Ravens view of Bristol City 0 Brighton 0

Last updated : 26 April 2004 By Mark R

There were soon quite a few Albion fans in the pub, we moved on to a Smiles pub and had some decent cider before catching taxis to the ground at 2.30. We joined the queue then the mass ranks of the Albion fans behind the goal.

We stood towards the back level with the edge of the penalty box and the noise the 1,800 of us made was superb. The singing in the last 15 minutes of the game was the loudest I have heard for a long long time for a 0-0.

As for the match, well we were defensive but understandably so. Butters and Cullip were superb, Roberts did what was needed, but I thought Harding had a tough day, and I was surprised not to see Mayo take over.

Reid missed our best chance, chipping over when the keeper was off his line (but he had handled it before then).

Bristol really dominated the second half, and I was glad to hear the final whistle.

After the match we caught the 6.10 back to Bath. Several Bristol City players were on the train heading to the PFA awards, I think they had 3 players selected. We had a couple of beers in Bath then headed back home, arriving just before 11pm.

Port Vale won on Saturday so we still need 2 points to guarantee a play off place. Notts County were relegated, not sure if that is good or bad for us.

It is very difficult to predict who will finish 2nd ,3rd ,4th , 5th ,6th & 7th at the moment. I think Bristol City will take second place, QPR will finish 3rd, Swindon 4th, Brighton 5th and Hartlepool 6th with Port Vale just missing out.

1 Plymouth Argyle 44 24 12 8 78 40 40 84 max 90
2 Queens Park Rangers 44 20 17 7 76 42 32 77 max 83
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3 Bristol City 44 21 13 10 55 36 19 76 max 82
4 Swindon Town 44 20 12 12 74 54 19 72 max 78
5 Hartlepool United 44 20 12 12 72 57 17 72 max 78
6 Brighton & Hove Alb 44 20 11 13 61 43 18 71 max 77
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7 Port Vale 44 19 10 15 67 61 7 67 max 73

Saturday 1 May
Brighton v Notts County - Home win
Hartlepool v Plymouth - draw
Port Vale v Tranmere - draw
QPR v Swindon - draw

Sunday 2 May
Barnsley v Bristol City - draw

Saturday 8 May
Bristol City v Blackpool - Home win
Rushden & D'monds v Port Vale - draw
Sheff Wed v QPR - draw
Swindon v Hartlepool - home win
Wrexham v Brighton - draw

Roberts - 8 a couple of great stops
Virgo - 7 more defensive than usual, but played well as a full back

Harding - 6 was given a bit of a run round, but luckily was covered well
Cullip - 9 brilliant captains display
Butters - 9 matched Cullip for determination
Reid - 7 battled well and nearly scored with a chip
Oatway - 6 battled but gave away the ball too often
Carpenter - 7 back to his old self
Jones - 8 best option going forward
Iwelumo - 6 not his best game, is he fit?
Knight - 7 100%effort, always a tough game when we were being so defensive
Hart (for Iwelumo 74 mins) - 6 made 1 or 2 good runs
Piercy for Jones 85 minutes - 6 only on for 9 mins and we were up against it during that time

Mayo, Kuipers & El-Abd not used

Mark R