BHAFC 4 - 3 D&RFC - Guardian Report

[DTES]

What a brilliant article - I could read these words all night!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/12/brighton-dagenham-redbridge-league-one

(I would copy and paste it here - but it'll be much better if everyone leaves a comment on the Guardian's story

 

[Lord Bracknell]

How long has Not Andy Naylor been writing for the Guardian?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

How long has Not Andy Naylor been writing for the Guardian?

Has the loan window closed? I don't remember hearing about his move back from the Indy.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

They'll do a post on their league blog about our promotion as well I would have thought.

 

[Freddo]

I'm pretty sure Nick Szczepanik is a Brighton fan.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Doesn't say much about Bridcutt's goal!

 

[Grassman]

I'm pretty sure Nick Szczepanik is a Brighton fan.

Yep, he certainly is. That's what BoF and Lord B were saying....

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

How long has Not Andy Naylor been writing for the Guardian?

He's been working freelance since leaving the Dirty Digger's employment last year, often writes for the Indy.

 

[garethlewes]

Like how no one is moaning about the lack of coverage now, where have you all gone ? bloody brilliant report though, Championship + The Amex = Wait was worth it

 

[kevo]

Yeah, big Albion fan and an ex-colleague of mine. Nice one, Nick!

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

Thanks for the kind words. I freelance mainly for the Indy these days, but they rarely cover games outside the top two divisions for reasons of economics. I told them and the Guardian that I'd be at the game anyway, and the Grauniad asked for a report. (If you think the Express's report seems somewhat similar it's because an agency asked if I could supply one for them as well.) Mad night - too much going on from a match reporter's point of view, but what an occasion.

By the way, can I pay tribute to the Real Andy Naylor, whom I was sitting next to. The Argus copy taker managed to his report of the first 15 minutes and he somehow kept his temper while repeating it virtually word-for-word from memory while still registering everything that was happening on the pitch. What a pro.

One thing: Guardian online - somewhat surprisingly - hasn't updated to include the rewrite with quotes, so here it is.



Brighton became the first team in the Football League to gain promotion this season as Gus Poyet crowned his first full campaign as a manager by taking the Seagulls back to the Championship after an absence of five years.

Poyet's side have dominated npower League One, leading from the front since beating Oldham Athletic on September 25th but this was a nervy night against a Dagenham & Redbridge team looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone. 1-0 down after only 21 seconds, and 3-2 behind early in the second half, Brighton had to show their battling qualities rather than their usual poise.

Now, they can claim the title with victory at Walsall on Saturday, and then look forward to moving to the impressive new £93 million American Express Community Stadium in summer.
“The whole city expected that we would be chasing somebody else with five games to go, so what we have done is much bigger than we expected,” Poyet said. “Now the challenge to the players is to win the league and then, can we get to the beautiful 100 points? But perfection is going up with the new stadium there, and we have done it.”

Over 16,000 season tickets have been sold for the new ground in the expectation of seeing Brighton take on Championship sides at the passing game Poyet has instilled in his players. Dagenham, though, refused to let them play it last night. They were ahead almost immediately as John Akinde's deflected shot beat Casper Ankergren, and even when Inigo Calderon and Glenn Murray put Brighton ahead at the interval, the drama was far from over. The visitors levelled three minutes into the second half with another deflected goal, Jon Nurse's shot on the turn looping in off Calderon, and they went 3-2 ahead as Adam El-Abd brought down Akinde and Green converted the penalty.

With their unbeaten home record in peril, Brighton rose to the challenge again. Liam Bridcutt made it 3-3 from 20 yards and Ashley Barnes headed a fourth within seconds of taking the field as a substitute. “There was tension,” Poyet said. “But I thought that sooner or later we would score goals because that is what the team has been doing,”