What a day, what a game, what a win. I’m rather glad I’m not ‘reviewing’ this one with my journalistic hat on, because this was all about emotion, passion, agony, ecstasy, and many other feelings in between.

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• For a full recap of the match action courtesy of Bruce Talbot on the Official BHAFC Website click: HERE
• Match highlights are available via the Adobe Women’s FA Cup YouTube channel: HERE
• The SheGulls Podcast will be discussing the game tonight (Monday) over on the SheGulls YouTube channel: HERE – where you can watch via the Live tab or on catch-up any time after broadcast!

I needed to be up and out of the house by 4am with my eldest daughter, who generally on a Sunday prefers to get up closer to 4pm. I know others were awake and on the road even earlier to catch the coach – which just shows the commitment of this fanbase. The mood on the way up was pretty optimistic, one or two people managed a snooze, but I think the majority were simply too excited.

We arrived at St Helens Rugby stadium (currently known as the ‘BrewDog’) around 90 minutes before kickoff so we had time to explore, pick up a program and bask in the sunlight beforehand. The Liverpool supporters were in fine form – bit of banter – mixed with friendly acknowledgement that at least one of our teams would make it through to face a ‘big four’ opponent in the final.

The atmosphere in the Brighton section was loud and proud from the first whistle, but truthfully the first twenty odd minutes was a tough watch, culminating in the Albion going 2-0 down. If anything though, that made the atmosphere rise in volume, after all when our team is behind, it is vital that we show our support to boost them back up. It also helped that Manuela Vanegas made it 2-1 just two minutes later.

What followed was a rollercoaster of a match which had it all, potential red cards, penalty shouts, an equaliser for the Seagulls to make it squeaky-bum-time as the final whistle approached. Then we won a free kick with about a minute left in the game. Maisie Symonds lofted the ball in, only to see it cleared. Cleared to Nadine Nordam that is, who stepped up in one of the all-time clutch moments in Brighton’s history to drive the ball into the back of the net.

Honestly what ensued was insanity. Agony to ecstasy. Proper limbs. People were crying, hugging, jumping, running, waving, shouting – you name it our fans were doing it all at once in that moment. Everyone remained standing as the Reds kicked off and lobbed a hopeful ball into the box which Chiamaka Nnadozie claimed easily. I assume the final whistle went at that point, I couldn’t tell, because a tidal wave of fans just flowed down through the stand towards the edge of the pitch as the players ran towards us. Our fans, our team, our Brighton.

It’s real. We are going to Wembley.

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Ticketing information will be sent out by the club imminently – so do keep an eye on those emails if you want to sit with fellow Albion fans.

You’re all very welcome to keep an eye on our FAQ post for further information.

We’ll hopefully see many of you on Saturday at what is sure to be a celebratory game against Spurs at the Amex, and if not – Wembley yeah? Yeah.