By arlington Alright mates, buckle up. Woke up stupid early for this one, Brighton v Fulham. East Coast time zone here, meant dragging myself outta bed before the sun even thought about it. Kettle went straight on, strong black coffee brewing – absolutely essential. Found a decent stream after about ten minutes of faffing around, cursing quietly at the laptop screen. Always takes longer than it blooming well should.
Setting Up Shop
Draped myself over the sofa, blanket around me like a cocoon. Grabbed my trusty old notebook and a pen that only works half the time. Put my phone on silent. Absolutely cannot have notifications going off mid-chance. Spilled coffee trying to put the mug down. Typical start. Flipped the notebook open, scribbled the date and teams at the top. Felt that familiar buzz, ready to just watch.
First half kicked off. Brighton had most of the ball, obviously. But Fulham? Stubborn as mules. Parking the bus, tackles flying in. My coffee was going cold fast, completely forgot to drink it. Then it happened – around half an hour in. Brighton pressing, bit of a scramble in the box. Welbeck! Man just leapt like a salmon, header straight down. THUMP. Net bulged. Place exploded. My notebook almost flew off my lap! Scrawled down “Welbeck 30′ HEADER” all messy. Felt like a proper Brighton goal, that.
Second Half Kicks Off
Made another coffee during half-time. Legs stiff from sitting cramped. Fulham came out looking a bit brighter? For like, five minutes. Then Brighton just… switched it on again. Lallana buzzing around, lovely little touch. Ball finds Gross on the edge of the box. Man barely looked up, just curled it. Beautiful! Keeper had no chance. Screamer. Notebook out: “Gross 65′ BANGER”. Seriously, top bins.
Fulham managed one late on. Bit of a cross, De Cordova-Reid got a head on it. Decent flick, keeper scrambling. Actually caught that one cleanly – solid save. That was basically their shout. Ended up scribbling something like “Fulham chance – DCR header SAVED 80′” next to a big question mark about why they never looked like scoring properly. It felt frustrating just watching that.
Final whistle. Brighton 2-0. Shoved the pen down on the coffee table. Felt satisfied, kinda tired now the adrenaline wore off. Straight away, flicked the notebook pages back. Here’s what I ended up piecing together from my scribbles:
- Welbeck’s Leap: Massive header early doors, set the tone.
- Gross Curler: Absolute peach that killed it off.
- Fulham Flop: Barely threatened, apart from that late header dealt with easily.
- Brighton Control: Just bossed it, especially that second half.
Closed the notebook. Sat there a minute, thinking how Brighton just made it look… steady. Comfortable win. Fulham? Man, they need to find some spark. My scrawled summary basically boiled down to: Brighton good, Fulham blunt. Can’t really trust Fulham to score much right now. Wonder what the pundits will bang on about later? Probably obvious stuff. Anyway, time for breakfast. Starving now.