Seagulls Scene: A hat-trick of trebles for Albion?

It was confirmed last week! There were no appeals against the government's decision in July to grant the go-ahead for the new stadium at Falmer. A decade of campaigning is over and Seagull fans can at last celebrate.

Martin Perry and Dick Knight have seen the club through a tough 10 years. They brought us back from exile in Gillingham. They secured the temporary home at Withdean. The Falmer for All campaign was started. There are a massive number of people who deserve thanks and many of these received recognition on the pitch at half-time on Friday evening.

The long and winding road over 10 years saw two league titles, a victorious play-off final and two relegations. Now it's the beginning of the end '“ which should be in 2010!

Looking ahead to Falmer, the club has made a new appointment. Ken Brown has taken over the new position of managing director and will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the football club.

Coincidently he comes to us from Millwall where he was chief executive. This will enable Albion chief executive Martin Perry, to focus on the key project of building the new stadium.

Brighton started their game against the Lions with a 100 per cent home record (two out of two!). We played on Friday evening so people could watch the international football on Saturday. To be honest the home fans were apprehensive as games against Millwall are always tough.

But Brighton went on to play their best 45 minutes of football for ages. Manager Dean Wilkins did reward super-sub Bas Savage for his display against Southend by starting with him. George O'Callaghan was a certainty in mid-field and Andrew Whing came back in at full-back after the red card and suspension. There were queries before the match about the remaining mid-field positions. Wilkins stuck by Dean Cox and Jake Robinson.

Little Cox had known his place was in doubt. It was reported he wasn't in the probable starting line-up! I think this had the desired effect as Cox was superb. He capped a livewire performance with a wonderful goal from 25 yards on 20 minutes,had a couple of other splendid efforts and rightly ended with the man-of-the-match award.

The Seagulls had gone ahead in the 12th minute, again courtesy of a penalty. Captain Dean Hammond was prominent in the area on one of many Brighton corners. It wasn't cleared and he was tripped moving on to the loose ball. He picked himself up to score from the spot. It was his third goal in three games.

Pleasingly Brighton did not sit back on their two-goal lead. They continued to attack and might well have added more goals. It was a rousing first 45 minutes that had the crowd happy at half-time. They could enjoy the on-pitch presentations, or off-pitch burger and chips, with the added bonus of warm weather!

After the exciting win against Southend it was good to see another thousand or so there. Some 6,600 were rewarded with this third consecutive win at Withdean and if the goals and wins continue I am sure the crowds will continue to grow. Last week I said it was a while since we scored three goals. I can't remember when we scored consecutive threes '“ answers on a postcard please.

The second half didn't have quite the intensity of the first but the game was won. Michel Kuipers kept a clean sheet. Joel Lynch was unlucky not to score when his touch hit a post. Dean Cox had another long range attempt that was just tipped over. The icing was applied with 12 minutes left when Nicky Forster crossed over the top of Bas Savage '“ no mean feat '“ to find Frenchman David Martot on the far post to score his first goal for the club with his right foot. Game over, three points and up to near the table-top.

Wilkins has continued his 'wear a suit and tie, sit in the directors' box, deliver orders by mobile phone' approach. I'm not sure about this but who can argue with results? On the negative side the substitutions seemed delayed, particularly when Joel Lynch needed to come off quickly following a clear injury. On the plus side, the assistants in the dug-out are vocal and obviously motivators, probably more so than Dean with his clipboard?

Next it's Gillingham at the Priestfield stadium, our temporary home a few years ago. It's good to be going back there knowing we have the green light for Falmer. Wilkins's only dilemma may be whether to start with Alex Revell and leave Bas Savage as our super-sub. It will be interesting to see how the Gills react having just lost their manager. Brighton, meanwhile, certainly need to start bringing back points from their travels.