Greatest Games of My Life #7 - Brighton 3-1 Crystal Palace, 2018.

It was a cold, rainy December night - perfect conditions for a game like this. Why might that be you ask? Because it was derby day!

Brighton & Hove Albion's rivalry with Crystal Palace is a strange one. The two sides are quite a distance apart geographically but it's a significant game for the two clubs which dates back to the 1970's. Anyway if you want to find out more, then please check out my one my previous blogs where I write about the history of the rivalry.

Some people ask me: "Why do Brighton and Crystal Palace still have this petty little rivalry?" or "Why do football rivalries even exist?"

Well every superhero needs a villain. Teams want bragging rights. Derby days remind us how much we love our football clubs when the atmosphere inside the stadium is bouncing. It doesn't matter how well you're doing in the league - you might be bottom of the table, your rivals might be top - who cares? Anyone can win these games and when you do win, it's a great feeling.

I attended the game with my friend who's name I will leave anonymous. We made it to the game about 15 minutes or so before kick-off. The teams walked out and everybody was singing Sussex By the Sea as loud as they could. The stadium announcer went through the team of Crystal Palace first and as you can probably tell, it was drowned out by boo's and loud Brighton chants.

The game kicked off, stadium still rocking and in the 24th minute, yes! Penalty to Brighton! Glenn Murray converted from the spot against (dare I say) his former club. Momentum.

Then the drama unfolded - Shane Duffy got sent off four minutes later after a headbutt on Patrick van Annholt. Leon Balogun came on straight away to fill in at the back. Play resumed and Solly March was about to take a corner on the right hand side. I nudged my mate and jokingly said "Go on Balogun score!" - as he had just come on.

Lo and behold, the ball dropped to him in the box and Balogun hit it on the half volley into the net. I was honestly stunned and I was kinda laughing because I didn't think he'd actually come on and score a goal - I was only taking the piss! But first touch and BANG! He scores his first Brighton goal in the most important game of them all. Not bad for our then backup centre back.

Later on in the first half, Glenn Murray came off due to an injury so in came Florin Andone. Andone became a cult hero after his brilliant solo goal to make it 3-0 before half time. He ran and ran, kept the ball in play and ran a bit more to slot the ball into the bottom corner and sent James Tomkins back to Croydon.

The second half saw no Brighton goals but a Palace penalty went in to make it 3-1. I'd say the second half entertainment was the winding up from the home crowd towards Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha. You've gotta love it, he's a pantomime villain at the Amex and Martin Montoya kept him in his back pocket all game.

By Ed Ettridge