Ten-man Albion slipped to a narrow 1-0 defeat away to QPR in a tight affair.Bradley Barry saw red for a deliberate handball on the line with the R’s capitalising by scoring the resulting penalty on 54 minutes, as Simon Rusk’s side suffered a fourth straight defeat.
A powerful and strong QPR side put Albion’s youth team under heavy pressure during the opening half, but were unable to find a way past a solid and determined Brighton defence.
Rusk’s outfit started the second period in a more positive manner and began to see longer spells of possession but their positive start was soon undone.
Barry’s intentional handball earned the defender a straight red and QPR took full advantage from the spot.
Despite being a man short, Albion created chances to equalise with the best one falling to George Cousins, who saw his goalbound attempt cleared off the line as the R’s held on for the three points.
Following the slender defeat, Rusk told seagulls.co.uk, “We coped well when we went down to ten men and we should have equalised but I cannot fault the lads on their commitment, especially after we went down to ten men. I felt our decision-making on the ball in the first half could have been better but there was still some good passages of play.
“Hopefully the boys have learnt a lot from the challenge of being a man down for a long period of time and maybe in that situation in the future they will cope with it confidently.”
Albion: Colquhoun (GK); Barry, Rea, Cooper, Gray; Benham, Peake, Wiltshire (Harris 60); Cousins (Lall 75), Muitt, Levy (Rowhurst 70). Sub not used: Collar.
Original article
A powerful and strong QPR side put Albion’s youth team under heavy pressure during the opening half, but were unable to find a way past a solid and determined Brighton defence.
Rusk’s outfit started the second period in a more positive manner and began to see longer spells of possession but their positive start was soon undone.
Barry’s intentional handball earned the defender a straight red and QPR took full advantage from the spot.
Despite being a man short, Albion created chances to equalise with the best one falling to George Cousins, who saw his goalbound attempt cleared off the line as the R’s held on for the three points.
Following the slender defeat, Rusk told seagulls.co.uk, “We coped well when we went down to ten men and we should have equalised but I cannot fault the lads on their commitment, especially after we went down to ten men. I felt our decision-making on the ball in the first half could have been better but there was still some good passages of play.
“Hopefully the boys have learnt a lot from the challenge of being a man down for a long period of time and maybe in that situation in the future they will cope with it confidently.”
Albion: Colquhoun (GK); Barry, Rea, Cooper, Gray; Benham, Peake, Wiltshire (Harris 60); Cousins (Lall 75), Muitt, Levy (Rowhurst 70). Sub not used: Collar.
Original article