A weekend to remember for Brighton

Brighton and Hove Albion had a fantastic weekend as their Men’s, Women’s, and U21s sides all secured victory in their respective fixtures.

The weekend started at the Broadfield stadium where the Women’s side faced Aston Villa. They have had a great start to the season, so there was much excitement around this game and the team in general. And it did not disappoint.

Within 15 minutes the score was already 1-1 after Nikita Parris cancelled out Rachel Daly’s early opener. The Seagulls then took the lead through a beautiful finish from Pauline Bremer to turn the game around and go into half-time with a 2-1 lead.

Aston Villa equalised 10 minutes into the second half as Rachel Daly converted her penalty to score her second of the afternoon, which set up a frantic final 30 minutes.

With around 15 minutes to play, Brighton clicked a long ball into the box causing Paula Tomas to clatter into the forward. Without hesitation the referee pointed to the spot and reached for a red card.

Up stepped Fran Kirby to calmly slot the ball into the bottom left corner and restore the host’s lead.

Poppy Pattinson was also sent off for a second yellow in added time.

Brighton had one last chance to attack deep into stoppage time, they played in Michelle Agyemang who beat the defender for pass and fired a shot past the goalkeeper to kill the game and put another three points on the board.

Next up was the U21s who kicked off later into the day on Saturday. They faced fierce rivals Crystal Palace at the Lancing training ground. It was a game that should have been closely contested when looking at he strength of both academies. But this was not the case.

Brighton 10 (ten) – 0 Crystal Palace.

You have read that correctly. Brighton demolishing Crystal Palace in an unbelievable victory.

It was complete domination from the hosts throughout the game, having 33 shots, 17 on target, and 61% of the possession.

The goals were spread nicely around the team with Caylan Vickers picking up a hat-trick, Harry Howell picking up a brace, and Cameron Peupion, Ruairi McConville, Joshua Duffus, Jamie Mullins, and Marcus Ifill all scoring one too.

It was a game that highlighted the strength of the side, and one to really excite Albion fans.

The final game of the weekend kicked off at 4:30pm on Sunday afternoon where the Men’s side faced Tottenham Hotspur at the AMEX stadium in a game that was sure to bring a lot of goals.

It was a disastrous first half for the Seagulls going 2-0 down to goals from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison. It could have easily been three or four if Spurs had taken their chances.

There was not much belief left in the stadium with it not seemingly being Brighton’s day. But what happened next was incredible.

The home side came racing out of the blocks and immediately pulled one back through Yankuba Minteh. His first goal of the season could not have come at a better time.

Momentum was flowing and adrenaline was pumping, giving the crowd and the players confidence and belief that they could do it.

Kaoru Mitoma picked out Georginio Rutter in the middle as the hour mark approach. The ball stuck to the record signing’s feet. One touch to control the ball, a second to create space, and a third to slot the ball into the far bottom corner. What a finish!

2-2! The comeback was well and truly on…

The Albion kept pushing and pushing to find that winner and that is what they did exactly eight minutes after equalising.

A throw from Joel Veltman found the feet of Georginio who turned past his man into the box. The ball was getting away from him and looked like it would be easily cleared by the Tottenham defender. But pure passion and desire from Georginio got him there first as he slid in to cross the ball onto Danny Welbeck’s head and into an empty net.

The AMEX erupted.

3-2 Brighton, they had turned the game around in 20 minutes.

Spurs were shellshocked and had nothing to get back into the game themselves.

A huge second half performance pushed Brighton up to sixth to complete a fabulous weekend for everybody at the club.

17 goals. 9 points. What a weekend…