FOOTBALL: Albion coast it at Woodside – picture gallery
ALBION had no difficulty in emphasising the difference between the two clubs in the annual pre-season friendly.
Click on the green play button to watch a slide show of photographs with all the action from the match on Saturday (July 12).
With the help of a deflection, they took the lead after only 75 seconds, through new Brighton signing from Colchester, Kevin McLeod, and, by the last 10 minutes, were looking for a fifth goal that Joe Gatting, in particular, in several instances, failed to finish off.
Albion boss Mick Adams, after his first match on home soil since returning to the Albion, pronounced himself satisfied with the performance and included the clean sheet among the highpoints.
That almost didn't happen.
In only the 16th minute, Manny Omoyinmi, who has played in the Premiership for Watford and has just moved to the Worthing area, showed his quality with a run across the Albion box and a feint that drew a despairing tackle before he curled a shot onto Michael Kuiper's left-hand post.
Elliott's presence
The chance had been set up by a long Justin Gregory ball that young debutant Paul Elliott, the greenest player on the field in terms of experience, had chased behind Joe Lynch to the bye line before then robbing the Albion defender not far from the left-wing corner flag, and finding Omoyinmi inside.
But although Elliott scored several more points off Albion defenders in terms of free kicks conceded by fouling him, that was the last look any Worthing player got of the whites of an Albion keeper's eyes.
Second-half custodian John Sullivan was destined for a much more boring afternoon than the last one he spent against Worthing, two Sussex Senior Cup Finals ago. I can remember him touching the ball a couple of times.
Albion gained eight corners and Worthing none.
Not that Albion created much pressure.
It was a pleasing open game and Worthing did their share of attacking. But they managed scarcely a shot on goal or needed a quality cross to be cut out.
Lead doubled
Just after it became 2-0, Paul Kennett, an outstanding player in the game let alone just for Worthing, got his boot to a deep Roy Pook free kick but the ball flew wide.
Debut-making keeper Alan Mansfield could not reach McLeod's shot to his near left post after it clipped a defender to open the scoring.
Stuart Axten had headed out for a corner an early Albion cross, they took the flag-kick short and, to find the room to shoot, McLeod ventured inside Gregory, and Chris O'Flaherty - the left-sided player Rebels have signed from Whyteleafe, whose colleague Daniel Platel also had a try-out for Worthing in the second half.
Mansfield had plenty of other activity, but not before his second visit to his own net.
A long-ball flicked down early by Albion skipper Nicky Forster to Glenn Murray who from 20 yards lobbed the ball in over the helpless and stranded keeper to make it 2-0 in the 19th minute.
McLeod forced a Mansfield save with his feet, another deflection probable, then the ex-Horsham keeper flipped over his crossbar a Tommy Fraser header but from the resultant corner, in the 42nd minute, Murray glanced his header against the far post and Worthing gratefully bundled it from danger.
Almost new Albion line-up
After a long interval for half-time, Brighton retained Michael Haswell and Adam El-Abd (handing him Forster's armband) plus Murray and, almost immediately, the vastly revised line-up had almost scored - but Jonny Dixon, in space on then right of the attack, scuffed his shot.
Murray then rolled a delivery across goal, parallel to the Worthing goal-line, a yard out, with no final touch.
And still only nine minutes in the new half, Dixon feebly finished after being gifted the ball by Worthing skipper Ben Andrew's stray header.
Dixon then chipped over the bar, but time was wearing on - in fact, into the 72nd minute - before the Albion tally increased.
Mansfield made a flying save from Gatting at an angle.
It was another corner, again taken short, and another debutmaker, Colin Hawkins, met Scott Chamberlain's cross with such power that Mansfield could only raise his arms and hands as the ball scorched between them high into the net.
Almost all Gatting
A super last-ditch Harry Constable tackle denied Gatting from a pass that slipped the offside, then Mansfield sprang with great agility to catch an unwitting diversion from close range by his own defender Andy Alexander.
Chamberlain added Albion's fourth with Mansfield wrongfooted in the 80th minute and, as the quest ensued for goal No 5, Gatting sidefooted wide a glorious free cross from Haswell, Robinson triggered a fine snap shot that just missed Mansfield's top-right angle, then slipped a perfect pass to Gatting who went clear and drew Mansfield, who got his angles right and Gatting's effort just missed the far post.
It would be easy to assume Albion's superior fitness told.
It did: Worthing had been training barely a week, Albion only 10 days - but with a friendly already under their belts in Ireland last week.
Worthing rang their substitutions, including six interval changes, to allow some players rest with a squad that was not deep enough to maintain a challenge without that kind of disruption.
New Albion scenario
And the difference between this year and last (only 2-1 then to Brighton with Forster scoring on his debut in the last minute) might have had something to do with a new Albion manager needing to be impressed.
Joint managers Alan Pook and Danny Bloor opted to use goalscorer Andrews at centre-half and his strength in the air ensured damage was limited, although he got precious few opportunities to join the Worthing attack because they enjoyed so few set-pieces.
But at their own level in the Ryman League, the quality of Kennett, Mansfield, Gregory and O'Flaherty, with the holidaying Scott Kirkwood to return, suggests Rebels will be appreciably stronger than last season.
Adams afterwards expressed disappointment with the pitch, about which head groundsman Morty Hollis explained that re-seeding had been hampered by mainly cool and windy weather - the opposite to optimum growth requirements.
However, there are weeks ahead available to redress the thinness of grass in some areas.
Stats
WORTHING: Mansfield; Pook, Axten, Andrews, Gregory; Pulling, Akehurst, Kennett, O'Flaherty; Omoyinmi, Elliott.
Subs: Benn (Pook HT), Lawley (Pulling HT), Brotherton (Omoyinmi HT), Platel (Elliott HT), Dodd (Akehurst HT), Alexander (Axten HT), Constable (Gregory 55), Elliott (O'Flaherty 61), Akehurst (Kennett 72), Axten (Andrews 82), Andrews (Elliott inj 88).
ALBION - 1st half: Kuipers; El-Abd, Virgo, Lynch, Haswell; Cox, Thomson, Fraser, McLeod; Forster, Murray.
2nd half: Sullivan; Whing, Elphick, Hawkins, Haswell; Robinson, El-Abd, Chamberlain, Mayo; Dixon, Murray. Subs: Gatting (Murray 61).
Att: 2,021.
To order copies of photographs, click here.
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Tuesday 29 May 2012
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