Daily Post

Brighton 1, Wrexham 0

Mark Currie
By Mark Currie, Daily Post

01/12/03

Brighton vs. WrexhamWREXHAM'S see-sawing fortunes took another dip in wet, windy and miserable conditions on the south coast on Saturday as their hosts gave boss Mark McGhee his first home win since taking up the reins at the Withdean Stadium.

Boasting the best away record in the Second Division, with five wins on their travels so far this season, Denis Smith's side probably went into the game with a fair amount of confidence but it was Brighton who made the early break-through to settle their nerves.

From the moment John Piercy opened his Football League goalscoring account in the 11th minute the Dragons faced an uphill struggle and, for all their possession and patience, they rarely looked capable of unlocking a solid home defence.

The Racecourse boss admitted afterwards that strikers Chris Armstrong and Hector Sam had battled in vain to make an impact. Not for the first time this season, it was wing-back Carlos Edwards who posed their main threat.

The Trinidad international saw plenty of the ball, as did his namesake, Paul, on the opposite flank. But neither of them was able to deliver enough quality on their final ball to trouble Brighton's back four or goalkeeper Ben Roberts.

Smith insisted there was little to choose between the teams but the home side seemed to be first to the ball when it mattered and they stuck rigidly to the game-plan, much to McGhee's delight.

"The result was important but you're looking at trends and it seems to be one of improvement at the moment," he said.

"We are not playing as well as I hope we will be one day in terms of our football but I thought we created enough chances to have won the game earlier and there was a real discipline about our shape and work ethic.

"The nature of the performance was the main thing I was looking for. We had a game plan to combat their five in midfield against our four and we worked on it.

"It was effective, although we surrendered possession a bit too much, especially to their back three. All they did was play it straight back down our throats, either to Ben Roberts or out for a goal-kick so it worked out well for us.

"All their possession was on halfway or in their own half so that wasn't hurting us. And we expected that because against their 3-5-2 you sometimes have to realise you can't rush in to try and win possession, you have to be patient."

And the icing on the cake for the Brighton boss was that both his side's goals came from midfield players after Wrexham had concentrated on subduing 16-goal striker Leon Knight.

"I said to them before the game that to get promoted we'll probably need in excess of 80 goals and Leon Knight's not going to get them on his own," added McGhee.

The often-maligned Shaun Pejic was given the task of containing the pint-sized Knight and he stuck to the task well, restricting Brighton's dangerman to just one clear chance throughout. But it was a lack of concentration elsewhere that cost Wrexham dear just when it appeared they had weathered Brighton's initial onslaught.

Danny Cullip's free-kick picked out an unmarked Guy Butters and his knockdown fell nicely for Piercy to volley a first-time effort beyond Andy Dibble in what was the first goalmouth action of the game.

Such clear-cut opportunities were to be far and few between and Wrexham, for all their endeavour, were forced to feed on scraps and saw little go for them.

A mistake by defender Adam El-Abd was tided up by Roberts just ahead of Armstrong, when Brian Carey flicked on a corner the goalkeeper missed the ball, which bounced off Chris Llewellyn before being hacked to safety, and Carlos Edwards ran at the defence but saw his shot charged down by Piercy.

But if Brighton rode their luck at times, Wrexham needed Dibble to be alert and the 'keeper kept the game alive, making a fine save from Knight before denying both Nathan Jones and Chris McPhee.

The visitors had the strong wind at their backs for the second half but it was Knight again who created something from nothing to keep Dibble on his toes before Paul Barrett went close to an equaliser, his shot being deflected behind.

The goal that mattered went to Brighton in the 65th minute when Richard Carpenter, making his 150th league appearance for the club, shot from outside the penalty area. The ball clipped Carey's body and arced up and over Dibble, rebounding off the crossbar and into the net.

Wrexham's frustration increased when Steve Thomas came off the bench with 20 minutes left.

He immediately hammered in a free-kick which Roberts was unable to hold, but the bounce again favoured the home side and the ball was cleared.

And the small but vociferous band of visiting supporters just knew it was not going to be their day when the home defence was at last opened up with five minutes remaining.

Thomas crossed from the right and Paul Edwards was at the far post to nod the ball down to Carey, but his shot was a typical defender's effort which flew a long way wide of the mark.

And when Lee Jones, who had replaced Armstrong, was given a chance to show his pace, Roberts instinctively threw up a hand to ensure Brighton's first clean sheet of the season.