2-0 is a nasty lead to have at half time, I’ve always said it, because if they get a goal back they’re right back in the game, with a psychological advantage. And it was a bit cat and mouse after the break, though when we did have the ball we played some beautiful football. It took until 83 minutes to get our third - an Ian Simpemba header from a corner, and by the time the ref blew the whistle we had two more.
The first was a brave header by Gary Holloway. He got the ball in, but he also headed the post and got a bit of the goalie and ended up losing a tooth and having stitches over an eye and a lump on the side of his head. At 3-0 up! He really wanted to score, and I loved his commitment. The second was a penalty - this time by Cadey, because Boothy had gone off.
Next up, then, it’s Newport County. The game has been rescheduled to 12 o’clock on Sunday by the police, because Brighton are playing Southend on the Saturday, which is a high-risk game, and they don’t want too many away fans travelling in the area. Newport are a rough, tough side full of good players. They will be difficult to beat: we’re going to have to prepare ourselves for a difficult match. In the meantime, I’m pleased to be top of the table, but very aware that there’s a hell of a long way to go. We’ve made a good start - there’s no manager in the world who’d rather have four defeats in five than four wins in five - but we’ve got to be prepared to weather the inevitable difficult patches that any side in any division will have. I’m happy to be where we are, in short, but it means nothing if we aren’t there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
Next home matches: Sun 2nd (12pm) Newport, Fri 7th (7.45pm) Welling