Seagulls at the Banks’?

Crowds were gathered at Shoreham for the annual Shoreham Air Show last weekend. Something went wrong. Dreadfully wrong – and as is the norm now there were so many cameras on it to record the Hawker Hunter (one of my personal aviation icons) topping out of a loop in blazing sunshine and – somehow, time will perhaps reveal – bottoming out too low and crashing into the nearby A27. Fireball!

Latest death toll yesterday was eleven and set to rise. So sad. And I am a great fan of air shows (though on holiday in Bideford I missed the one at Cosford this year) but this is real tragedy. People and families affected.

Shoreham: close to Brighton. Brighton our visitors this evening in the Capital One Cup. And one of the people who lost their lives in the disaster was a member of the Brighton hospitality staff as well as playing for Worthing F.C. as a genuinely rightful mark of respect before kick-off there was a minute’s silence. Enormously respectful – the whole crowd in harmony for a minute, between referee’s whistles.

 

Then applause and the game began.

Credit to the four hundred and some fans of Brighton who made the long journey; these are real supporters. Travelling the distances for away games in mid-week. As an experiment Walsall have moved away fans into the pitch-side stand, with both “ends” being allocated for Walsall fans. The idea, as best I understand it (and maybe I don’t) is that our team gets vocal support from both ends. This is fairly common at other away grounds. Let’s see what comes of it.

Certainly there were chants from both ends – and enough noise from the Brighton travelling masses.

Now Brighton began the game unbeaten: second in the Championship ( league above us) and started brightly enough. Our defence passing the ball smartly and accurately, but Brighton stronger and appearing fitter (as one might expect from a higher league side). Don’t get me wrong; I am constantly impressed by the levels of fitness shown by the Saddlers team: Jon Whitney has a lot to be proud of. But they also appeared more tactically savvy, changing and adapting and sharper.

Downing guilty of misplacing some passes and giving the ball away.

Referee was also sharp: we got a high number of free kicks in the first fifteen minutes. But then he slacked off, feeling, perhaps that he had established his authority.

Bradshaw playing a lone man up front, busy as ever, but getting nothing from the Brighton defenders. Credit to the striker – he never gave up chasing and harrying. Kieron Morris again supporting brilliantly: some wonderful close control as he ventured on long runs.

The corner score board screen surreally showed the pitch action. Smaller than real life. At rock concerts it is the very opposite: the stage screens show large images. Here we wondered at the point of the exercise. Really necessary?

But a few minutes before half time Brighton player Forster Caskey, after riding a challenge for a defender, decided to throw himself to the ground. Rather than book the blatant diver the referee pointed to the spot and the penalty was scored.

Half time – one of the access doors to the savoy Lounge being jammed we nipped inside for a coffee. Back out again afterwards Walsall’s attitude this season kicked in. they’ re from a higher league? Well, let’s get among ‘em then. Lalkovic, eager in the first half became more of a threat, jinking, turning, her one moment, somewhere different later.

Young, muscular centre half Matt Preston made his season’s debut (was that his parents next to me taking so many photos?) to replace Downing. Sawyers on for Flanagan. A long, perhaps hopeful ball down the line saw Tom Bradshaw, head down getting to it first, bustling past a defender and knocking it into the ox. Sawyers? No, he let it run: Lalkovic, steaming in hammered it home. He is very passionate, this twenty two year old and celebrated long and too hard, earning a yellow card. Such antic s (scoring and heart) have already made his return popular.

Now we were rampant!

But, another Brighton penalty at least as dubious as the first. Blazed high, wide and not terribly handsomely over the bar. To the delight of the Walsall fans ensconced behind the end where, normally Brighton fans would have been. Is this the desired effect?

Game ticking in to last ten minutes, we are well on top, pushing hard. Sawyers, having a much better game against this classier side, swung a ball into the path of raiding forward defender Rico henry: the tiniest player on the pitch. Tiny? But massive hearted; he’d run himself all over the pitch to that point. A great finish – and we hung on for the additional five minutes. Thanks ref!

Who would we like in the next round? I wondered aloud if Milan Lalkovic might like to have a crack at Chelsea the team that let him go.

Whaddaya know? Looking at the draw on the internet: Chelsea at home

The original Mourinho versus the “ginger Mourinho”

Meanwhile in the Athletics World Championships Jessica Ennis-Hill amazed herself and not a few aficionados by blasting her way to a gold medal. Modesty personified she is gritty, committed and gracious, she was uncertain about even competing in these games having given birth to a son just a year ago. Alf Tupper, are you looking in on this? And Greg Rutherford also claimed a gold in the long jump.