Carnaval de Parris

Brighton & Hove Albion v Manchester United in the WSL at The AMEX Stadium

The Seagulls are at thier second home to host the Red Devils on a very changeable late autumn day. The monsoons have been replaced by sunshine and it is lovely and warm in the East Stand. It's the second outing in 7 days to watch the seagulls. We're hoping for another 3 points today but this will be a tougher test. The Reds have won 3 in 3 this season. The two sides played out an exciting 2-2 draw at Crawley almost a year ago with the Reds needing some Official assistance to save the point. Hope they don't get that sort of assistance today. Both teams have had a good start to the season and whoever wins will go top of the league overnight as it's the only Saturday game. There is just one change to the Seagulls starting line-up as Cankovic is replaced by the returning Poppy. It's the usual 3 at the back with Olislagers moving into central midfield with Vicky. Fran, Nikita, Pauline and Bruna make up the front 4. Maisie and Michelle are on the bench today and have both been selected for the England U23 squad for the upcoming international break. Fran has made the senior squad but Poppy and Nikita miss out this time. There are some familiar faces and some new names in the Man Utd team. Their new striker, the strangely familiar, Terri someone, seems to be settling in nicely, unfortunately. They have a new keeper to replace Mary Earps who left for PSG in the summer. Also gone is our favourite, Lucia Garcia, who is playing in Mexico now. Grace Clinton is back from loan and Celine Bizet has also joined from Spurs. Sussex By The Sea plays as the players come out, the words are displayed round the pitch side advertising for those of us that are still learning them. There are a few hundred of the Toone army in the corner to the left. Good to see alot less red shirts in the home stands. Just a few youngsters with their Brighton shirt wearing siblings. There are no wheelie bins of fire today🔥. We have noisy blue and white smoke bombs. Pyro done 🧨, time to party🎉.

The Reds are giving the Seagulls a hard time form the start. Baggers makes a great save from Miyazawa on 7. Bizet puts a cross in from a good way out and a Baggaley comes to collect it, Grace Clinton flies through to bundle the ball into the net on 10. Bugger. The Spurs connection working there.  Utd are dominating and camping out in the Seagulls end. Terri gets her first shot on goal but it's easy for Sophie to catch. Brighton are still playing out from the back but it's looking really risky against the high pressing Reds. Nail may be bitten.  Nikita is fouled running down the wing but skips over the sliding tackle and the ref waves to play advantage. When the ball comes back the other way, Dotti is booked for a bad foul but the ref ignores that fact that Nikita was nearly taken out at full speed. She must have forgotten her red 🖍️crayons today. Convenient 🙄. Half an hour has gone and Bridgton finally get to the other end of the pitch and win a corner. It never goes in the box, just backwards and forwards in front of it🤦🏼‍♂️. Pauline goes down injured and heads off down the tunnel after treatment on the pitch . Hope she is alright but she has looked a bit off the pace all game. She is replaced by Maddison Haley on 41. Fran turns over the possession in midfield giving it to Maddison who charges forward to get the Seagulls best chance so far. It's well saved and the resulting corner comes to nothing. 0-1 at the break. Big half coming up for Brighton 🤞🏼.

There are two changes for the Seagulls at the restart. Olislagers is replaced by Maisie and Bruna by Agyemang. A bit more physicality in the middle and on the left. Brighton suddenly look much better.  They can get and keep the ball at last. They level the score on 52 ⚽ when Maisie's low cross is put in by a diving header from Nikita. 1-1. Whoop. Brighton are getting good possession and get a couple of corners but can't find the finish they need.   Agyemang is making great runs down the wing, interchanging well with Poppy. Things you like to see part1: Tooney sitting on the floor waving her arms in the air after the ref waves away a foul 🤣. Things you like to see part2: The Reds keeper sitting down for a Zinsberger break, I mean treatment on 72.   At 75, it's time for some United changes. Aoife Mannion comes on for Miyazawa and Simi Awujo on for Lisa Naalsund. Not big guns then. Baggers makes another great save, this time it's from Grace Clinton. Baggers then makes catch fractionally ahead of Terri getting to the ball. She flattens Sophie then rolls around claiming penalty. No. Get up, Brighton reject. We've got Nikita now. Toone has been really quite , apart from moaning at the ref, but gets a shot in on 84 although it's tame and an easy catch for Sophie. Fran gets in a great shot on 87 but it's just about pushed wide. It looks like it's gone out for a corner but United just carry on playing. Terri forces Sophie in to a good save on 90. Five minutes added but the Seagulls are still hanging on. Tooney makes way for Rachael William (gulp) on 92. She always scores from the bench but hopefully it's too late today even for her. A couple of minutes more pressure then Maisie shields the ball out for a goal kick and we all breath again. There's no more action and it finishes level. A well fought point for the Seagulls in front of a record crowd of 8369. 👏🏼

A great game and a good result for the improving Seagulls. Very much a game of 2 halves though. United could have put it to be in the 1st half but they weren’t clinical enough to beat an on form Baggers. Dario had a Plan B for the 2nd half and it worked really well. The sun came out as we watched the Albion go toe the toe with the biggest club in the World (their claim - not mine).  There was a good atmosphere in the ground although it wasn't as noisy as Crawley.  At least the stands weren't full of red shirts screaming/screeching every time Toone got near the ball.  It was also good to see Nikiti get a goal and not Terri 😉. We got the better end of that deal. The shared points means the Red go top overnight as the reminded us loudly on the way back to the car. The Seagulls are 2nd and worse case scenario will be 4th tomorrow.  Settle for that. 10 points from 5 games when it took 11 games to reach that point last season. In other news, Tranmere won away at Bromley with goals (whatever they are) from Omari ⚽ and Saunders ⚽. Well done to the Whites and the travelling SWA.  Are we Wrexham is disguise. It's the international break now so we will be seeing the Lionesses and hopefully Fran on Friday at Wembley. Can't wait but might have to as it's the RUR Cup 2nd round on Tuesday.

POTM: Nikita comes close but Sophie Baggaley stepped up before 🧤and after 🧤 the break so she bags 🤦🏼‍♂️the award🏅. Well done Baggers.

We would like to thank the PGMufcOL for providing the officials for the match today. I think they earned their money.

Bottle top news: Oh, dear. AMEX Stadium, NIL POINTS. The Pepsi lid was confiscated outside the stadium by the steward who had to wrench it from it's tether. Grumpy. The spare Coca Cola lid smuggled in didn't fit the Pepsi bottle. Double grumpy. Damn you AMEX stadium and you too, Pepsi. Irony alert: they sell Coca Cola in the stadium. Doh 🤦‍♂️.

Scran'o'meter: Excellent chips 🍟 from the Fish & Chip van outside. 8/10

See you soon.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Back at the AMEX

Trying the kit for size

Super Fran

The Seagulls Have Landed

Brighton & Hove Albion Women face Crystal Place Women in the WSL at the VBS Community Stadium

The Seagulls face the Eagles at Gander Green Lane in the first Women's edition of the A23 derby, the derby that never was. It's a new ground for the Seagulls but it's familiar to us as the home of Sutton United. There is a new hybrid pitch ready for the arrival of the WSL in Sutton. It's our first outing to watch the Seagulls this season after the disappointing end to last season. There is a new manager, it's Aussie Dario Vidosic, g'day' . He was brought in some new faces and got the girls 6 points from 9 so far with the first outing being a four nil thumping of Everton in which Kiko scored a hat trick. It leaves them 3rd in the table going in to today 😁. There have been a few leavers including Ziggy to PSG, Sarri to Everton, Katie to Villa, Terri to Man United, Lee to Birmingham City, Emma to Juventus, and Pinto to Atletico Madrid. There are a host of replacements and there are some big names amongst them with no less than 2 lionesses. Nikita Parris joins from Man Utd and Fran Kirby from Chelsea. Really showing the Albion's intent on a better league position this season. There are a few more incomings to note. Michelle Agyemang from the young lionesses joins on loan from Arsenal. Cankovic joins from Chelsea and youngster Bruna Vilamela joins on loan from Barcelona. Not forgetting Japanese international and hattrick hero, Kiko Seike who joins from Urawa Red Diamonds, She's shining like a diamond already. We will get to know some of the others better as the season goes on. Poppy has had a great start to the season. She has been playing as a wingback to the new back 3 formation but is suspended after picking up 2 yellows against Villa last time out. The only name we know in the Eagles is England youngster, Lexi Potter. We know the ref, it's Kirsty ,who we have seen a few times, lastly being at the loss to Everton at the Amex back in April. Sutton were relegated at the end of last season so it's a pleasant surprise to be back at Gander Green Lane. It's a new ground for CPFCW who have moved from Hayes Lane, home of Bromley. The vacancy has been filled by London City Lionesses. We're in the Sutton United home end terrace. Excited? Let's get started.

The Seagulls start with their new dynamic style but the passing isn't up to scratch to carry it off. The Eagles are up for the challenge. There are a few half chances each way before Nikita heads over from Bruna's cross. Bruna is in the thick of it again on 35 as she taps in from close range ⚽. Cankovic goes down injured on 39 and is replaced by Maisie. The Seagulls get another good chance on 42 but Fran's shot is saved. Katie Stengal's blocked shot is the last action of the half. Eagles 0 Seagulls 1.

The Eagles get the first chance but it's wide. Vicky forces Jessica Yanez into another good save. Dario makes his first changes on 61. Pauline is replaced by Michelle Agyemang. Bruna by Kiko and Dotti by Rachael McLauchlan. Kiko is lively down the right wing but her team mates seem more interested in cutting in than overlapping. They are coming back into the game a bit now as Michelle's shot goes over and Kiko's is saved. The next Seagulls sub is Marit Auee replacing Nikita on 94. The last chance goes to Palace and the whistle eventually goes on 90+6. Another big 3 points.

Seeaaaguuuuuulllls. A tough game that saw them struggle to break down the Eagles, who, in turn were effective on the break. Two very different playing styles with the Seagulls playing out from the back although too ponderous and sloppy. The Eagles were happy to sit deep and were very effective on the break with crisp passing in front of runners. The Seagulls were constantly passing behind runners. Stopping the forward momentum. Fans were frustrated by that and constantly overplaying the ball. Too many ineffective shots from range after failing to break down the defence. It was great that the youngster Bruna got her first goal, hopefully a few more to come. Only some great defensive work and a few good saves kept the clean sheet and the 3 points though. But a win is a win and the Seagulls are 4th with 9 points already. It was a great atmosphere with a good noisy group singing. Even if the singing had to pause while the page on the songbook was turned. It was all positive, getting behind the girls with no sign of the supposed rivalry. There were some Palace fans singing "seaweeds" but they were completely ignored. Here for the positive👍🏼, not the negative👎🏼. Although we did laugh at their "1-0 to the referee", "how much did you pay the ref" and "You're not fit to ref the game". Don’t sit on the fence, tell us how you feel. We sneaked in, with tickets, through the home end and so got to enjoy the new fan park. They certainly had a lot more going on than Sutton. That's it from Surrey 😉.

POTM: The defence was amazing today so the award 🎖️ goes to Jorelyn Caraballi for her part in that.

The ref had a great first half but lost her consistency in the second as the frustrated Eagle started falling over at the slightest touch. Overall she did well though.

The Scran'o'meter hit a fantastic 8.5/10 for the veggie breakfast at Tim's Café on the high street. Cok iyi.

Bottle top news: No news. No fuss about bottle tops as is becoming more normal now.

See you at the Emirates in the week.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Back at gander Green Lane

Attacking

Romance in Naranja

Chelsea WFC v Real Madrid Femenino in Group B of the UEFA Champions League at Stamford Bridge

The Blues are back in Champions League action with the first of their group games being Real Madrid at home. On paper it looks easy for the Blues as they have beaten Real Madrid at the group stage for the last 2 years. Also in the group are Celtic and FC Twente who are both on their first group stage adventure. Hope they have fun but are eventually unsuccessful. Chelsea have started the season well and have maximum points after a narrow win against Villa and then putting 7 past Palace at GGL. Their sold out WSL game against Man Utd was postponed at a weeks' notice on the grounds of player welfare. The biggest change is that Emma has gone to manage USA, oh yeh, and she won the Olympics with them this summer. Emma just being Emma. The Blues now have Sonia Bompastor who we last saw as Lyon manager in Bilbao. This is an easy banana skin for the Blues tonight. Las Blancas, seen here in a very Dutch  Orange , still have Linda Caicedo, Caroline Wier, who has escaped the ACL gang, and signed Melanie Leupolz from the Blues in the summer. There are a few new faces for the Blues.  French winger, Sandie Baltimore has signed from PSG. Sandie is at left back and on the right is familiar face, Lucy Bronze , fresh from winning the Champions League with Barcemoana. In the centre of defence are Millie and Natalie. Hannah is behind them in goal. Joining Nusken in the middle is new signing Wieke Kaptein who arrives at Chelsea after signing from Twente a year ago and spending the season there on loan. LJ is the 10 so will be drifting everywhere or no-where and taking the place of Fran who has gone to Brighton along with Cankovic👍🏼. Up front are JRK, Guru and Mayra. Las Blancas have lost Hayley Raso to Spurs so no ribbon to watch for tonight. Linda C is on the bench thankfully. Let's get on with it.   

The Liquidator starts up and the crowd are on their feet ready to go. Only the players don't come out and the music stops. A couple of minutes go by and were off again. This time the players come out and line up. It's Zecira in green and not Hannah who must have had an issue in the warm up.  After the false start, it finally underway. JRK is full of beans and wins a corner in the first minute. It's not cleared and JRK's cross ends up in the back of the net. There scorer is not announced so it must be an O.G ⚽.  Goal is a goal. Need some more beforetMadrid find their feet. The high energy press lasts for about 5 more minutes. Wieke Kaptein has a nasty clash with the pitch side advertising. She seems OK after a while. The visitors get a chance on 16 but Maria Mendes heads over from the corner. The rain starts to gets bit heavier. A orange shirt shot is easily caught by Zecira. The rain gets even heavier. Chelsea get a corner on 30. Nusken is fouled in the box and the ref gives a pen. Gura does her thing ⚽. 2-0. A double save from Zecira on 32 keeps the lead but the pressure on the hosts is building in the pouring rain. There is a scramble in the Blues box on 39 and Redeondo blasts home. I think the Blues are happy when the break comes. 2-1.

Chelsea are back up to speed and starting to apply pressure again. Weike's shot is deflected and saved as the Blues dominate. Some good wing play leads to LJ ghosting into the box and her cross finds the head of Mayra. It goes high and looks like it over the bar but it drops just under and into the net⚽. 3-1. The Whites respond by bringing on Lida Caicedo. She might be a handful, depending on where she plays. LJ is fouled by Teresa Abelleria. It's not a booking but she then reacts and gets booked for opening her mouth. Big cheers from the crowd. Guru and Mayra both have good chances from LJ crosses. Sonia makes some changes on 66 with Lawrence replacing Baltimore and Hermano replacing Kaptein. Into the last 15 and the important 5th goal could go either way. Feller comes on for Castillo and is an immediate threat. JRK is replaced by OJF for the Blues. It's been a great shift from the Swedish winger. It's the Spaniards applying the pressure now. A cross into the Blues box is not dealt with and Caicedo prods it home on 83. 3-2. Oops. A tough last ten minutes ahead. The Blues soak up the pressure though and see out the win. Aaannnd breath. Glad those Madrid subs came on so late. Phew.😰

A first Champions League win for Sonia but it was far from convincing. The early energy faded quickly but the side has been depleted by a sickness bug in the week so not all are at their peak. It turns out that Erin, who is just back from injury, got a knock in training. Cat Macario and Megan Fox were also unwell. With no keeper on the bench, it was apparently decided which outfield player would go in goal. We don't know who it was and probably never will . If we had to guess, and we can't resist, it would be Natalie Bjorn. She looks a bit like a keeper. The Blues performance was lacklustre on the whole but there were a few moments of brilliance. They sat back too much and it became difficult to get down the wings with any success. The penalty looked a bit soft but we'll take it, or rather Guru took it and she doesn't miss those. The weather was awful for parts of the game and there was some slipping and sliding. We were over on the far side so couldn't hear Sonia instructions. She's not Emma 📣.  Saying that, no-one could hear much over the Madrid keepers constant screaming. We like a shouty keeper but it was a bit too screechy. There was some good noise from the Stamford Bridge crowd, mostly at the back led by Basil but there were other small pockets of fans giving the girls support from the stands. It's a good start and 3 points on the board. FC Twente top the group after match day 1 as they beat Celtic 2-0. Their first time in the group stage but they could be tough opposition for the Blues when they head there next Wednesday. Sure Chelsea will get a warm Dutch welcome. And any tea drinkers need take their own milk as they drink it with lemon over there. Or just drink coffee like normal people. That's it for us in London this week.

POTM: Goes to JRK 🏅 for her ridiculous level of energy. Blew the Spaniards away from the first whistle.

Ref: All the officials had a good game especially considering the conditions. They intervened only where necessary and didn't fall for any of the Spaniard's theatrics.

Basil watch: Met him at the main entrance and heard him for most of the game.

Bottle top news: All bottle tops were left intact.

See you on Saturday

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

West stand rules

Two little ducks, Lucy Bronze

Stamford and Bridget

We're only here for the Basil

Enjoying the train to London