| In the ninetieth minute, Richard Carpenter scored from a superb free kick to give Brighton what looked like all three points and in the process practically killed off any lingering hopes of success for Dale this season. Three minutes later, Lee Todd scored a similar free kick to return the hope to the Dale fans.
The goal from Lee Todd can be seen in two ways. You can look at it, and think of it as being the first bit of fortune (not that it was a lucky goal) which has come our way in recent weeks. That could be just what is needed to reawaken the squad from their current slump in form. It may return that bit of confidence that has been missing and with plenty of matches still to come, this may spark us on a run of form at just the right time. Alternatively, you may look at it as being too little too late.
Looking around Spotland tonight, it seems that many Dale fans have already signalled their intentions for the season. Despite a large number of Albion supporters in attendance, we recorded our lowest home crowd of the season. A crowd of less than 2,500 turned up, which included somewhere in the region of 7-800 or so who have travelled from the South Coast for this midweek fixture, which was typical of their magnificent away following. So realistically, we were looking at around 1,500 Dale fans in what was a very sparse Spotland on three sides of the ground. That means something like a thousand Dale fans who attended the previous home match against Cheltenham decided not to bother for this game.
As for the game, it was a much improved Dale performance on the recent run of home matches since the televised match against Orient and it was very much needed. Albion came and looked a far improved side from the one seen at Withdean earlier this season, and that without leading scorer Zamora, who was missing through injury.
It was very clear to all watching the game why Brighton have enjoyed so much success so far this season. They have a team full of very committed players who chased every ball. They had pace in abundance and they never allowed the Dale players to settle on the ball for very long at all. They swarmed around in packs, and always had men available. They weren't the long ball side I was expecting, but they played the ball into the right areas, where several bodies were already running towards. This pace allowed them to have several options at all times, and they were so fast from defending to attack, and quick to pounce on any mistakes.
At least this gave us a different style of play to the ones we have seen at Spotland recently, with the opposition playing ten men in defence, and looking to sneak one on the break. This allowed Dale to be a bit more attacking in their outlook, but for the early stages of the game, we had to be on the back foot for long periods.
Perhaps Dale weren't used to playing in such a game at Spotland after the recent Groundhog Day matches, but Brighton were well on top, and they never allowed us the time to start passing the ball about. Connor and Platt were working hard for Dale up front, but they were short of success.
On the quarter hour mark, Albion had a great chance to have taken the lead, but it went begging. They were attacking the WMG side of the ground, and a cross came in from the right wing, with a free header at the front post for one of their central defenders but without any pressure from any Dale players, he headed wide of the post.
Although both sides had chances, they were usually restricted to long range efforts, which never forced either keeper to pull off any saves. Paul Connor who struggled at times against a defence with plenty of strength had one great chance which he made for himself. He showed himself to be more than capable with the ball at his feet, and he turned a couple of defenders, but he found himself squeezed out by Crosby before he had the time to shoot.
Brighton found themselves with another great chance when a long range effort seemed to be tipped away by Edwards when everyone else was well beaten. It eventually went out towards the corner flag. They had other chances which either went just wide of the post or just as close. They were certainly the better team in the first half, despite the fact that Dale had not been playing badly at all.
The second half saw Phil Hadland brought on for Andy Turner, after spending the last five minutes of the first half being given instructions by Parkin. He seemed to be at the heart of everything in the opening few minutes, and he certainly had mixed fortunes this evening. There were a couple of real mistakes where the ball ran out of play when he failed to control it, much to the amusement of the Albion fans, but fair play to him, he never let it affect him, and he showed signs that his all round game is rapidly improving, getting stuck in on several occasions, and he even won a header (how many wingers can we have said about in recent years?).
Dale were certainly improved in the second half, but the game continued in much the same vein as the first, with most chances being half chances, with neither keeper really tested on any occasion. It certainly wasn't a drab nil nil, with both sides enjoying spells on top in the second half, but neither side seemed to be able to take advantage of these spells.
With time running out, Brighton were awarded a free kick following a close encounter on Richard Carpenter by Dave Bayliss. I didn't see a great deal wrong with it,but the Brighton player involved certainly looked aggrieved at it, and it was only the awarding of a free kick which prevented him reacting the challenge. Carpenter certainly calmed himself down, and he stepped up and produced a stunning free kick into the top right corner as he looked at it, beating Edwards with ease to send the travelling crowds into great delight. This prompted scenes of mass celebration with pitch invasions from both the supporters and the Albion dugout.
With the Albion supporters singing songs of Championships, and Micky Adams so certain of winning that he even brought on Phil Stant, everything changed. With many of the small number of Dale supporters having already left the ground (to beat the rush?), those that were remaining were soon smiling again.
Dale were awarded a free kick on the right hand side three minutes into the allotted three minutes of injury time, and Lee Todd stepped up to take it from a similar sort of position to the one he scored at Carlisle, with a similar outcome. This one was a far better effort, and he curled it round the huge Albion wall to spark similar scenes of celebration. We may only know the true worth of that goal at the end of the season.
Had we not been desperate for a victory, we would all have agreed that a point from this match against a team second in the table was a good point. There were a lot of positives from this game, with Platt again looking back to form, and a much improved Dave Flitcroft back in his preferred middle of the pitch. The team showed a lot of character coming back as they did against what was certainly an excellent side heading for promotion.
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