In the second round of the Carabao Cup, Brighton & Hove Albion beat League Two side Barnet 1-0. In a match where Brighton struggled to break down a well-organised Barnet side, I look at the two players that for me really took their chance and shone under the bright lights of The Amex.
Rohan Ince:
The 24-year-old midfielder has struggled to feature in Chris Hughton’s plans since he took the reins at The Seagulls in 2014. This is due to the sheer competition for places in the midfield with him having to compete with Dale Stephens and Beram Kayal over the years for a starting spot and now add in Steven Sidwell and Davy Propper into the mix, it has meant game time has been very limited for Ince.
Last night, Ince got his opportunity to show what he can do by playing the full 90 minutes and he certainly impressed. His quick thinking, great interceptions and fabulous tackling meant Barnet struggled to get the ball past Ince.
What was even more impressive was the fact that he was a playmaker last night, trying to thread passes in behind the Barnet defence and this eventually paid off as he played a great pass into Liam Rosenior whose shot then fell to James Tiley, who tapped in for the only goal of the night.
I can still see a role for Ince at the club after last night’s performance as in the Premier League you need central midfielders who are going to be able to get stuck in and make tackles and interceptions, which Ince certainly does.
Also, his stature helps, at 6ft 3inces, the midfielder is tough to compete with in the air and also is very strong and quick so when he is running with the ball it makes it extremely tough for the opposition to get the ball off him.
James Tilley:
The 19-year old was called up to the first team squad for last night’s cup game after his impressive form for the u23s where he has become a key player for Simon Rusk’s side.
Tilley has played for the senior team squad before when he made one appearance in the 2014/15 season coming on as a sub. He then made another appearance in a 4-2 win in the cup over Oxford in the 2016/17 season. Last night Tilley made it three appearances and had quite the impact after coming on at half time for Anthony Knockaert.
Tilley certainly made a difference as he tried to get on the front foot and make something happen for Brighton, which was rewarded when he scored his first ever Brighton goal just eight minutes after coming on, as he was on hand to tap into the net after Liam Rosenior’s saved effort fell to the 19-year-old.
Tilley did not seem fazed by the occasion of playing in front of a crowd of over 11,00 at The AMEX. To me, I can see a bright future for Tilley and if he continues to impress over the next year or two, I can not see why he cannot be pushing to feature in the senior squad more often.
