Birthday bash

BIRTHDAY BASH: no one seriousy hurt

DEAN Furman has explained the cause of the goal celebration at Brighton (see picture).

When Lewis Alessandra impressively stroked the ball home for the opener at the Withdean Stadium, the team as a whole converged on the bench and an old-school 'pile on' ensued.

Nobody was hurt — but Athletic's players might have been, possibly at the hand of their own management, had Brighton managed to sneak in a quick-fire restart.

Luckily, Chris Taylor's quick-thinking came to the rescue.

"It was a great strike and it is good to see goals coming from all over the park this year," said Furman of the rejuvenated Alessandra's first goal of the season.

"The celebration was part of (fitness coach) Paul Butler's birthday celebrations. The gaffer told us that if we score, we run over as a team to beat him up.

"So we ran over and bundled him — he has told us he had six stitches caused by studs in his head!

"We were a bit lucky as they nearly kicked off and broke on us, but Tayls used his head to stand in the centre-circle and delay it.

"It was all a bit of fun and shows our togetherness as a team."




KIRK Millar will miss Athletic's clash at Brentford on Saturday week.

The 18-year-old has been named in the Northern Ireland squad for the latest round of UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying round games.

Millar will fly out to face Switzerland on Friday, October 8, before moving on to play Germany two days later and Andorra at home on Wednesday, October 13.