[Albion] Crystal Palace vs Brighton And Hove Albion ****Official Match Thread****

[RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)]

Vs



Football league Championship
Play off Semi Final, 1st Leg.

Selhurst Park

Kick Off:- 7.45 P.M

Match Officials:-
Referee:- MICHAEL OLIVER
Michael McDonough and Adrian Holmes
Fourth Official Stuart Attwell

So here we are then.
Possibly the biggest games against Palace since our rivalry began.
Nothing that has gone before matters now. The future is all that counts now, for both clubs.
Will Albion continue their excellent recent form?
Have palace bounced back after Peterborough victory?

I say 2-1 Albion, Ulloa and Orlandi.

Enter the Arena and fight like lions my Super Seagulls.



Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more.

 

[Albion_Dave]

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

God Bless you,the Albion,the fans the club,tony and tony,everything and everything Brighton related....past present and future

Step aside Palace,this is the moment the Albion casts a shadow over you,this is the very moment the sun breaks on our brave new dawn.

 

[Nottseagull]

Far too early for a match thread!
I hope this isn't a bad omen.....

 

[pastafarian]

i feel sick
in a good way.

 

[GoldWithFalmer]

Far too early for a match thread!
I hope this isn't a bad omen.....

No it's not,the game is an evening KO,thus the impression is it's too early.

 

[HOFNSKIN]

carpe diem

 

[GreersElbow]

It's now less than 20 hours to go, and I feel sick with apprehension.

 

[Everest]

Play off matches at Crystal Palace
None

Head-to-head
• These arch-rivals first met in 1920 and only one win separates them after 96 games; Crystal Palace have won 36, Brighton 37, with 23 drawn.
• Both league meetings this season were won 3-0 by the club playing at home. This equivalent fixture saw Palace scoring two penalties, a double from Glenn Murray against his former club, and a red card for Brighton, who had Lewis Dunk sent off after only eight minutes.
• This is the first time in 22 years they are meeting outside of a regular league match.
Crystal Palace
• Crystal Palace ended the regulation 46 fixtures on a four-match unbeaten sequence, sending Peterborough down with a 3-2 home win in their last game.
• Palace (fifth) finished in their highest position in five seasons, immediately below Brighton with three fewer points, an equal number of victories (19) and four more goals.
• The Eagles were the highest home scorers in the Football League with 52 goals from 23 games.
• They were one of the most resilient clubs in the Championship, winning six games from losing positions.
• Palace have been promoted to the top flight via the play-offs on three occasions - in 1989, 1997 and 2004.
• They have won the first leg of the semi-final on three occasions and made the final four times, but have failed to do so on both counts in their most recent two attempts - in 2006 and 2008.
Brighton
• Brighton ended the regular season on a longer unbeaten sequence than any other club in the Championship of nine matches, winning five (including the last three) and drawing four since losing at Barnsley on 12 March.
• Fourth place was their highest finish since relegation from the top flight in 1983.
• They were the draw specialists of the second tier (18 of 46), and boasted the meanest defence, conceding just 43 goals.
• The Seagulls were the only club who both did not lose a Championship match in which they scored first and did not win one in which they conceded the opening goal.
• This is Brighton's third play-off campaign. They failed to go up to the top flight through them in 1991, but were promoted into the second tier in 2004 via this route.
• The south coast club won the first leg of both semi-finals and reached the final on both occasions; the first at the old Wembley, the second at the Millennium Stadium.

 

[savanah]

The four day war begins.
Come on the Albion.

 

[Sompting_Seagull]

Rowley's in the house, well done for waiting till it was actually Friday. Feeling more confident now, you're on a great roll. 2-1 Seagulls. Still can't sleep though, big dose of PMT.

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

Pictures and everything!! We can't lose.

 

[Everest]

I have never posted my scorecast in this thread, and I'm not starting now.

I did have a dream last night of how it pans out though, and Orlandi scores a magnificent WINNER

 

[dingodan]

The four day war begins.
Come on the Albion.

 

[jimhigham]

Regardless of how the next two matches go, I am so proud of the club and what it has achieved in recent years. We were a moribund club, homeless and stumbling around in the lower divisions for the better part of a decade yet here we are now, with a gleaming home, a team full of talent and the best attendance figures in our league. No amount of pinching wakes us up. This is not a dream. We are a club worth watching.

Onwards.

 

[Red'n'Blue]

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

I hate the fact that I like you.

 

[Bring back Bryan wade!!]

Rowley...... You da man!!!!!!

Success is now assured.

 

[chucky1973]

I'm going to hate today.

 

[Notters]

It always goes wrong when you put a capital "a" on "and"