Bristol City 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
By Tim Hodges
The Albion continued their winning ways in a comfortable although hard fought victory at lowly Bristol City.
Gus Poyet selected the side that beat Peterborough and although Romain Vincelot returned to the bench there was no room for Spanish superstar Vicente Rodriguez
Ryan Harley orchestrated the midfield in the first half , as the Albion utilized Craig Noone as much as possible , as the winger ran at the nervous looking City defence time and time again.
Both Ashley Barnes and Craig Mackail-Smith went close , Mackail-Smith had a clear chance towards the end of the half which saw Nicky Maynard well shackled by Dunk and Greer.
As the second half developed Maynard saw a good shot beaten away by Ankergren, as City started to get at Albion .
Maynard then forced Ankergren to make a smart save at his feet. Campbell-Ryce also got the Albion keeper rushing form his line, as the Robins forward broke only to be intercepted by the onrushing Seagulls keeper.
Liam Bridcutt was completely in charge of the midfield area creating . defending and generally bossing the match, he is very much an Albion unsung hero.
Ryan Harley then had a shot which ex England keeper David James couldn’t hold and Mackail-Smith looked certain to open the scoring from the rebound , however James pulled off a wonder save and pushed the ball for a corner.
Both Mackail – Smith and Noone went close soon after, Noone with a volley that dipped just too late.
Gary Dicker then forced James to tip a longer range effort over the bar. Dicker was involved at the other end soon after as he blocked a close range header almost under Albion’s crossbar.
On 75 minutes Buckley and Lua Lua replaced Noone and Harley and not long after from a Buckley corner Inigo Calderon back heeled the ball in to the path of Ashley Barnes who slammed it home from inside the six yard box.
Right at the end Ankergren made a great save to deny Pitman as the Albion hung on to remain top of the Football League.
Albion: Ankergren; Calderon, Greer, Dunk, Painter; Bridcutt, Dicker, Harley; Noone, Barnes, Mackail-Smith. Subs: Brezovan, Vincelot, Navarro, LuaLua, Buckley.
Bristol City: James; Spence, Nyatanga, Wilson, McGivern; Elliott, Kilkenny, Skuse; Adomah, Campbell-Ryce, Maynard. Subs: Gerken, Carey, Woolford, Stead, Pitman.
Ref: Dean Whitestone (Northampton).
