Town then went into a huddle, wow. That's like sooo neat. I had a lump in my throat and the hairs on my neck stood on end, honest. Brighton followed suit, tsk. Copycats. Sooo not cool.
Onto Town's team. Well, changes were promised and that's what we got. The biggest changes came with Phil Jevons dropped to the bench, Mike Edwards totally left out the squad and Stacy Coldicott returning to the starting eleven. Iain Anderson was rewarded for his performance at Oldham with a start. Simon Ford took Edwards' place in defence alongside Tony Crane. Lee Thorpe picked up a strain in training with Isaiah Rankin taking his place. The place left by Michael Boulding (boooo) was taken by Darren Mansaram. Iffy Onoura was another dropped totally from the squad.
The remainder of the subs completed a very adventurous five. Joining Jevons were David Soames, Graham Hockless, Greg Young and Des Hamilton. Well a striker and an attacking midfielder, that's sorta adventurous.
Brighton had the divisions top scorer ,Leon Knight, up front with Leiceter loanee and one time Town target Trevor Benjamin.
With Gillingham having the weeked off, Alan Pouton was once again a spectator in the stands. It really is nice to see that Pouts still holds the club dearly in his heart. For me Pouton will always be a legend for his passion and love of the club. You're welcome back anytime you want, Al.
The call from both Rodger and fans was for more passion and drive. The opening ten minutes were answered with an exclamation point.
Rankin's first touch saw him hold off two defenders before releasing Stacy Coldicott down the wing, yeah this did happen. Stace was actually bombing down the wing. After 10 months outs, Stace won a corner which Barnard took, which despite causing problems for the Seagulls defence was cleared.
On five minutes Coldicott won back possession in midfield before finding Mansaram. Flash twisted and turned, rather needlessly but it's still fun. His ball found Rankin with his back to goal, the debut boy controlled on his chest before firing a shot back across goal and beyond the dive of Jones. 1-0. Geddddin. Now would we sit back and ruin it all? No. Not straight away anyway.
Minutes later Anderson chased down Mayo who fell over giving Anderson time and space approaching the box. Jones was drawn and Ando crossed for the onrushing Rankin. The 25-year-old stretched to reach but the went under his foot with the empty goal begging.
Brighton slowly got back into the game with Knight living up to his reputation of a diver. Crane tackled, Knight dived. Free-kick given. The initial kick was blocked but Virgo fired the rebound goalwards, Davison's legs saved the shot before it was scrambled away.
Knight then went on a mini-run before his shot was blocked over. The corner was whipped in, Davison half punched clear to Cullip who fired back towards the goal. The lumbering Benjamin flicked the ball past Davison to level the scores after 18 minutes. Hmmmm, the writing looked to be on the wall.
Brighton then had a spell of 20 minutes in which they penned Town back with a succession of corners and set-pieces. Referee Roy Pearson was annoying the home crowd with some dubious decisions that saw Crane, Crowe, Barnard and Daws booked for nothing challenges. Brighton, who were just as physical - if not more, escaped.
Despite all the possession, Brighton failed to take advantage and Town ended the half on top. Anderson's free-kick hit the wall and flew out for a corner. Jones dropped the following corner but Crane failed to react quick enough to capitalise.
The exhausted Colidcott was replaced by Des Hamilton in the break. Stace was first class in the opening period. His presence in midfield had a great effect on the team, for the first game in ages Town's midfield had came out on top.
Early in the second half Town won a free-kick down the right side. With confusion over the offside rules at present, Town placed players in 'offisde positions'. When Anderson swung the ball in, those players moved into positions where they weren't interfering with play. With the Brighton defence at sea, Crane strode forward into space and was inches away from connecting with the cross.
The right sided combination of Anderson and Crowe were linking up well. When Crowe bombed forward, Anderson tracked back. When Anderson bombed forward, Crowe offered support.
It was said duo who created a host of aerial chances which caused problems for Jones, who looked more than reluctant to deal with crosses.
On 67 minutes Mansaram was replaced by Jevons. Finally Jevons had his chance up front. He didn't take long to make his mark. His first action was to chase a lost cause down to win a corner. In fact Jevons wasn't playing as an out-and-out striker. Instead he was playing slightly off Rankin in a 4-4-1-1 system.
From the corner Ford made good contact but the ball was cleared on the line and hoofed to safety.
Town were on top and for once they took advantage on 75 minutes The impressive Anderson glided forward in the centre of the park to unleash a low drive which Jones failed to hold. Jevons slid in and made slight contact, ok none at all, forcing Jones to drop the ball over the line. The linesman flagged for the goal and Jevons celebrated. Whilst Jevons has been credited with the goal, it could well end up going to Anderson. That with Chris Kamara meddling.
With five minutes to go Rankin was replaced by David Soames to a standing ovation.
In injury time Brighton won a corner. Benjamin stood in front of Davison and either said or did something which forced Aidan into a reaction. The veteran flew towards Benjamin and at worst gave him a hug (!), it did however start a 22-man fracas. It was a right kerfuffle.
With no 'keeper on the bench, Disco Des Hamilton went in goal. Hamilton had little to do really. Two corners were cleared by the defence and his one task of kicking a passback clear was done well.
The whistle went and the relief on the faces was clear to see. The Town players hugged (awww) and Grezza came onto the pitch to give some more cuddles (awwww, again).
A much, much improved performance from Town. In fairness it was far from classic in terms of the play but the battling change was more than welcome. We know the quality is there, what we wasn't sure on is the heart. Saturday proved it did exist.
Man of the Match - Stacy Coldicott. Just shaves it ahead of Iain Anderson. Stace only managed 45 minutes but the effect carried on into the second half. His simple play is a great sight after so many games when Town tried to run before standing, never mind walking. Welcome back Stace.