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Brighton & Hove Albion U18 v Ipswich Town U18

11am  15 September 2012

Under 18 Professional Development League 2, South
Brighton & Hove Albion U18 1 Ipswich Town U18 1 (att 57)

The last time I visited the Sussex University Sports Ground in Falmer for a Brighton youth team game the main pitch was out of action, and instead they played some distance away on "pitch two".

As I'm pedantic about such things I wanted to return to see a game on the "main" pitch, although the effort of driving from Manchester to Brighton in time for an 11am kick off meant it's taken a while to get round to it.

With that in mind I was grateful to find the players warming up on the correct bit of grass when I arrived. The pitch is immediately in front of a 1960s pavilion, which has a balcony for an elevated view, as well as some cover for spectators at ground level.

The game was evenly matched. Brighton shaded the first half, and scored its only goal, while Ipswich were better after the break, and got a deserved equaliser.

This was the first time I've seen a game in what is the second tier of the newly restructured Under 18s academy system in English football. Brighton have effectively moved up from the more physical Football League Youth Alliance, while Ipswich were previously a level higher in the Premier Academy League.



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