Brighton & Hove Albion U23 2 v 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers U23

Monday 12th August 2019
Premier League 2 Division One
Broadfield Stadium, Crawley
Admission: £5.00
Team Sheet: Free
Attendance: 300 (estimate)

Following my lunchtime game at Selhurst Park, I then made my way back to Selhurst rail station to catch a train south to Three Bridges rail station, from where I walked into Crawley town centre for early supper at the town's Wetherspoons, before heading down to the Broadfield Stadium, home of EFL League Two outfit Crawley Town, for this 7pm fixture.

Only the main stand was open for this fixture, with tickets being obtained from the one open turnstile this evening. There have been no noticeable changes to the ground since my last visit five years ago, with small covered terraces behind both goals, and a temporary looking all-seated stand stretching almost the entire length opposite the main stand. Views from the main stand are excellent, elevated and unobstructed, and hot food and drinks were served from a kiosk between the turnstile and the main stand. Team sheets were distributed shortly ahead of kick off, a glance at which showed that, unlike at the earlier game I watched at Crystal Palace, there would be no well-known first team members on display this evening, although Brighton's Irish striker Aaron Connolly was probably the stand-out player, having scored 11 goals in 15 games last season for the development squad, and scored a hat-trick against the MK Dons in the EFL Trophy. Steven Alzate has made 28 EFL appearances for Leyton Orient and Swindon, but has yet to play for the Brighton first team since signing in 2017, while defensive midfielder Tudor Baluta has 5 caps for Romania.

Happily the heavy rain that fell earlier - and which I dodged for the most part being under cover at the time, had long since disappeared, and this game was played in bright evening sunshine, although it remained rather cool for an August evening. The first half was a tight affair, with no really clear goalscoring chances created.

The second half started in much the same vein, although as the game wore on, there was more urgency in the game, and after Brighton had a goalbound shot by Taylor Richards blocked on 55 minutes, Wolves then looked the most likely to open the scoring, and Brighton had keeper Tom McGill to thank for keeping the scores level. First, on 65 minutes, he dived full stretch to his right hand post to save a shot from 8 yards out by Taylor Perry, whilst five minutes later, Ed Francis saw a free kick come back off the post. Brighton then came back into it and, following a corner, Alzate saw a powerful goalbound shot from close to the penalty spot hit a defender to go wide of the goal, and from the resultant corner, Brighton took the lead on 70 minutes. The ball was worked into the area and after Peter Gwargis had a shot blocked from the edge of the area, Connolly smashed the loose ball into the roof of the net. And Brighton doubled their lead two minutes later when Jordan Davies chipped the ball forward for Connolly to run onto and as the keeper came out to the edge of the penalty area, Connolly lobbed the ball over him and the ball bounced into net, shepherded by Gwargis to just prevent a defender clearing the ball. The game rather petered out after that, and Brighton claimed the three points on the opening day of the Premier League 2 season.

Highlights of this game can be viewed by clicking here