A brisk and sunny January Sunday saw BRIGHTON BANDITS FC take on GFSN National League leaders London Falcons in their third encounter this season. Having put 13 past the Bandits in their previous Friendly and GNL Cup games, the Falcons must have arrived at Preston Park expecting the game to be a walkover. Instead they met a newly galvanised and better organised Bandits team playing their first match under new Captain Mark Hyndman.

Owing to the absence of Paul Smith in central defence, the Bandits had reshuffled their defence and midfield, and the new formation effectively stifled the oppostion. Matt Haywood dropped back into central defence alongside Steve Taylor, with Jason Hall and Paul Saunders at left and right back respectively. Simon Hawker, Alan Bannister and Jamie Harper formed the midfield alongside Gareth Buckell who made his Bandits debut on the wing. Michael Scragg and Aidie Norman were reunited in attack, with Aidie playing his first match for the Bandits since dislocating his shoulder in the 5-2 September friendly defeat against the Falcons.

The game was extremely tight from the first whistle. As might be expected, the Falcons attacked strongly and had much more of the possession in the first half. However, despite playing some attractive passing football they never managed to capitalise on their dominance and failed to create any real goal-scoring chances. The same is true of the Bandits who spent much of the first 45 minutes camped in their own half of the pitch. The Brighton defence more than rode their luck at times but shots on goal were virtually zero. Not even the substitution of Gareth for another Bandits debutant, Karl Leonard, could break the deadlock and the first half ended goalless.

The second half continued in much the same way as the first, with the Falcons constantly in attack and the Bandits on the defensive. The London outfit had a half-hearted penalty claim for a push on a Falcons attacker by Jason Hall turned down by referee Lee Towsey, but otherwise there were few goalscoring opportunities. However, the Falcons finally made their breakthrough just after the hour. Striker James Edeki saw 'keeper Mark Hyndman off his line and floated in a beautifully lofted ball which just dipped under the Bandits crossbar and, despite the efforts of two Brighton defenders on the line, went in. 1-0 to London Falcons.

At this point, the real spirit of the BRIGHTON BANDITS team returned. In recent matches, conceding the first goal would have resulted in a landslide defeat. However, the Bandits didn't panic, played as a team, held firm and even started to attack the Falcons goal. New boy Karl Leonard played some great football including some excellent runs down the wing which really troubled the Falcons defence. Aidie Norman had probably the two best chances of the game, one hitting the outside of the post after a break from midfield and a well-placed header just going wide. He would have easily converted both on any other occasion. Brad Caines and Ben Ede who both came on as subs also had good games but it wasn't to be. Final score: 1-0 to the Falcons.

Was Sunday's match a turning point in BRIGHTON BANDITS so far below-par season...? I think it might be. The team showed real determination throughout the game, played for one another, and more than matched a classy Falcons outfit. If the squad can continue to perform like this then a first victory of the season surely isn't far away.