The previous day’s news that Brighton had at last received planning permission for a brand spanking new all-seater stadium was bound to lift the home side’s spirits. They had been living a nomadic existence at the shabby Withdean athletics stadium for too long, in fact a month at that place would’ve been too long, and after a campaign starting back in 1997 the champagne was flowing.

Town striker Nicky Forster was again injured and this gave Dean Bowditch a chance to partner Sam Parkin up front. Forster had picked up a knee injury.

The game was pretty average from the off, neither team looking brilliant, but the Seagulls managed to break the deadlock after just a quarter of an hour. A cross came in from Carole which Dean Hammond met and despite being under pressure from Richard Naylor, managed to steer home with a first time effort.

It was obvious that something needed to be changed for Town, and Joe decided to introduce Jim Magilton in the middle of the park, with Matt Richards giving way. Although Jim was not exactly setting the field alight things did improve, and the Tractor Boys were on level terms again 5 minutes before half time.

Fabian Wilnis had been called back into the starting eleven, and deservedly so after some good performances, and it was the Dutchman who surged up the left to cross into the box where Sam Parkin met the ball in the air, heading home inside the far post.

Now this Sam Parkin chap, he’s certainly caused a stir! How dare he not score at home! Jeez, he is our leading goal scorer and has already earned or rescued a fair few points for us with his 5 goals. So does that mean that he deserves booing when playing at home? No of course not, and the sooner these muppets realise that they are virtually giving the upper hand to the opposition’s defence when they boo or “cheer ironically” at the guy then the sooner his confidence will improve. Talk about piling on the pressure.

Ok, he might not “appear” to be the most exciting player you have ever seen, but a) he’s our leading goal scorer, b) he’s not injured, c) he’s our leading goal scorer, d) he’s a Town player, e) he’s our leading goal scorer… The players have a job to do out on the pitch for 90 minutes, and the fans have a job to do on the terraces, a job that does not involve putting your own players down during a match.

We don’t really hear much abuse during games towards Dean Bowditch, rightly so, but arguably his performances of late have been a tad lacklustre, or certainly not as good as hoped. He got a full game this time to show what he can do, and was quite lively and came close once or twice, and put in an overall improved performance. He’s another player who needs a goal. Boo him at home next Saturday then? ;o)

The second half was far more positive for Town, and yet not at all comfortable. Dean McDonald came on for Adam Proudlock ten minutes in and took up the same position on the right. He was lively and involved, having a few shots at goal. Bowditch and Parkin both had good chances too but missed the target on a couple of occasions.

It was Dean Bowditch who almost snatched a winner late on as he cut inside, his near post effort being well saved. That would’ve been very harsh on Brighton, and overall a draw was fair if disappointing.

Brighton have earned a few good points this season, and given that we came here last match last season needing the points to stand any chance of automatic promotion, but left with again only a point, perhaps it wasn’t that surprising. Improvement all round, but still plenty of room for more. Hopefully Nicky Forster’s absence will be short as he gave us an edge in the last few games he played since his long term injury.

The Tractor Boys hit a low point with this game, I wouldn't say an "all time low", but things haven't seemed this gloomy at Portman Road for many a year. Saturday's game did nothing to inspire hope of any silver lining.

Watford enjoyed a good enough start to the season but are now probably showing their true self, they are a team that Town should expect to beat but on the day we came nowhere near displaying any football that would warrant claim to any points from the game.

The game began with a hint of determination about both teams, either seeming to close down eagerly, but both without any apparent class and passes were going astray, clearances looked hopeful rather than directed. The general mood in the stands was uneasy, no one liked what they saw. It was boring at best.

In fact not much can be said of the match, perhaps one or two performances of note, deputy keeper Shane Supple was of course kept busy and made some excellent stops. He'd been called into the starting line-up as late as during the warm up when Lewis Price was withdrawn. As we'd seen at Leicester, he stepped in without any apparent nerves, and in fact will be unhappy not to have kept a clean sheet.

Watford had been better on the break than us, and this was probably the main difference and ultimately what won them the match early in the second half. A superb save by Supple fell back into the 6 yard box, and with the Town defence awol and not providing any back up, Ashley Young tapped home.

Given how the visitors had been playing I expected them to put all men behind the ball and defend the lead, but they did actually brighten slightly although they never needed to really try.

We never looked like threatening the Watford goal from start to finish, and perhaps our best chance was a shout for a penalty when Dean Bowditch was sandwiched between 2 defenders as he made a - dare I say "exciting" run into the box. Actually, Deano did at least put in some effort when he was introduced.

Dire, poor, shoddy, lazy, just generally crap. On this showing, how we are still mid-table is beyond belief, perhaps that there are plenty of other very mediocre sides in the division is the answer, Norwich included, thankfully. We are only a handful of points off the relegation zone, and why should we expect that we'll be safe come the end of the season? We're not the only fans awaiting a turn in fortune this season, and what if it turns their way, and not ours?

It was a stinker on Sunday down at Reading, and we desperately needed a good home performance tonight to cheer people up. The signs were good in that Joe Royle, having made several changes to the starting line-up, obviously recognised that something needed changing.

Sam Parkin dropped to the bench whilst Nicky Forster retained his place, alongside new guy Adam Proudlock who had at least looked lively on Sunday, not that anyone was going to impress in that side on the day.

Captain Jim sat this one out, and Fabian Wilnis too, with the more youthful replacements of Matt Richards and Owen Garvan stepping up.

Coventry had decided to try and hit us hard from the start, and the signs were bad with the Midlanders making easy work of disposessing Town and getting in most of what few shots either team had.

Garvan was forced off after 25 minutes after a heavy challenge, so that half scuppered Joe's attempt at reshaping things. It did mean that Jimmy Juan got a chance though.

But things took an turn for the better when we scored first, very much against the run of play. Ipswich were awarded a free kick wide of the left of the penalty area, which Darren Currie swung into the box, looking for a touch to help it into the net. It didn't need one. A few players lunged at it but no one, keeper included, managed it, and it bounced into the far side of the goal.

At this point, Town seemed to click into gear and suddenly became more confident, passing better and creating the chances. Nicky Forster almost added a second after picking up the ball following a nice sequence of passes between midfield, but the ball just didn't fall right to get in an unchallenged shot.

Coventry got in a couple of good long range shots from way outside the box which were low and hard, Lewis Price got down well and held onto them.

Five minutes before the break Ipswich got the second goal that, at the time, they deserved. Another free kick came in from Kevin Horlock which Jimmy Juan was able to head home almost unchallenged. So it seemed we're be going in at half time easily ahead, but seconds before the whistle went, Coventry got what must've been their 12th corner. Completely unmarked beyond the back post, McSheffrey lashed the ball home.

This gave the visitors some hope for the second half, and they resumed with purpose and belief. Sam Parkin was introduced at the break, Horlock having been crocked in the first half. Proudlock seemed to be pushed out wider on the right, and didn't seem as effective in the second half, although he did have less of the ball.

We still looked pretty sharp at this point, hungry for another goal which I'm pretty sure would've taken the game for us. It never came, and only ten minutes in it was even-stevens again. Another soft goal too, a cross was met and reversed back into the box where Nalis burried it.

Once again we started to look shakey, but by no means the shambles we saw at Reading. There were chances that could've won it for either Town or Coventry, the best being a Forster effort which appeared to actually cross the line by a foot, but wasn't given.

A better performance maybe, but you could say that Coventry are a whole lot worse than Reading at the moment. You could be positive and credit the performance at face value, most individuals did look far more composed at times, although we went to sleep at the back to gift Coventry a point. I'm undecided.

Checking the results last night, I thought that defeat at the hands of Burnley was not actually 'that bad' considering that they just beat an in-form Wolves away too. Pathetic optimism I know, but you've got to be sometimes.

It didn't last long though. A seemingly bright start to this one soon degenerated into more of the same sloppy stuff that sent us crashing to that embarrassing loss. A very early speculative cross from Jason De Vos was almost bundled home by Darren Currie with just seconds on the clock. It was reassuring and I hoped that yes, it was Crewe and, yes, we would stuff them.

Unfortunately I think there was a touch of the same sentiment from the players themselves, maybe some complacency helped Crewe enjoy most of the rest of the half to themselves, bar one or two other early efforts from Town.

The signs were there, with just about every move forward by Ipswich being matched by an equal break from the visitors who came close on several occasions. It was only a matter of time before either team scored, and it was going to go Crewe's way.

They got their lead from a free kick in a not particularly dangerous position (Burnley anyone?) wide outside the box, and when it was sent in it looked as though at least two Town defenders had a chance to do something with it, but none did. Lewis Price was too in a good position, but looked startled as it came his way, and although he made a token dive it was too late as the ball bounced into the far side of the goal.

Heads did not seem to drop as they had when we conceded to Burnley though, and at least we kept trying to play the game, although Crewe remained lively and buoyed by the goal. We simply looked poor against The Railwaymen who should've increased their lead with several chances before half time. It took a handful of excellent last-ditch tackles at the back to deny some of these, Richard Naylor weighing in with his fair share.

It was a little disappointing to hear boos on the half time whistle. I don't know, they may have deserved it but I can't help thinking that it's another helping hand to the opposition.

On the other hand though, they came out in the second half with more about them, so maybe it had an affect. More likely it was the changes made to the side that perked things up, Sam Parkin was withdrawn and Richard Naylor shifted up front to where he's no stranger of course. I really believed at the time that Joe had at last decided to try playing without Parkin, but apparently he had a 'back injury' which effectively decided for him.

All this meant that Fabian Wilnis took up his position at the back, and he made use of the chance to prove that he should be in the starting line-up by putting in a good, solid performance. He also went close to scoring, twice heading the ball wide.

After an hour, Joe made a double substitution, Bowditch off for Nicky Forster and Jim's tired legs made way for Jimmy Juan. Forster looked sharp from the minute he started, and initally looked fit. It was only a quarter of an hour before he scored the winner, picking up a tidy through ball from Naylor and advancing into the box before shooting into the opposite side of the goal, beyond the diving keeper.

Town looked far better going forward, Dean Bowditch had been lively yet unproductive but continued to hassle alongside Bam Bam. At last we looked more composed, and with that, more likely to score.

We got back on level terms through a free kick, Naylor was fouled as he fed Jim Magilton who's shot went over - not sure what would've happened if that had gone in as the ref seemed to blow up just after Jim hit the ball. Weird. Darren Currie sized up the free kick from 20 yards plus, and despite the wall in front of him curled a fantastic shot right into the top right hand corner. That was good.

After an hour, Joe made a double substitution, Bowditch off for Nicky Forster and Jim's tired legs made way for Jimmy Juan. Forster looked sharp from the minute he started, and initally looked fit. It was only a quarter of an hour before he scored the winner, picking up a tidy through ball from Naylor and advancing into the box before shooting into the opposite side of the goal, beyond the diving keeper.

Forster began to fade as the game wore on, visibly tired, and so too was his makeshift strike-partner Richard Naylor, who quite frankly looked knackered. At least there's two weeks before the next match to address this issue, and hey, Parkin might be fit by then too..

It was an important win in that it not only boosted our position in the league table but the team's confidence, or rather the fan's confidence in the team, as well.