It might be bold to say this was a must win game for the Albion – but four matches in, sitting 11th in the table, with a home game against a team who have lost every single fixture this season thus far – it had become one. Apart from anything else the team needed the morale boost, that feeling of victory, to truly kick start their WSL campaign under Arturo Ruiz.

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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 Sky Sports WSL YouTube channel: HERE
• The SheGulls Podcast will be reviewing the game on Monday night from 9pm 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

• Charlton’s game plan was straight out of the Albion opponent handbook, get the ball high and wide, put early crosses into the box and try to score the opening goal. On the defensive side play deep and compact to force Brighton into more difficult measures to counter the low block. It worked…sort of.
• In just the 3rd minute Jodie Hutton found space behind Albion’s wide cover to go one-on-one with Caitlin Hayes down the left-hand side. Her cross found Cassandra Korhonen in the box who saw her initial prod at goal saved by Chimaka Nnadozie only for the rebound to fall kindly back to her to score at the second attempt. Not the ideal start for the Seagulls, but time was on their side. Whether Brighton were caught a little cold, or whether they just needed to settle into the game – the response was swift and unequivocal from the home team. Spoiler alert: Charlton barely threatened the Albion half for the remainder of the match, never mind adding to their solitary goal.
• Admittedly it took until the 25th minute for Brighton to level the score despite their dominance. A fantastic driving run into the box from Olivia Garcia ended with a cutback that nicked a Charlton defender on its way to Kiko Seike who fired in at the back post. It felt like more was coming, but it wasn’t until an almost carbon copy goal on the stroke of half-time put the Albion into the lead. Another cutback from Garcia ricocheted off Maisie Symonds this time and Fran Kirby readjusted her body to angle home at the back post once again.
• Far from Charlton re-engaging and coming back into the tie after the break, Brighton continued to dictate the play and looked far more likely to add to their tally.
• The Seagulls third goal came in the 54th minute and all but killed the game off. A really neat piece of interplay in and around the box cued Olaug Tvedten up for a shot which was blocked, only for the rebound to find Seike who clipped a smart finish into the bottom corner. It was a lovely strike from the Japanese forward and gave more credence to the theory that she’s a more decisive goalscorer when she trusts her initial instinct.
• It was a relative procession at that stage, but the Albion kept going and scored two more goals in stoppage time. The first almost directly from a Marisa Olislagers corner that may or may not have touched Maisie Symonds on the way in (only she knows), and the second from a Kirby corner, kept in play by Caitlin Hayes at the far post and nodded in from short range by Gabby George. 5-1 and seventh heaven for the Albion fans.
• Garcia was a handful all afternoon and her unpredictability is something the Seagulls have lacked in attack for a while. She deservedly took Player of the Match honours from the broadcaster despite Seike grabbing the headlines with two goals.
• Bar the blip at the start of the game this was the performance everyone – the staff, the players, and the supporters alike – had been waiting for. In the second half and a goal to the good, it felt like the Albion were automatic, every pass had potential, every attack felt dangerous and every run had purpose. The team will face tougher tests than Charlton no doubt, and they need to start games as they mean to go on (Brighton have now conceded first in 4/5 WSL matches so far), but the boost from this win could do wonders for the remainder of the season. Just three points on Sunday maybe, but hopefully the first of many!

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Charlton

• You have to feel for Charlton to be honest. They’re red-hot favourites to be relegated and it’s hard to argue with that. When they push forward they look exposed at the back and when they dig in they just don’t have the quality and experience to sustain regular counter-attacks. Their game plan worked to a degree, but once Brighton hit any sort of stride they could barely get out of their own half, never mind mount a realistic attempt to stay in the match.
• Credit the supporters who made the (not all that far) journey South though – they kept chanting for their team all game long despite the scoreline. That’s what real fans do.

Other Business

• I was in the press box again for this one and found it a valuable experience as always. It’s good to view the game as an observer (rather than a fan) to appreciate the tactical nuances and cohesion of the overall play, which helps me shape more informed opinions across our various platforms. I have to admit (though I probably shouldn’t) that I did do a couple of very small fist pumps when we scored our first two goals though. Shhhh – don’t tell anyone!
• Seeing as there was a relatively low attendance (2,465) the crowd did well to keep the atmosphere going amidst what I gather was an ongoing heatwave in the East stand. Not sure if anything can be done about the fact that at 2pm the East is entirely in the sun and the West is entirely in the shade except to ask if is it a nicer problem to have than it being grey for everyone?
• Two Amex games in a row now there has been a free matchday programme – and I can’t praise the club enough for producing and funding one. We still would love one for every game (and happy to pay for it), but that debate can be left for another day.

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The SheGulls Podcast, where we discussed the Charlton game in more detail, was broadcast live last night @ 9pm via YouTube – and is now available on demand by clicking on the ‘Live’ tab on the channel menu.

Audio of the episode will be released shortly via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

No SheGulls Extra this week as we head into an International break, but we’ll be back next Monday with more Albion women’s team news and views to keep you going.

See you all soon!