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Stevenage Borough 1-0 Brighton & Hove Albion
Monday, 26 July 2004, 3pm
Friendly
Referee: Gary Evetts
Attendance:
Scorer: Matt Hocking (40)
Friendly
Referee: Gary Evetts
Attendance:
Scorer: Matt Hocking (40)
Stevenage team
Starting XI
Rob Burch 2: Michael Warner 14: Matt Hocking 17: Mark Rogers 3: Jamie Gould 7: Jon Brady 4: Rob Quinn 15: Dannie Bulman 21: George Boyd 20: Jon Nurse 37: Anthony Elding |
Used substitutes
24: Gary Schillaci (for 14, 79) 19: Jo Flack (for 20, 65) 9: Dino Maamria (for 37, 65) 12: Richard Hodgson (for 7, 62) 18: Ritchie Hanlon (for 21, 62) 8: Michael Brough (for 4, 45) 5: Jason Goodliffe (for 2, 30) Unused substitutes 26: Darren Williams 13: Lee Farrow |
BoroGuide
Stevenage Borough recorded their second victory of the pre-season campaign with a hard-fought one goal victory over Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion, with Matt Hocking's first half goal proving enough to be the decisive factor between the two teams. Although it wasn't the strongest team that the visitors could have fielded, there were a decent amount of Albion first-teamers on view, including former Chelsea striker Leon Knight, who made his appearance at half time replacing David Lee.
Played out in front of a modest attendance at Broadhall Way, the visitors looked to stamp authority on the game straight from the kick-off as they sought to keep the ball away from the Boro' players. However, the game was moreorless a midfield battle for the best part of twenty minutes as both sides stifled each other's play, restricting either side's chance of setting up an attacking move. When the hosts went forward, the pace of Jon Nurse and trickery of George Boyd proved to be the main assets down the left hand side, although the first real chance came down the right.
Former Middlesbrough goalkeeper, Ben Roberts, appeared to handle the ball outside the 18 yard area as Anthony Elding chased a ball over the top from Michael Warner. As a sense of confusion took hold in the Brighton defence, Elding took the free-kick quickly, squaring the ball to Jon Nurse, but the former Sutton striker's insistence to make absolutely sure about his effort meant that his goalbound effort was blocked by the despairing lunge of a Seagulls defender. Had Nurse taken the effort first time, there would have been little doubt of the result so long as he kept the shot on target.
The miss bolted the game into life, and George Boyd in particular had two efforts narrowly off target after two successful forays down the left-wing. The first effort was no more than a foot over the crossbar of Roberts' goal, whilst the second flew just wide of the far post. The visitors hadn't really troubled the home defence in all honesty, except for a couple of crosses which were easily cleared by the efficient Hocking and Rogers at the back. Meanwhile, some challenges were flying in, as Nurse, and Jon Brady for the hosts, as well as Matt Piper for the visitors were calmed down by the referee. Jason Goodliffe made an appearance on the half hour for Michael Warner, but whether it was due to a problem with Warner, or a purely tactical move is unclear, although the latter would no doubt be preferred.
Boro' took the lead with the only goal of the game with five minutes of the half remaining, as George Boyd swung in a corner from the right, met with a clean header from Hocking that sailed into the top right hand corner of the goal. The summer acquisition from Boston had impressed already in past friendlies, but his presence in the opposition area could well be a menace in the Conference this season. Not wanting to sit back on their laurels, Boro' sought a second in the last five minutes of the half, with Dannie Bulman going close, and the pace of Nurse still causing major problems for the Brighton back line.
Rob Burch had two moments of note before the half time whistle went, as he first had to make a superb one handed save low down from an Albert Jarrett effort, before Jarrett again caused problems, attacking a right-sided cross. Burch bravely committed himself to the challenge and wonderfully blocked the effort before it could speed towards his top corner, and ensured that Boro' went in at the half time interval with a clean sheet to their name, in what served as a refreshing change to that witnessed on Saturday afternoon against Cambridge United.
The substitutions began in earnest as soon as the second half begun, as Michael Brough made his introduction in the game for the home side. It was Anthony Elding who had Boro's only real chance for the hosts in the opening stages of the second period, as his left-footed drive from 15 yards was comfortably saved by newly introduced Kuipers. But, as expected, the Seagulls raised the stakes in the second half and demanded a sterner defensive performance from Boro' than had been asked of them in the first half. However, the main threat failed to materialise from the well-marshalled Leon Knight, but it was two long-range efforts from Knight which required the intervention of Dannie Bulman, with two wonderful blocks in his own area.
After Boro' had made the majority of their substitutions, more chances fell the way of the home team. Brough, Maamria, Flack and Hodgson combined well on a couple of occasions to result in crosses to the box, although the first occasion was a comfortable take for Kuipers, as Maamria failed to provide the young striker Jo Flack with a decent target to aim at. The second opportunity resulted in the ball being flighted in by Hodgson on the opposite flank, only for Maamria to head high and wide when to leave it for the incoming Ritchie Hanlon would have been a better idea. Boro' also managed a free-kick or two in the second half, both of which never really came off.
There was very little urgency by either team as the game faded towards the final whistle, as Boro' were content with a one goal victory to add to their victory over Cambridge on Saturday. With two more league sides still to visit Broadhall Way in the next week, Boro' will be happy to have had another run out, and another victory. Quite what the level of team that both Northampton Town and Boston United respectively choose to field remains to be seen, but so far this summer, Graham Westley's side have looked confident and able to put in a good performance against who is put in front of them.
Stevenage Borough recorded their second victory of the pre-season campaign with a hard-fought one goal victory over Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion, with Matt Hocking's first half goal proving enough to be the decisive factor between the two teams. Although it wasn't the strongest team that the visitors could have fielded, there were a decent amount of Albion first-teamers on view, including former Chelsea striker Leon Knight, who made his appearance at half time replacing David Lee.
Played out in front of a modest attendance at Broadhall Way, the visitors looked to stamp authority on the game straight from the kick-off as they sought to keep the ball away from the Boro' players. However, the game was moreorless a midfield battle for the best part of twenty minutes as both sides stifled each other's play, restricting either side's chance of setting up an attacking move. When the hosts went forward, the pace of Jon Nurse and trickery of George Boyd proved to be the main assets down the left hand side, although the first real chance came down the right.
Former Middlesbrough goalkeeper, Ben Roberts, appeared to handle the ball outside the 18 yard area as Anthony Elding chased a ball over the top from Michael Warner. As a sense of confusion took hold in the Brighton defence, Elding took the free-kick quickly, squaring the ball to Jon Nurse, but the former Sutton striker's insistence to make absolutely sure about his effort meant that his goalbound effort was blocked by the despairing lunge of a Seagulls defender. Had Nurse taken the effort first time, there would have been little doubt of the result so long as he kept the shot on target.
The miss bolted the game into life, and George Boyd in particular had two efforts narrowly off target after two successful forays down the left-wing. The first effort was no more than a foot over the crossbar of Roberts' goal, whilst the second flew just wide of the far post. The visitors hadn't really troubled the home defence in all honesty, except for a couple of crosses which were easily cleared by the efficient Hocking and Rogers at the back. Meanwhile, some challenges were flying in, as Nurse, and Jon Brady for the hosts, as well as Matt Piper for the visitors were calmed down by the referee. Jason Goodliffe made an appearance on the half hour for Michael Warner, but whether it was due to a problem with Warner, or a purely tactical move is unclear, although the latter would no doubt be preferred.
Boro' took the lead with the only goal of the game with five minutes of the half remaining, as George Boyd swung in a corner from the right, met with a clean header from Hocking that sailed into the top right hand corner of the goal. The summer acquisition from Boston had impressed already in past friendlies, but his presence in the opposition area could well be a menace in the Conference this season. Not wanting to sit back on their laurels, Boro' sought a second in the last five minutes of the half, with Dannie Bulman going close, and the pace of Nurse still causing major problems for the Brighton back line.
Rob Burch had two moments of note before the half time whistle went, as he first had to make a superb one handed save low down from an Albert Jarrett effort, before Jarrett again caused problems, attacking a right-sided cross. Burch bravely committed himself to the challenge and wonderfully blocked the effort before it could speed towards his top corner, and ensured that Boro' went in at the half time interval with a clean sheet to their name, in what served as a refreshing change to that witnessed on Saturday afternoon against Cambridge United.
The substitutions began in earnest as soon as the second half begun, as Michael Brough made his introduction in the game for the home side. It was Anthony Elding who had Boro's only real chance for the hosts in the opening stages of the second period, as his left-footed drive from 15 yards was comfortably saved by newly introduced Kuipers. But, as expected, the Seagulls raised the stakes in the second half and demanded a sterner defensive performance from Boro' than had been asked of them in the first half. However, the main threat failed to materialise from the well-marshalled Leon Knight, but it was two long-range efforts from Knight which required the intervention of Dannie Bulman, with two wonderful blocks in his own area.
After Boro' had made the majority of their substitutions, more chances fell the way of the home team. Brough, Maamria, Flack and Hodgson combined well on a couple of occasions to result in crosses to the box, although the first occasion was a comfortable take for Kuipers, as Maamria failed to provide the young striker Jo Flack with a decent target to aim at. The second opportunity resulted in the ball being flighted in by Hodgson on the opposite flank, only for Maamria to head high and wide when to leave it for the incoming Ritchie Hanlon would have been a better idea. Boro' also managed a free-kick or two in the second half, both of which never really came off.
There was very little urgency by either team as the game faded towards the final whistle, as Boro' were content with a one goal victory to add to their victory over Cambridge on Saturday. With two more league sides still to visit Broadhall Way in the next week, Boro' will be happy to have had another run out, and another victory. Quite what the level of team that both Northampton Town and Boston United respectively choose to field remains to be seen, but so far this summer, Graham Westley's side have looked confident and able to put in a good performance against who is put in front of them.