With the stadium having been open since July 2011 this was my first serious attempt to catch a game here and with most Brighton home games only having 1,500 tickets spare for home fans, a schools game gave me the perfect oppertunity.
After much debating over which train to take and whether to go via Lewes or Brighton I opted to drive and left home just after 5.15pm for the 54 mile journey (calculated with google maps). As with any drive to Brighton the journey was pretty easy until I hit traffic on the A23 which meant my first view of the "new" stadium was at 19.15 as I exited the A27 to look for a parking spot.
Having parked by The White Swan public house, I made my way across the footbridge and set off to the stadium with just 15 mintues until kick off.
The outside of the stadium really is impressive and as much as I don't generally like new out of town stadiums this does have some style to it.
After a really quick circuit of the car park looking at the outside of all of the stands I made my way into the West Stand (which was the only stand open for this match). The concourses were extremely busy but I had time to grab a couple of pies...I had to buy 2 as they are award winning!! With pies in hand I took my seat.
The view from my seat was unobstructed and was perfect. As I looked over at the other 3 stands I did wish that I had visited when a full house was in so I could really feel the benefit. Image below taken looking towards the East stand from my seat.
This really is a well put together stadium but the 2 stands behind the goals look much bigger on television than they are in the flesh. I do hope the Brighton fans feel proud of their new home as it's a belter. Granted it's not the Goldstone Ground but it is a ground to call their own and is a marked improvement on the Withdean, which of course is just an Athletics Track with a clubhouse.
The game started and England went at the visitors with real gusto in the first few minutes with a great chance on just 4 minutes but then the Irish got back into the game with Conner Sidley-Adams in the England goal making 2 great saves to keep the scores level. On 35 minutes England did take the lead when Michael Sweet was released down the right before drilling the ball perfectly through the keepers legs and into the net.
5 minutes later he had a similar chance from the left but this time the balled rolled agonisingly wide. Then from a corner at the other end Ireland thought they had equalised only for the ref to rule the goal out for a foul. Moments before half time England and Sweet got their 2nd goals when released through the defence again he made no mistake in taking the advantage to grab he's 2nd of the match.
The 2nd half started with a couple of substitutions and England continued to press attempting to get a third and really kill the game off. After several chances Ireland got back in the game when Sean Maguire headed into an unguarded net to reduced the arrears towards the end of the match. 5 minutes of added time was played before the ref blow for full time and England claimed the Centenary Shield, a win that was celebrated in style by the young England lads & staff.
This was ground number 294 for me and my first new one since Hampden Park on 14th April, time to step it up if I really want to get to 300 grounds by the time the season ends. Off to Burgess Hill on Saturday to see if Dulwich can take 3 points and the Whitehawk result goes our way to claim the title.
Til the next time.
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