An FA Cup Final in two weeks time, undefeated in seven games, on target for a record points total in the WSL – it all made sense. Maybe too much sense. Only Spurs could put a dampener on proceedings and they had literally nothing to play for but pride. Surely they couldn’t rain on the Albion’s parade?

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• For a full recap of the match action courtesy of Luke Nicoli on the Official BHAFC Website click: HERE
• Match highlights are available via the WSL 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!

Brighton & Hove Albion

• It’s hard to concede that you had an off day. Brighton will be hoping they got theirs out of the way on Saturday ready to head to the FA Cup Final in two weeks time. Head Coach Dario Vidosic fielded a full-strength side, with the exception of perhaps Sophie Baggeley, and riding the wave of seven games undefeated, it felt like they had all the impetus needed to put Spurs to the sword. Except that didn’t happen.
• Instead everything felt quite flat. An emotional hangover from last week? Half an eye on a fortnight’s time? Who knows – but this was not the Albion we have been used to seeing over the last couple of months. Could anyone blame them though? The players have navigated arguably the most difficult end to the season in the WSL and done superbly in the process. This felt like that metaphorical outbreath, that sigh of relief, and Spurs took advantage of that.
• Despite the frustrating result, the action in the first half was back-and-forth. Spurs had the edge in terms of creating opportunities to score, but both teams would have gone in at 0-0 knowing that one or two minor tweaks could make all the difference in the second half.
• It was the Albion who struck first not long after the break. Kiko Seike jinked and juked her way around Amanda Nilden down the right flank and fired a shot low and hard on goal. Tottenham Keeper Lize Kop could only parry the ball and Madison Haley was on hand to poke home the opener from short range. A fantastic advert for being in the right place at the right time, and frankly, the floodgates looked to have been opened.
• Not so though and as the half wore on it was Spurs who started to gain the ascendancy as they pushed for a response. On 81 minutes Maelys Mpome’s errant pass found only Beth England who immediately had the Seagulls on the back foot. Maisie Symonds did her best to clear the subsequent cross but the ball ended up ricocheting around until it sat up nicely for Olivia Holdt to rifle a finish into the top corner of the net.
• Honestly, a draw wouldn’t have been an unfair reflection of the game, but there was a sting in the tail still to come. A couple of minutes into stoppage time a clearance from Spurs got behind the Albion backline. Baggaley anticipated it correctly and came out to clear it away only to pass it straight to Toko Koga, who lofted the ball back over the goalkeeper’s’ head from range.
• Two very preventable goals, both almost entirely self-inflicted, and what should have been a fantastic send off, turned into a long trudge home in the space of a little over ten minutes. The frustration was palpable.
• A win would have seen a record WSL points tally for Brighton, a positive goal difference, and an undefeated streak to take into the FA Cup. Instead the Albion dropped a league place to 7th, finished with a negative goal difference, and have to really galvanise themselves over the next two weeks to get to where they’ll need to be.

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Tottenham Hotspur

• Some people have mixed feelings about the prospect of Beth England coming to the Albion this summer. In my opinion her performance in just 11 minutes + stoppage time was easily impactful enough to quieten the doubters. As we know with Fran, you just play the game a bit differently in the latter years of your career.
• We’ll see what happens next year, but I’m coining the phrase ‘Koga curse’ after she should have been sent off in the opposite fixture and then scored the winner on Saturday.
• Good travelling away support from the Spurs fans, they did their best to whip up an atmosphere from where they were in the corner.

Other Business

• The atmosphere itself at the Amex was very flat. That potentially translated somewhat to the performance, but the fact remains that first and foremost fans will react to what they see on the pitch.
• To give them their due though, the atmosphere members were trying their best to bring the noise, but it just wasn’t catching on with the demographic of supporters who attend the Amex.
• The attendance underwhelmed slightly at 6,749 when many fans were seeing this big send off as a potential new attendance record. Perhaps some stayed away anticipating a trip to Wembley in two weeks? We actually drew more fans on the 15th October 2023 against the same opposition at the Amex with 6,951.
• From a SheGulls perspective it was great to have the opportunity to present the ‘Fans Player of the Year’ award to Kiko Seike after the game, but many people had left by that point and as far as we were aware we didn’t feature on the in-stadium screens or anything visible to the wider public. We’re grateful to everyone who made the presentation happen, but I think with better collaboration and coordination we can do better going forward. The remaining four fan-voted awards will be announced tonight on the SheGulls Podcast and have been given to the club to present to the players behind the scenes.

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The SheGulls Podcast – where we will discuss the Spurs game and round up the WSL season – will be live Monday @ 9pm on YouTube – and available subsequently on demand by clicking on the ‘Live’ tab on the channel menu.

Audio of the entire episode will then be released later in the week via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

See you all soon!