Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, I’m going to Forest Green

When I walked out of Molineux on Saturday 7th March 2020, I didn’t think it would be 19 months before I set foot in a football stadium again.

One of my friends is a massive Norwich fan and as soon as Brighton’s fixtures came out in June, several of my Brighton supporting friends started planning our trip to Norwich away with him this October.

I had been to Norwich once in 2003 and that game was abandoned an hour after the scheduled kick off time as the ground suffered a power cut. We slowly froze in the stands, with snow falling on the pitch and the tannoy announcing “Mr Carrow is in the stand”.

As the Norwich game drew nearer, I could feel my excitement building. I would finally get to see the exciting side Graham Potter had put together over the last 18 months in a game that the Albion had a chance of winning. Although it is Brighton we are talking about so nothing is guaranteed.

Then the story broke about the fuel shortages across the country and I became worried that a five hour cross country trip from my home in Somerset to Norfolk might not be possible.

In the end, fuel proved to be the least of my worries as Brighton had only asked for 2,000 tickets for the trip to Carrow Road, all of which had been sold to season ticket holders before I could even apply.

As a fan who at best gets to 5 to 10 games a season, I don’t have a problem with the tickets going to those who are more loyal to the club.

Being loyal is far more difficult when you live four hours drive away from Brighton and have young children who, despite your best efforts, have developed next to no interest in football.

Whilst my friends have decided to go to Norwich anyway, I decide not to. I can only describe the thought of sitting in a bar in Norwich while the game is on as meeting up with your first love only for him or her to shag someone else in the room next door. No thank you.

So there I was, upset about missing the Norwich game and a weekend with my friends. Luckily, Mother Nature conspired to give me the chance to watch the next best thing to Seagulls v Canaries in the Premier League – Brighton’s Under 21 team away at Forest Green Rovers in a rearranged Papa John’s Trophy match.

Compared to the arid south east, rain is part of the everyday experience when you live in the south west of England. Yet even this part of the world was taken by surprise by the rain which fell on Tuesday 28th September.

The Stroud Times described it as “biblical” and the original game between Forest Green and the Albion was called off an hour before kick-off.

The fixture was rearranged to take place on an evening that I was free, so I travelled the hour up the road to see the Under 21s in action and have a vegan pasty at ‘The World’s Greenest Football Club’.

For an ecologically aware football club, it struck be how difficult it is to get to Forest Green by anything but a car. Travelling sustainably would take five buses and three and half hours to get to the game, with no public transport alternatives to get home.

That left me with the option of driving across the glorious Gloucestershire countryside and ending up on a single-track roads to reach the ground.

With an attendance of just 604 (44 from Brighton plus me in the home end), parking was easy and I was able to watch the young players warm up whilst tucking into my tasty curried vegan pasty and very generous portion of chips.

The game itself was slow to get going. Brighton’s youngsters mirrored the first team tactics, with a fluid five-man defence and wing backs creating overloads when going forward. Each player was cool under pressure and attacks were created through quick, incisive passing.

With Lorent Tolaj and Todd Miller in the Albion team looking very much like Neal Maupay and Marc Cucurella in appearance, if I squinted I could almost pretend I was watching the first team.

That though would have been a disservice to the talented youngers in the blue and white stripes who were worthy of full attention in the their own right.

Brighton’s first chance came to the captain, Marc Leonard who dragged his shot wide after 21 minutes as both teams sized each other up.

Five minutes later, after some penalty area pinball, Sam Packham’s mistimed challenge gifted Forest Green a penalty. Matty Stevens – one of two Forest Green players on the pitch to have played against Swindon Town on Saturday – converted easily.

Packham made amends seven minutes later, winning and then taking a corner which bounced to Todd Miller who stabbed it home for a deserved equaliser.

Just before half time Lorent Tolaj jinked into the box but dragged his shot wide. This happened shortly after Ed Turns had misjudged the bounce of the ball at the other end as Stevens forced a good save from Tom McGill. All square at half time and Brighton’s youngsters looked comfortable.

That changed at the start of the second half with the Forest Green players pressurising the Albion in possession from kick off. A long ball over the top left Antef Tsoungui in a chase for the ball with Stevens.

It was clear that Tsoungui was going to be the winner, so Stevens threw himself to the ground. To the disbelief of the Brighton bench, the referee sent Tsoungui off.

This changed the dynamic of the game. Forest Green’s fringe players were clearly fighting for starting positions in their next League Two outing after Saturday’s surprise loss to Swindon and they came at Brighton in several waves.

McGill was forced into a flurry of saves before Forest Green scored again on 56 minutes, Stevens turning in a corner after a neat flick at the near post.

Brighton were almost down to nine men three minutes later when Odel Offiah grappled with Forest Green’s sub and first teamer Jack Aitchison in the area, but this time the referee waved play on.

This let off seemed to spur Brighton on, and they created three chances in quick succession. Firstly Miller headed wide from the edge of the box, then Tolaj put Cameron Peupion’s cross wide. It was Tolaj who turned in the equaliser after Miller won the ball back on the edge of Forest Green’s box.

The remainder of the second half was a cracker. Both teams created chances, Forest Green hitting the post and Brighton’s effervescent substitute Marcus Ifill skying a shot in the last seconds after dancing round the Forest Green defence for the third time in as many minutes.

In the end either team could have won it, but the game ended 2-2. Drawn games in the Papa Johns’ Trophy go to penalties with an extra point awarded to the winner of the shoot-out.

Sadly, Marc Leonard’s miss meant that Brighton lost 5-3 and are now unlikely to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.

Whilst this will be a disappointment for the players, it is clear that Brighton possess a wealth of hugely talented players, even accounting for those unavailable due to being out on loan or on international duty.

Dan Ashworth’s influence across the club is evident as it has helped to create something similar to the England DNA concept he dreamt up whilst at the FA, a playing style across all age groups which has lead to fourth, third and second place finishes in the last three tournaments for the Three Lions.

Most of this Albion Under 21 squad would fit seamlessly into the first team in terms of tactical awareness and skill level and hopefully those opportunities will come whilst Graham Potter is in charge.

Whilst not all of the players will go on to be first team regulars, I am sure they will have successful careers in the Football League or elsewhere in Europe.

Three players stood out the most. Ed Turns has already impressed for the first team in the 2-0 League Cup win over Swansea City.

He made a couple of mistakes against an experienced League Two forward in Stevens, but otherwise looked assured and marshalled the defence well as both a back five and four after Tsoungui’s red card.

Offiah, Turns’ partner at the back in the second half was quick and defensively sound in both a back five and four. His sprint back and tackle of Forest Green’s winger in the first half was particularly impressive considering he started 10 yards behind the Forest Green player to begin with.

Finally, Miller – who played once for Colchester before signing for Brighton in 2018 – caused problems in Leandro Trossard’s role to the left of the attacking three and drew praise from the home fans around me.

The Papa John’s Trophy has been much derided since its inception and the lack of love for it has not been helped by the inclusion of Under 21 teams from the top two divisions.

I am sure if Brighton were still in League One or League Two, I would have been upset about having to play a team of youngsters from the Premier League.

But having seen this format in action, personally I think it works well. Forest Green got to give their reserve players and a couple of youth team players a chance to prove themselves, and the Brighton players have a chance to play a competitive match against a League Two club.

Having experienced my first match for 19 months, I hope it isn’t another year and half before I set foot inside a football stadium again. If it is, then there is every chance one or two of the players on show at Forest Green might be in Brighton’s first team by then.