Town 2-3 Brighton - Match Report Saturday, 29th Aug 2015 17:22 Brighton leapt above Town to the top of the Championship table after defeating the now-third Blues 3-2 at Portman Road. Two goals in two minutes from Kazenga LuaLua and Tomer Hemed gave the Seagulls a deserved 2-0 half-time lead before the Blues hit back via Freddie Sears and sub David McGoldrick’s penalty but Hemed won it with his second of the afternoon. Josh Emmanuel, 18, was handed his home debut at right-back with Christophe Berra absent with a hamstring injury. Skipper Luke Chambers moved to the centre of the defence. Dean Gerken continued in goal with Bartosz Bialkowski on the bench having returned from Poland following his father’s death last weekend. Brett Pitman and Freddie Sears started up front with David McGoldrick amongst the subs having played the full 120 minutes at Doncaster on Tuesday. New signing Piotr Malarczyk’s international clearance came through in time for the Polish defender to take a place amongst the subs. Brighton included former Town loanees David Stockdale and Liam Rosenior. Within a minute of the start Pitman and Brighton defender Uwe Hünemeier both required treatment after clashing heads but both were OK to continue. The visitors began the game brightly and in the fifth minute LuaLua hit a low shot which Gerken got down to save. Brighton continued to look the more threatening side and in the 10th minute they went in front. Gaetan Bong played a long ball down the Blues right in behind Emmanuel and Chambers couldn’t get across to cover before LuaLua hit a low shot across Gerken and into the corner of the net. The former Newcastle youngster celebrated with a somersault which ended with him falling over, although he probably didn’t care too much about the jeers from the Town support having scored his fourth goal of the season. Two minutes later, it was 2-0. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, celebrating his 18th birthday, picked up an wanted card of the yellow variety for a foul on LuaLua midway inside the Town half on the left. Dale Stephens floated a freekick into the area and Hemed claimed the merest of touches with his head as the ball beat Gerken to his left. The Blues began to get into the game more as the 20-minute mark approached, Pitman should have found Sears with a pass on the edge of the area but Hünemeier cut it out. Two minutes later, after former Blues loanee Rosenior had scraped a shot wide, Maitland-Niles played in Sears on the right of the area following Emmanuel’s quickly taken freekick but no one was running into the area to get on to the striker’s low cross. Town should have found themselves 3-0 behind in the 23rd minute when Sam Baldock got in behind the Blues backline from another long Bong ball from the back but the former West Ham and MK Dons man shot wide when he ought to have scored. In the 36th minute Hünemeier joined Maitland-Niles in referee Keith Hill’s book for catching Sears with an elbow. Gerken did well to punch Hünemeier’s header from under his bar as two Brighton players ran in to add the final touch on 39 before Sears hit Town’s first shot of the afternoon from a tight angle on the right, Stockdale claiming comfortably. Hünemeier will have counted himself lucky to still be on the pitch in the 42nd minute when he caught Fraser with a studs-up, very high boot on the right, not far outside the penalty area. Referee Hill somehow avoided showing a second yellow card to the already-booked German. From the freekick, Fraser laid the ball across to Pitman, who left it for Sears but the former Colchester man’s powerful shot flew wide. As the half moved into injury time Bong blocked off Emmanuel and was booked for an offence which was nowhere near as serious as Hünemeier’s a few minutes earlier. Shortly before the whistle, Bruno scuffed a shot wide from just outside the area. The scoreline was a fair reflection of the half as a whole and the Blues really ought to have been three goals behind, Baldock having missed a golden opportunity. The visitors had controlled the game for long spells with LuaLua always a threat. When the Blues did have the ball all too often it was lost before a chance could be created and Stockdale hadn’t been forced to make a serious save. However, Town will feel that the Seagulls ought to have been reduced to 10 men with Hünemeier’s foul on Fraser well worthy of a second yellow card. Just prior to the end of the half McGoldrick ran along the touchline to the dressing room and the striker was introduced at the start of the second half for Maitland-Niles, while new signing Piotr Malarczyk was given a quick debut in place of Emmanuel. The Pole went to the centre of the defence with Chambers switching to right-back. Brighton, probably wisely, withdrew Hünemeier with Lewis Dunk taking over at the centre of their defence. The Blues began to put the visitors under some early pressure, Sears beating Bong and his blocked shot rebounding to McGoldrick, whose effort from a tight angle was deflected behind. The Seagulls were inches from making it 3-0 in the 51st minute when Stephens hit a low shot from the edge of the area which beat Gerken but struck his post. Chambers cleared the loose ball. Moments later, following a corner, LuaLua shot well wide. Town felt they ought to have been awarded a penalty in the 52nd minute when Dunk appeared to use his arm as Fraser looked to get on to a Jonas Knudsen long throw down the left. Referee Hill awarded just a corner. From the flag-kick, Brighton failed to clear and Malarczyk eventually slammed home what would have been a debut goal but for the linesman’s already raised flag. However, a Town goal wasn’t too much longer in coming. McGoldrick, playing in a deep role behind the main strikers, found Fraser, who fed Pitman on the left, inside the area. The former Bournemouth man hit a low shot which beat Stockdale but struck the post, however, Sears was on hand to slam into the net to claim his third goal of the season. Town had been a much better prospect after the break but on 56 Hemed got away behind the Blues defence and again should have made it 3-0, however, he lashed his shot the wrong side of the post. The Seagulls continued to look dangerous on the break, Beran Kayal shot just over on 61, before Pitman was booked for a foul on Baldock. But four minutes later the Blues got back on terms. Fraser looked to get onto Bruno’s poor defensive header just inside the area and as the Scottish U21 international tried to take the ball away the full-back brought him down. On this occasion referee Hill pointed straight to the spot and McGoldrick beat Stockdale to the keeper’s left, even if he appeared to scuff his third goal of the campaign. But parity wasn’t to last too long. LuaLua’s 67th minute cross from the left deflected off Chambers and Hemed headed his second of the afternoon off Tommy Smith’s arm and past Gerken, who was probably wrong-footed by the deflection. Giles Coke immediately replaced Skuse as the Blues went about the task of getting back on terms once again. On 73 Sears punched away a Sears cross but with no Town player able to get onto the loose ball. Brighton continued to present a danger, Baldock seeing a 75th minute strike deflect over before Smith was forced to nod Hemed’s goal-bound header from off the line. Coke shot well over on 79, then a minute later Fraser screwed an effort wide, before Dunk headed over from a freekick at the other end. On 85 Malarczyk lost possession to Rosenior on the Blues left and the former Hull City man brought the ball into the box before hitting a low shot which Gerken did well to save. Three minutes later, following a corner, Sears whipped over a superb cross from the left but no one could add the final touch and Stockdale gratefully claimed. The Blues had huffed and puffed during additional time but never seriously looked like getting back on terms and overall the visitors deserved the three points which sees them replace Town at the top of the table. Having been very much second best in the first half, Town, who missed Christophe Berra at one of the field and Daryl Murphy at the other, battled their way back into the game after the break, although Brighton could easily have been even further in front by that stage. Had the Seagulls not scored so soon after the equaliser then Town might have gone on to claim a point or all three but the Blues lost the momentum their two goals had given them. Following the international break, Town are next in action away against Reading in a live Sky game on Friday 11th September. Town: Gerken, Emmanuel (Malarczyk 46), Chambers, Smith, Knudsen, Skuse (Coke 67), Douglas, Fraser, Maitland-Niles (McGoldrick 46), Pitman, Sears. Unused: Bialkowski, Kenlock, Tabb, Touré. Brighton: Stockdale, Bruno, Greer, Hünemeier (Dunk 46), Bong, Rosenior, Stephens, Kayal, LuaLua, Hemed (Zamora 78), Baldock (Ince 83). Unused: Maenpaa, Murphy, March, Forster-Caskey. Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire). Att: 21,034 (Brighton: 1,132)
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