baleba looks another teenager with the talent to go right to the top.
Brentford took the lead against the run of play midway through the first half. Vitaly Janelt was allowed to carry the ball far too easily into the Albion box.
As he breezed past Jan Paul van Hecke, Brighton’s Dutch defender took the interesting approach of rugby tackling Janelt to the ground.
The Albion have found themselves on the wrong end of a fair few controversial decisions this season. No doubting this was a penalty however, successfully converted by Bryan Mbeumo.
Brentford led for only five minutes. Joao Pedro fed Kaoru Mitoma, he rolled inside to Gross on another drive forward and Der Kaiser picked out the far corner with unerring accuracy from the edge of the box.
With that, Brighton became the first team to score and concede in the opening 15 games of a top flight season since Wolves in 1934-35. A rare record known from the time before Sky Sports invented football in 1992.
Unlike the opening exchanges of the first half, the second did not take long to get going. Adingra robbed the ball off Saman Ghoddos and pulled back to Pedro for a shot easily saved by Flekken.
Up the other end and two important Albion blocks in the space of five seconds prevented Brentford retaking the lead.
Igor Julio denied a certain Neal Maupay what had seemed an inevitable goal against his former club for la petite shithouse française, followed by Hinshelwood clearing off the line from Yoane Wissa.
Five minutes later and Hinshelwood provided the winner at the other end. No prizes for guessing who set it up, Gross hanging a cross to the back post where Hinshelwood arrived with a towering header put beyond Flekken.
The Bees could have gone down to 10 men afer Wissa appeared to catch Gilmour in the face with a right hook when attempting to get the ball off the Scottish midfielder.
Moments like that do little to dissuade Brighton fans from this notion that there is some sort of conspiracy against the Albion.
Twice in the past six weeks, Brighton players have been hit in the head by the arms of visiting players at the Amex. It happened to Gross too against Fulham with even more damaging consequences, Joao Palhinha nearly knocking out Der Kaiser before scoring for the Cottagers.
Thankfully, Brentford keeping 11 on the pitch when they could have gone down to 10 did not impact on the result this time.
Both teams looked tired in the closing stages, hardly a surprise given their respective injury lists. That meant a somewhat muted finish, except for chances for Adingra saved and then put just wide.
Not that any Brighton fans was complaining about the routineness of it. Nor Tony Bloom, who would have been as thrilled as ever to get one over his arch rival and Brentford owner Matthew Benham.
DeZerbiBall is fun and frantic, but Brighton 2-1 Brentford made a nice break from losing years of life expectancy through dramatic finishes which are no good for the heart.
More of the same against Burnley on Saturday, please – the club Adam Hinshelwood made his debut against as a 17-year-old in 2002. Sorry, have we made you feel old again?
