The Seagulls logo brings Brighton fans together wherever they are

A few hours before Brighton took on Crystal Palace at the Amex and there was a gathering of Albion supporters at Ardingly Sussex County Showground.

It happened purely by chance. We were all enjoying the Wednesday morning air when the Seagulls logo on our clothing brought us all together.

Paul Barber had been on BBC Radio Sussex earlier in the day talking to Alison Ferns. Here I found myself shortly after chatting with Mr Barber’s PA’s husband, and also a lifelong fan Mr Dave Hill.

Dave agreed to a selfie and said he has supported the Albion since the 1960s. He no longer attends in person but listens via BBC Sussex.

This shows just how important the service local radio provides to fans who cannot get to the Amex; many of us rely on Johnny Cantor & Warren Aspinall and any moves to take them off the broadcast schedule have to be avoided.

Unarranged meetings like these between Brighton fans are happening all over the world now; from Ardingly Showground to Tokyo, where Kaoru Mitoma has turned the Albion into a household name. The Brighton badge has never been so powerful.

Later that evening and it was off to the Amex for a journey wonderfully dealt with by Seagulls Travel. I boarded the coach at Burgess Hill railway station and it took the driver no time at all to make all the pickups followed by excellent progress to the stadium.

On arrival, there were already a lot of Palace fans caged in the South Stand. They were in great voice, even as news started to spread that their third choice goalkeeper would be playing.

Injuries to Vicente Guaita and Sam Johnstone meant 19-year-old Joe Whitworth making his Palace debut. It turned out to be a good evening for him (if not Palace) as only Solly March managed to find a way through.

It was a damp night and you could see the rain passing in front of the floodlights. We were treated to a light show and fire display just before kick off as Brighton prepared to set about ending a run of over four years and seven games since beating their long-time rivals.

Palace came flying out of the starting blocks, catching Brighton players and fans by surprise. The first 15 minutes saw the Albion well and truly on the back foot.

Wilfried Zaha had an early run down the right, a couple of stepovers thrown in and causing Jason Steele to push a shot away for a corner.

Kaoru Mitoma made a good block at the expense of another Palace corner. The Eagles played it short onto the head of Odsonne Edouard who narrowly missed Steele’s far post.

Steele next denied Michael Olise. Nobody would have predicted at that point with the way Palace were playing that 48 hours later, the Eagles would be sacking Patrick Vieria.

Brighton had their first real effort when a run down the left by Pervis Estupinan saw the ball slipped left to Kaoru Mitoma. He let a shot go but unfortunately, it was straight at Whitworth.

Mitoma was beginning to make the Amex bounce. Another Japanese Bullet Train run down the left fed March to hit an effort from the right side of the box.

Whitworth had no chance and the ball flew into the back of the net. In the 15th minute on the 15th day of March, Solly had given Brighton the lead over Crystal Palace.

I have never been so relieved as I was to see that goal go in. It was a great finish and it felt like an important one as it came against the run of play.

The Albion were beginning to get on top now. Cheick Doucoure denied Danny Welbeck when clearing as Welbeck went to tap home a low Pascal Gross cross into the box.

Steele had to make a great save from Edouard racing through the middle. Lewis Dunk looked at the assistant referee to ask why there was no offside flag; it felt dangerous asking the officials for help when leading only by one goal and Palace looking a threat.

Doucoure was lucky to stay on the pitch when already on a yellow card and fouling Moises Caicedo. However, referee Peter Bankes refused to book Docoure and so he survived until half time when he was substituted by Vieria.

The second half began with Brighton playing towards the North Stand. Whitworth saved an early Estupinan shot with his left leg before we were treated to an unplanned light show.

For a few seconds, the whole Amex was plunged into darkness. Apparently, there had been a power surge which impacted the whole area.

Brighton fans responded by turning on their phone torches, seeing the West Stand all lit up was quite the picture.

Alexis Mac Allister had a shot well saved by the young Palace goalkeeper followed by a big mistake at the other end almost letting the Eagles equalise.

Steele was caught passing out from the back but fortunately, the Palace effort on goal missed the target. A lucky escape ahead of nine minutes of injury time.

When the full time whistle eventually blew, the Amex roared. It was a noise of relief more than anything else, made up of Brighton finally beating Palace and doing so so when not playing near their best.

The boot is normally on the other foot with the Albion drawing or losing against Palace when they do not deserve to – leaving plenty more to talk about when strangers meet in public drawn together by the Seagull badge over the coming week.

Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony