Brighton's dream of great escape nearing reality

Brighton and Hove Albion 0 Crystal Palace

If spirit and determination were enough to ensure survival, Brighton's First Division future would already be secure. Steve Coppell's team, whose situation had seemed hopeless for so much of the season, moved out of the relegation zone last night with a stirring performance at Withdean stadium against their greatest rivals.

Five months ago, in Coppell's second match in charge, Brighton were thrashed 5-0 by Palace at Selhurst Park, a humiliating defeat as the two clubs renewed their League rivalry for the first time in 15 years. It left Brighton with just four points from their first 14 matches. However, a remarkable recovery, which included four successive home wins before last night, has given the south-coast club a fighting chance of survival.

It says everything for Coppell's motivational and organisational skills that the former Palace manager's team controlled this match from start to finish and would have taken all three points if they had had anyone with the finishing touch of their leading scorer, Bobby Zamora, who was injured.

Graham Barrett, called up by the Republic of Ireland yesterday, and Gary Hart, supported from deep by Paul Brooker, were a constant threat as their hard running stretched Palace's defence to the limit. Their night was typified, however, three minutes from full-time when Hart blazed over the bar from six yards with only Alex Kolinko, the Palace goalkeeper, to beat.

Hart had also wasted the best two chances of the first half, both created by Barrett's penetrating runs down the right after clever passes from Brooker. Kolinko blocked his first effort and the second flew over the target.

The nearest Brighton came to a goal was after 37 minutes, when Barrett's delicate lob from 25 yards beat Kolinko but his the crossbar. The rebound came to Brooker, who somehow missed the target when it seemed easier to score.

Coppell was delighted with his team's display. "We had some great opportunities but I was really pleased with our performance in terms of the chances we created and the way we played,'' he said. "We wanted to play at our tempo and keep it as upbeat as possible and we did exactly that.''

Palace, who were in play-off contention until a month ago, have fallen away badly in recent weeks and were never a threat here. Noel Whelan, on loan from Middlesbrough, gave glimpses of hope with his close ball control, but Palace were second best. Danny Granville's sending off for two bookable offences, the second a scything challenge from behind on Hart as Brighton pressed for a winner, summed up their night.

Brighton and Hove Albion (3-4-1-2): Beasant; Ingimarsson, Cullip (Pethick, 42), Blackwell; Watson, Carpenter, Rodger, Mayo; Brooker; Hart, Barrett. Substitutes not used: Oatway, Jones, Wilkinson, Packham (gk).

Crystal Palace (3-4-1-2): Kolinko; Powell, Symons, Granville; Butterfield, Derry, Thomson, Gray (Borrowdale, h-t); Black (Antwi, 76); Whelan, Adebola (Williams, 65). Substitutes not used: Routledge, Berthelin (gk).

Referee: P Durkin (Dorset).