Mackail-Smith hits penalty winner (From The Argus)

Those are the kinds of away results you need to dig out to keep on course for promotion, and the fans out chanted Watford. Awesome

What a Knobbie Dobbie is, getting booked 5 mins after coming on. We rode our luck tonight and at this rate I can see us getting into the Christmas break with our heads nicely buried in the sands…. In gusset we’re a thick muppet, from a suck it to nantucket

An excellent result and 3 more points. Its a match we would have lost last season. Millwall will be another tough test and if we can grind out a similar result then our season is well and truly underway. UTA

championshipgull wrote:
Those are the kinds of away results you need to dig out to keep on course for promotion, and the fans out chanted Watford. Awesome

Indeed championshipgull & Govinda

It wasn't pretty, and playing away is always going to be tough. A well deserved hard fought victory!

Having read the match report it is clear that had Hammond had his scoring boots on we could have won comfortably, Cms could also have scored in open play. I suspect Hammond is where CMS was a few weeks back, needs just one goal to get him started.

Seven yellow cards in the game suggests a battle was fought and we won that battle. The back four and keeper can be proud of another clean sheet.

some quotes ....
POYET HAILS HIS BATTLERS
Gus Poyet praised his players’ character after they battled to a hard-fought
win at Watford to maintain their early-season winning run.
Craig Mackail-Smith’s penalty four minutes into the second half - his sixth
goal in four games - was enough to fire the Seagulls to their fourth straight
victory and keep them third in the npower Championship.
The Brighton manager said: “It was a very difficult one, there were so many
things that happened in the game, so at the end you think we really battled to
get a result. Credit to the players.”
Asked if the victory could be looked upon in an even more significant light
later in the season, Poyet responded: “Probably because Watford needed to win
today and they started really brightly, they had a few shots from long
distance.
“I remember a deflected shot that on another day would have gone in - and then
the whole game would have changed,” he said of Fernando Forestieri’s early
strike that flew narrowly wide off Adam El-Abd.
He continued: “The last 20, 25 minutes of the first half it was all us; we had
very good chances that we didn’t convert.
“At half-time I thought it was going to be one of those days where we’re not
going to score but then the penalty changed the game.
“It gave that little bit of urgency to Watford and they started committing
forward and we needed to defend.
“We had a few breaks but if you look at the players, how they are, how they
feel, the pains and the aches will show you it was a very difficult game.”
Brighton had the chances to win by a wider margin but by Forestieri hit the bar
and Watford had numerous other shots as well as two good penalty appeals turned
down when Jonathan Hogg and Nathaniel Chalobah were felled in the area.
Head coach Gianfranco Zola, who played alongside Poyet at Chelsea, said: “The
Brighton penalty was a penalty, I will have to see.
“But after that it’s been one after another chance and, honestly, if that was
a penalty for Brighton at least one of the ones for us was a penalty too.
“I’m very disappointed because the referee is there, he saw it and he didn’t
give and it’s such a disappointment because my players deserved something more
from that and they gave everything until the end.
“We are fighting against the odds, difficulties - but we are going to make a
good team out of this team, I promise.”
While Watford had the better of the territory and exchanges over the 90
minutes, they struggled to create many clear-cut chances.
Zola acknowledged: “We know that the last bit is not quite there for the
moment but believe me in football that is the most difficult bit.
“But we are trying very hard and we are going to get it working, don’t worry
about. We’ll sort it out.”
end

kwaidam wrote:
some quotes ....
POYET HAILS HIS BATTLERS
Gus Poyet praised his players’ character after they battled to a hard-fought
win at Watford to maintain their early-season winning run.
Craig Mackail-Smith’s penalty four minutes into the second half - his sixth
goal in four games - was enough to fire the Seagulls to their fourth straight
victory and keep them third in the npower Championship.
The Brighton manager said: “It was a very difficult one, there were so many
things that happened in the game, so at the end you think we really battled to
get a result. Credit to the players.”
Asked if the victory could be looked upon in an even more significant light
later in the season, Poyet responded: “Probably because Watford needed to win
today and they started really brightly, they had a few shots from long
distance.
“I remember a deflected shot that on another day would have gone in - and then
the whole game would have changed,” he said of Fernando Forestieri’s early
strike that flew narrowly wide off Adam El-Abd.
He continued: “The last 20, 25 minutes of the first half it was all us; we had
very good chances that we didn’t convert.
“At half-time I thought it was going to be one of those days where we’re not
going to score but then the penalty changed the game.
“It gave that little bit of urgency to Watford and they started committing
forward and we needed to defend.
“We had a few breaks but if you look at the players, how they are, how they
feel, the pains and the aches will show you it was a very difficult game.”
Brighton had the chances to win by a wider margin but by Forestieri hit the bar
and Watford had numerous other shots as well as two good penalty appeals turned
down when Jonathan Hogg and Nathaniel Chalobah were felled in the area.
Head coach Gianfranco Zola, who played alongside Poyet at Chelsea, said: “The
Brighton penalty was a penalty, I will have to see.
“But after that it’s been one after another chance and, honestly, if that was
a penalty for Brighton at least one of the ones for us was a penalty too.
“I’m very disappointed because the referee is there, he saw it and he didn’t
give and it’s such a disappointment because my players deserved something more
from that and they gave everything until the end.
“We are fighting against the odds, difficulties - but we are going to make a
good team out of this team, I promise.”
While Watford had the better of the territory and exchanges over the 90
minutes, they struggled to create many clear-cut chances.
Zola acknowledged: “We know that the last bit is not quite there for the
moment but believe me in football that is the most difficult bit.
“But we are trying very hard and we are going to get it working, don’t worry
about. We’ll sort it out.”
end

Thanks for that Kwaidam - been looking for the interviews for a while. Can go to bed now!

Next up Millwall away.

Cardiff beat them today 2-0, two goals in 90 seconds, one scored by Noone, and they also lost their previous game 4-1 to Hull.
With just one home victory and two losses Brighton must be thinking that another three points are available.

Millwall have score 3 goals at home but conceded 5, suggests that they like to come forward but have some questions at the back.
Away from home they have scored 5 and let in 8, I see this as conformation that they know how to find the net but they can't protect their own, they are -5 overall.

Over the first six games Millwall are conceding goals at a rate of 2.17 per game, Brighton are at 0.5 per game.

Over the same matches Millwall are scoring at a rate of 1.33 per game and Brighton are at 2.0 per game.

Looking at the numbers and taking into consideration our classy performance backed up by a gritty one, I think Brighton should beat Millwall.

Millwall will want something from the game, they won't want back to back home defeats, so I expect a tricky match.

It will be interesting to see what odds the bookies offer.

Some more Brighton V Millwall stats.

Brighton have CMS 2nd in the goal scoring table, Millwall have no one in the top 20.

Brighton have scored first in 4 out of last 6 matches.
Millwall 1 in last 6 matches.

Brighton have failed to score twice in last six matches.
Millwall have the same numbers.

Brighton have 3 clean sheets from 6
Millwall have 0 from 6.

The opposition have scored first against Brighton once in last six matches.
Millwall have gone one down five times in last six matches.

If we are not favs to beat Millwall then something is wrong in the heads of the bookies.

Blimey that's a lot of stats Vegas.....

I was there tonight and just got home, we were very lucky to get any result, let alone three points.

That's the sort of result we need though, grinding one out when we don't deserve it, reminds me of Reading at home last year!

Still, it was a massive contrast to Friday night when we were brilliant, only fearful, as if we play like that every week we will get thoroughly turned over this season, still what do i know, was raving Saturday morning that if we play like that every week - we will win the league!

Even the crowd a bit subdued tonight but 3 points is three points, keep grinding them out and we'll be a force to reckon with, Man Utd always win when they play badly so if we are following their lead we can't complain!!!!
Go on you Seagulls!!!!

VegasSeagull wrote:
Some more Brighton V Millwall stats.

Brighton have CMS 2nd in the goal scoring table, Millwall have no one in the top 20.

Brighton have scored first in 4 out of last 6 matches.
Millwall 1 in last 6 matches.

Brighton have failed to score twice in last six matches.
Millwall have the same numbers.

Brighton have 3 clean sheets from 6
Millwall have 0 from 6.

The opposition have scored first against Brighton once in last six matches.
Millwall have gone one down five times in last six matches.

If we are not favs to beat Millwall then something is wrong in the heads of the bookies.

Great name & great stats Vegas, however you omit the key one. We have only lost 1 of last 7 away to 'Wall

Good Ol' Hemz by the Sea wrote:
Blimey that's a lot of stats Vegas.....

I was there tonight and just got home, we were very lucky to get any result, let alone three points.

That's the sort of result we need though, grinding one out when we don't deserve it, reminds me of Reading at home last year!

Still, it was a massive contrast to Friday night when we were brilliant, only fearful, as if we play like that every week we will get thoroughly turned over this season, still what do i know, was raving Saturday morning that if we play like that every week - we will win the league!

Even the crowd a bit subdued tonight but 3 points is three points, keep grinding them out and we'll be a force to reckon with, Man Utd always win when they play badly so if we are following their lead we can't complain!!!!
Go on you Seagulls!!!!

How can you say we were lucky to get anything from the game? We had comfortably the better chances and both CMS and Hammond should have done better. How many shots did Kush have to save, he made one quality punch and gathered a few crosses very comfortably. We defended very well albeit too deeply for the final 20 minutes. Orlandi looked uncomfortable, and perhaps Barnes should have started, Dobbie when he came on was disappointing, I was expecting a lot more energy from him, I know he is better behind the strikers, but he looked lethargic. Can't really comment on their penalty shouts as they were the other end of the pitch. Watford were lucky to finish the game with eleven players, the foul on CMS for the penalty didn't even result in a yellow card. Not our best performance, but I will take the three points.

Alfie T wrote:

Good Ol' Hemz by the Sea wrote:
Blimey that's a lot of stats Vegas.....

I was there tonight and just got home, we were very lucky to get any result, let alone three points.

That's the sort of result we need though, grinding one out when we don't deserve it, reminds me of Reading at home last year!

Still, it was a massive contrast to Friday night when we were brilliant, only fearful, as if we play like that every week we will get thoroughly turned over this season, still what do i know, was raving Saturday morning that if we play like that every week - we will win the league!

Even the crowd a bit subdued tonight but 3 points is three points, keep grinding them out and we'll be a force to reckon with, Man Utd always win when they play badly so if we are following their lead we can't complain!!!!
Go on you Seagulls!!!!

How can you say we were lucky to get anything from the game? We had comfortably the better chances and both CMS and Hammond should have done better. How many shots did Kush have to save, he made one quality punch and gathered a few crosses very comfortably. We defended very well albeit too deeply for the final 20 minutes. Orlandi looked uncomfortable, and perhaps Barnes should have started, Dobbie when he came on was disappointing, I was expecting a lot more energy from him, I know he is better behind the strikers, but he looked lethargic. Can't really comment on their penalty shouts as they were the other end of the pitch. Watford were lucky to finish the game with eleven players, the foul on CMS for the penalty didn't even result in a yellow card. Not our best performance, but I will take the three points.

Forgot to add, Buckley and Bridge were outstanding, Watfords full back was replaced at half time to save his sanity. A very impressive combo on the left flank.

Alfie T wrote:

Alfie T wrote:

Good Ol' Hemz by the Sea wrote:
Blimey that's a lot of stats Vegas.....

I was there tonight and just got home, we were very lucky to get any result, let alone three points.

That's the sort of result we need though, grinding one out when we don't deserve it, reminds me of Reading at home last year!

Still, it was a massive contrast to Friday night when we were brilliant, only fearful, as if we play like that every week we will get thoroughly turned over this season, still what do i know, was raving Saturday morning that if we play like that every week - we will win the league!

Even the crowd a bit subdued tonight but 3 points is three points, keep grinding them out and we'll be a force to reckon with, Man Utd always win when they play badly so if we are following their lead we can't complain!!!!
Go on you Seagulls!!!!

How can you say we were lucky to get anything from the game? We had comfortably the better chances and both CMS and Hammond should have done better. How many shots did Kush have to save, he made one quality punch and gathered a few crosses very comfortably. We defended very well albeit too deeply for the final 20 minutes. Orlandi looked uncomfortable, and perhaps Barnes should have started, Dobbie when he came on was disappointing, I was expecting a lot more energy from him, I know he is better behind the strikers, but he looked lethargic. Can't really comment on their penalty shouts as they were the other end of the pitch. Watford were lucky to finish the game with eleven players, the foul on CMS for the penalty didn't even result in a yellow card. Not our best performance, but I will take the three points.

Forgot to add, Buckley and Bridge were outstanding, Watfords full back was replaced at half time to save his sanity. A very impressive combo on the left flank.

Thank you lads, saves me spending a fortune on the Argus.

Some really good posts on here, just what us `Seagull ex-pats` need as we are unable to get the, full reports, thanks guys, Great start to the season by our great team, onwards & Upwards.

franckiep en france wrote:
Some really good posts on here, just what us `Seagull ex-pats` need as we are unable to get the, full reports, thanks guys, Great start to the season by our great team, onwards & Upwards.

I echo this comment, thanks people.