Win at Ipswich has helped Brighton alter course from rough seas

Yesterday at 05:37 AM

The longer the Albion’s winless run went on, the more they just needed any sort of victory to break it. A scrappy, unconvincing win would help Brighton alter course from the rough seas they were in. It duly arrived against Ipswich Town.

Ipswich could have gone into half time 3-0 ahead. Thanks largely to Bart Verbruggen, the game was still level by the hour.

Having played poorly but weathered the Tractor Boys storm, Brighton then scored twice in the final 30 minutes. Sheer determination shone through for the Albion, securing an excellent 2-0 win.

I listened to proceedings from Portman Road still aboard the MS Kong Harold in the final few days of our cruise around the Arctic Circle.

Panorama Deck 7 was my location of choice. In went the earbuds and on came My Albion TV on the Albion app. The voice of BBC Radio Sussex sports editor Tim Durrans could be heard loud and clear as kick off approached.

On the subject of rough seas, the MS Kong Harold also had to divert on its journey back south. This made for a much more comfortable experience than listening to the FA Cup win at Norwich on Saturday, when huge waves battered the boat.

Brighton sailed safely through to round four on that occasion. Victory against Ipswich meanwhile ensured the Albion’s hopes of playing European football next season remain alive, rather than going down like a sinking ship.

There were a couple of nice moments before kick off. Ipswich held a minute applause for all those connected with the club who had passed away.

Fabian Hurzeler meanwhile gave the captain’s armband to Adam Webster, who made some 50 odd appearances for the Tractor Boys earlier in his career.

Portman Road was packed to the rafters with a crowd of 29,403 in attendance. The away contingent numbered 2,977. Amazing support once again from Albion fans considering it was a Thursday night in the middle of three consecutive away games in eight days.

Warren Aspinall reported Brighton kept the ball very well through the opening 10 minutes, almost all of which were played in the Ipswich half.

The Tractor Boys soon grew into it though. Verbruggen made those three saves I mentioned earlier, Webster put in some excellent challenges and Joel Veltman needed to do some trademark clever defending.

It all sounded as though Brighton were a bit too sluggish. The second half brought an early yellow card for Joao Pedro and a booking for Ipswich striker Liam Delap, but still no improvement in the Albion.

As the game progressed, I began to fear the worst. That this was going to be a repeat of the disappointing 0-0 draw against Ipswich at the Amex in September. Or even a defeat.

But then Brighton took the lead against the run of play. Veltman and Yasin Ayari worked the ball down the right. Ayari slipped it into the box, where Matt O’Riley teed up Kaoru Mitoma.

There were a melee of players between Mitoma and the goal. The Japanese Bullet Train found a way through though and so Brighton moved 1-0 ahead with 59 minutes on the clock.

Ipswich seemed surprised. Now it was Brighton’s turn to get on top. The Albion had plenty of possession without ever really getting any shots off to test ex-Seagull Christian Walton playing in goal for the hosts.

Maybe the players need to think more about just how many goals in the Premier League come via deflections? Johnny Cantor rightly said on commentary: “Sometimes, you just need to hit it.”

One player who did hit it was Pedro, forcing Walton to make a rare save from a shot on the swivel. It was a great save at that as Walton pushed the ball away from the top corner.

A sea shanty was now beginning to take place in Panorama Deck 7’s bar. I pushed my earbuds further in to keep the white noise out.

Brighton added their second goal in the 82nd minute. A free kick was awarded for a foul on Pervis Estupinan just outside the box on the left-hand side.

Ayari sent a low delivery into a group of players. Substitute Danny Welbeck was in there somewhere. He flicked on towards Georginio Rutter, who turned and buried a shot into the bottom corner with his right foot.

Celebrations at being 2-0 up soon gave way to panic over what has happened when the Albion have been defending two-goal leads earlier in the season.

Johnny said the final 10 minutes would not be good for his heart. Well Johnny, think about mine… it is much older than yours!

We had no need to worry. Brighton were thoroughly professional in seeing this one out, keeping the ball far away from Verbruggen by earning a succession of corners.

There was even the chance late on to say goodbye to Jakub Moder, introduced as a 94th minute sub for his final appearance ahead of a £1.2 million move to Feyenoord.

With the full time whistle, I left the sea shanty to it and headed back to my cabin for a relaxing sleep. Or as relaxing as nearly falling out of bed twice due to the swell of the sea can be.

At least the Albion have navigated their way out of their own choppy waters.

Tony Noble@Noble1844Tony

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