The scene was set, a picturesque evening at the Amex, a crowd of nearly 5000 fans, an Albion team on the rise. The only thing left to do was win.

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Neither side would have been happy with their first half output. The Albion arguably edged it, but it felt like both teams were going through the motions, unable to get any real rhythm – perhaps playing the occasion rather than the opposition.

The first chance fell to Kathrine Kuhl in the 14th minute. A ball inside from the left flank found Hannah Bennison who laid the ball off to Kuhl in a central area just outside the box. In acres of space she fired a shot low and hard that Sophie Baggaley did well to tip round the post. Not a clear cut chance, and Baggers would have expected to save it, but a warning all the same.

Brighton were next to seriously threaten their opponents goal. A clipped through ball from Julia Zigiotti Olme found Elisabeth Terland in space just inside the box. With half an eye on the positioning of the Everton keeper, Courtney Brosnan, and the advancing defenders, Teri flicked the ball towards the opposite corner. It definitely caught Brosnan off guard as she scrambled back and just managed to push the ball away and out for a corner.

Probably the best opportunity of half fell barely a minute later to Katja Snoeijs – who has scored three goals in two prior appearances against the Albion – not a fantastic omen. Katie Robinson was dispossessed in the midfield and Everton broke quickly switching the ball out to the right. A ball in behind deflected off Jorelyn Carabali and fell to Snoeijs who couldn’t quite squeeze it in from a narrow angle past the onrushing Baggers.

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Honestly, not one of the better 45-minutes of football you’ll ever see. It felt like one team was going to go home kicking themselves at losing by a narrow margin when the game was right there for the taking. Of course we hoped it would be the Toffees.

It could be anecdotal, or just pure bias, but it felt like Brighton came out in the second half with renewed hunger to get a result.

Unfortunately though, as has all too often been the case this season, it was our opposition who took the lead. A long ball forward from a free kick wasn’t dealt with initially and the ball found its way out to the left-hand side. Sara Holmgaard was able to float a cross to the back post towards her twin sister Karen who rose relatively unchallenged to head home from short range (60). It was sloppy defending in truth. Maisie Symonds tracked back initially, but didn’t follow her runner into the box, Carabali missed an opportunity to clear the initial ball and then struggled to regain position which led to her and Guro Bergsvand covering the same attacker, leaving Poppy Pattinson completely isolated.

Brighton aren’t the only team who seem to kick into a higher gear once they start losing, but they certainly are one of them. Instantaneously the play was faster, more determined, more direct, and it didn’t take long for the Albion to equalise. Tatiana Pinto was brought down on the edge of the Everton box and Symonds stepped up to take the free kick. Her shot had power and accuracy, but it curled towards the middle of the goal and Brosnan was able to tip it onto the bar. Fortunately the Seagulls were following in, as they so often follow the trawler (per Eric Cantona), and Pinto was able to blast the resulting rebound up into the roof of the net (63).

Mikey Harris brought Madison Haley and Lee Guem-min on in the 66th minute in an effort to go on and win the game. It did seem to invigorate the attack, however taking Symonds and Li Mengwen off significantly weakened our defence. Whether that was a contributing factor in Everton’s second goal is up for debate.

A relatively harmless hoof forward from Everton bounced through to Carabali who just needed to roll it back to Baggaley to clear the danger. Unfortunately she barely made contact with the ball at all and sold her keeper well short. Aurora Galli stole in and rounded Baggers who brought her down for an absolute stonewall penalty, however the ball continued to roll towards goal and Bergsvand in all the confusion could only clear it into her own net. The referee had played on rather than blowing up for the spot kick, so officially the goal was awarded as an OG to the Norwegian international. For Carabali that is at least the third time a poor clearance, pass or touch has cost us a goal this season.

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The Albion huffed and puffed, but never really had a clear cut opportunity to equalise again. There was a half-hearted shout for a penalty on Katie Robinson in stoppage time, but it would have been a soft one and nobody but Robbo seemed to take much umbridge at it not being given.

Another defeat at the Amex, two in two this season, which is a shame especially in front of a good crowd against a beatable team. Logistically everything seemed to run smoothly though and I would suggest, given the coaches and players would like to play in Brighton more often, that the event as a whole should be considered a success. A couple of well-known additions, a top four opponent and a sensible weekend kick-off time announced well in advance, and I do believe a crowd of well over 10,000+ is achievable.

Notes

• In the opening game of the season Brighton beat Everton 2-1 away when arguably the Toffees had the better of the play. Now that the exact opposite has happened in the return fixture, leaving both on 18 points in the WSL, you’d have to say these two teams are incredibly evenly matched.
• I felt a bit sorry for Jorelyn Carabali because she does 9/10 things right – it’s just the 1/10 she doesn’t – keeps costing us goals. At the moment we can afford that though in the hope that the errors lessen with time and experience.
• Robbo cut a frustrated figure all night and she only really got into the game when Haley and Lee came on and she was allowed more freedom. Perhaps we need to stop pigeonholing her as an out and out wide player?
• If Robbo didn’t have much joy, spare a thought for Elisabeth Terland who had the second lowest amount of touches in the game for a player who completed the full 90 minutes. She was severely isolated up front, as she often is, and the team needs to find a way to give her more support – especially against teams like Everton (with all due respect).
• Maisie Symonds was the engine of the midfield once again and her substitution on 65 minutes was met with confusion from the stands. She may have had an injury that we’re not privy to, but if not, I struggle to see the logic in taking off one of the few players who can influence play at both ends of the pitch.
• I thought the crowd of 4,987 was pretty good given that the game was moved to the Amex and the kick-off time/date changed at fairly short notice. Whilst I can’t say there was a massive amount of singing, I did think there was a good atmosphere and the fans seemed engaged and invested in the match.
• It was fantastic to meet some of you on my travels around the stadium, thank you for all the kind words and encouragement. I always appreciate you getting behind what we’re trying to do here at SheGulls!

We will of course be reviewing the game further on Episode 8 of the SheGulls Podcast – available on Tuesday!