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Classy Zamora shows Brighton they belong

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Rotherham United

Jason Burt
Sunday 09 March 2003 01:00 GMT
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A fear of not belonging – that's what Brighton manager Steve Coppell claims his players are suffering from. It may see them failing to escape relegation, although Coppell – referring to on-the-field confidence – has employed a sports psychologist recently to try and improve matters.

The fear is not surprising. What else can be expected when you have 20,000 fans and nowhere permanent to put them? It is six years now since Brighton fans were carpetbagged into selling the Goldstone Ground and went wandering in the wilderness, eventually pitching up at the Withdean.

The first half of an, ultimately, more important battle than this untidy victory against Rotherham United ended on Friday when the club completed its evidence before a crucial public inquiry.

Brighton claim relegation would not be a disaster – losing the inquiry would be. "Without the new stadium we are a Second Division side anyway," Coppell, once again performing wonders, claimed afterwards. They want to build at Falmer and have the full backing of the Football Association. It has called the plans "spectacular" and dangled the carrot of the England U21s playing there. Even Sven has been coralled in.

Unfortunately the site is on the edge of the South Downs and – despite support from a civic referendum – there have been strong objections from conservationists.

So far the club has spent £2.5m fighting its cause. If the money had gone on players, Coppell pointed out, relegation would not be a worry.

This result emphasised the importance of the talismanic Bobby Zamora who may still be worth a few quid himself. The Seagulls average a goal a game more when he plays and have lost all 11 matches the former Bristol Rovers striker has missed this season. He scored here and looked a class above, although his goal was not one of his most memorable – bundling the ball in at the back post from a corner.

It helped earn Brighton a third successive home win and enabled Coppell to end the week – "a hard one in terms of miles travelled and hearts broken" – on a high after suffering two desperate defeats.

Brighton made a nervous start but gradually gained some degree of control in blustery conditions, although there was frustration that loan signing Tony Rougier, brought in to support Zamora, consistently failed to link up with his quick-witted partner.

The achievements of Rotherham manager Ronnie Moore are as astonishing as Coppell's recent miracles. He has assembled a squad whose record signing cost £150,000 and which was, until yesterday, just about still pushing for promotion to the Premiership for the first time in the club's history.

However Moore was left unhappy by an "abysmal" performance. It wasn't until the 41st minute that Brighton goalkeeper Dave Beasant – 44 next week – made a save. "It was an awful game. Both sides looked short of ideas," said Moore.

Indeed it took a freakish own goal to break the deadlock. Rougier forced his way through but his shot was well-saved by Mike Pollitt only for the ball to rebound off his own defender, Paul Hurst, before looping gently into the net. Then came Zamora's strike.

The goals forced the Millers forward. They introduced former Brighton striker Richie Barker who immediately forced a smart low save from Beasant before clipping the crossbar with a header.

But the home side held on to squeeze out of the bottom three. Whether they can achieve a greater victory remains to be seen.

Brighton & Hove Albion 2 Rotherham United 0
Hurst og 56, Zamora 68

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 6,468

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