Crystal Palace fans escorted through Brighton by ring of police after crowd trouble in last clash

CRYSTAL PALACE fans were surrounded by a ring of police as they made their way to the FA Cup clash with Brighton.

After trouble flared when the rivals met in the league in November, cops did everything they could to make sure there were no further incidents.

The M23 derby passed without incident as the Seagulls struck late to secure a 2-1 win and a trip to Middlesbrough in the fourth round.

In their last meeting, hundreds of supporters were blocked from entering Brighton’s Amex Stadium despite holding match tickets.

There were various unconfirmed reports on Twitter claiming the turnstiles were closed after a number of ticketless fans bundled through the turnstiles and into the stadium.

Fans travelling to Hove had to carry ID as well as their match ticket and even some of them were refused entry into the new ground.

Some of the Eagles fans that did manage to get into the ground caused a scene by sparking a giant red flare.

But there were no major incidents in either of the games in good news for the Beautiful Game.

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