As the season nears its end, with only 2 remaining games in the GFSN National League, Brighton are waiting to see if it will end in glory for them in 2006 – they are currently poised 2nd in the league, only two points behind leaders Village Manchester. This weekend, Brighton played host to the newly formed GFC Bournemouth, who had thrashed London Titans 8-1 in their last game (a team Brighton had only beaten 2-0 a fortnight earlier).

I must say that it was great not to be playing in the pouring rain, wind or freezing cold like our prior two matches. The first half started with Brighton playing their normal 4-4-2 formation. The match began brightly for the Bandits with most of the pressure being on the Bournemouth defence. Our back four were barely tested during the first half, with Jason Hall making some excellent clearances and passes from centre back. Ben Ede played well at left back and made some nice tackles on the skilful Bournemouth striker Daniel Smith, whilst Paul Saunders on the left of midfield was a nuisance to the Bournemouth defence with some good dribbling. The first goal of the game came around 25 minutes into the match, with a coolly placed shot into the bottom right hand corner of the Bournemouth goal by Daryn Vanstone, who had latched onto a blocked shot from Matt Haywood. WICKED. 1-0 TO THE BANDITS!!! Bournemouth then came back at Brighton, trying to find a way around our defence but were unable to muster any decent scoring chances before half time. The first half ended Brighton Bandits 1 GFC Bournemouth 0.

The second half started with some changes for Brighton, with Paul Smith coming on for Jason Keedy in midfield and myself replacing Daryn Vanstone. A rather odd switch was also made, with Mark Hyndman the Brighton goalie switching shirts and playing as striker - hats off to Ben Ede who courageously went into our net as goalkeeper. When the game restarted, Bournemouth were well up for the second half, hassling Brighton for the ball, causing us to make sloppy passes and beating us to the second ball. This led to Bournemouth leveling the scoreline. A good drop kick from Ben Ede was intercepted by the opposition after being headed by one of the Bandits’ players - Bournemouth then sweetly chipped the ball into our net!

This goal gave Bournemouth a second wind, so they were buzzing around the pitch even more so. There was some good play from their midfielder Clive Foley and some excellent work by Joe Finch in the Bournemouth defence. Brighton then had some useful possession and some good runs down the left, with Paul Smith making creative passes from the centre of midfield and putting in some good tackles. However, it was Bournemouth who took the lead with an attack from the left of their midfield, and scored with a floated shot into the top right hand corner of the Bandits net.

This led to Daryn Vanstone coming back onto the pitch to help Brighton grab a goal back. After forcing some pressure on the Bournemouth team, with Mark Hyndman creating some chances, Daryn Vanstone went on to pass two players on the right wing, swung a lovely cross to Paul Smith, who made a darting run to the right post and slotted the ball into the Bournemouth net. This was almost a direct copy of the recent Shaun Wright-Phillips goal for England against Paraquay, created from a cross by Joe Cole (who knows, Sven may even include Paul and Daryn in his World Cup squad!). The match ended Brighton Bandits 2 GFC Bournemouth 2.

A big thank you to GFC Bournemouth for making the effort to come and play us, and also for being a great bunch of lads and a pleasure to play against. We will look forward to a rematch in the near future. Certainly, they will be an asset to the GFSN National League if they decide to join up next season. My man of the match would be Daryn Vanstone for scoring one and setting up another goal, but a close contender would be Paul Smith who played extremely well when coming on in the centre of midfield and scored our equalizer. Hopefully Brighton can get back on track by winning the remaining two games of the League season. After two draws, Brighton are gearing up Bandits-style towards regaining that killer instinct they possess and claiming the 2005-06 league title.