That’s right, three wins from four games, and of those three wins I would argue Palace were our toughest test so far. So why wasn’t it five or six nil on a chilly Sunday afternoon in Sutton? Was there any needle in this ‘derby’ match? Most important of all – what were the toilet facilities like? Well read on to find out…

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As always if you would like the specifics of the game then the club has you covered with a full recap HERE and the highlights are available on the WSL YouTube channel HERE.

Notes

• First of all let’s address the goal – questionable as it was. You can view it using the link above and make your own mind up, but to me it is the epitome of a 50/50 decision. Is Parris making an attempt to play the ball – yes. Does the keeper drop the ball under contact – yes. Does Nikita get the ball – no. Could you argue the keeper drops it purely because SHE bumps into Keets – yes. It’s just one of those calls where if it goes for you, you love it and you applaud your team for getting stuck in, if it goes against you then the referee has cost you the game. Ultimately Bruna did the right thing by sticking the ball in the net from short range and playing to the whistle.
• Overall the game was just really scrappy and both sides lacked composure at crucial moments. Brighton very slightly edged most of the numbers, but the xG of 1.0 for Palace and 1.3 for the Albion tells you that a draw wouldn’t have been a shock result based on the in-game action.
• A couple of the most alarming stats to me would be 16 passes intercepted and 32 clearances made, both significant increases from the Villa game.
• We really missed Poppy Pattinson down the left. Marisa Olislagers filled in ably, but at times she was caught out of position and she just wasn’t anywhere near as effective as she has been in central midfield. We should bear in mind though this is only her fourth WSL game for the club and she was paired up with Pauline Bremer on what was effectively an all-new left-hand side.
• Another one of our standout performers this season, Jorelyn Carabali, also had a poor game. She repeatedly gave the ball away to the opposition and her play at the back was borderline reckless at times.
• Don’t get me wrong, the entire team performance was sub-par, but I have praised these two players a lot over the last few weeks, so it’s only right to speak up when the needle swings the other way.
• The substitutes that came on made a big difference and perhaps the most pleasing element was the link-up between Rachel McLauchlan and Kiko Seike down our right-hand side. They combined for a couple of incisive attacks that for one reason or another didn’t result in a goal, but felt like they could have given more time.
• Kiko needs to be braver. Not just her to be truthful, the whole team had a case of the cutbacks. Time after time one of our players drove forward, only to turn round and go backwards at the first hint of Palace pressure. I find that more frustrating than a player having a go and losing the ball to be honest. If you never attempt something you can never get a positive result. At least if you do try a dribble or a skill move, even if it rarely leads to a goal, at least it CAN lead to a goal.
• Speaking of which, the one player who drives at opponents over and over is Michelle Agyemang. I’m not sure we win this game without her and she only came on in the 61st minute. Not only did she get some joy down the right wing, forcing play towards their box, but she took the sting out of some of their attacks by carrying the ball down the field away from danger. Without her and the Seike/McLachlan combo – I could easily have seen Palace camping on the halfway line and just battering our penalty area with crosses and long balls until they scored.
• Referee Kirsty Dowle was her usual self, to which I mean she is generally authoritative and relatively consistent, but will also make 2-3 baffling decisions per game. Palace will think they were on the end of one, and I think we were on the end of a couple too to be honest.
• I thought our fans were fantastic, I’d put a conservative estimate on there being around 100-120, maybe even a few more at the VBS Community stadium. We were loud and proud and you can really start to feel that community spirit SheGulls is so desperately trying to foster. Credit to the club for running a coach for this game too.
• Save for the ‘fanzone’ which was actually not a bad little area – the ground and away experience was poor. There was a specific away entrance inside quite a large municipal park, but was that where you entered – nope. That was even further round deeper into unfamiliar territory. When you did finally get in you were forced to walk round the pitch in front of the entirety of the Palace supporters. Now there wasn’t any real conflict, but come on – it wouldn’t take much to spark something – and it just seemed entirely unnecessary. The ‘away’ section was essentially behind the goal, stretching out towards the corners of the pitch, and entirely terraced. If you wanted to sit down, the cold hard concrete was your only option. A generous 2/10 rating, would try not to visit again if I can help it.

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As always we’ll be discussing these points in much more detail on the SheGulls Podcast available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Give it a listen!