Town will rue the failure to take several first half chances and a second half missed Darren Bent penalty as Brighton took a point back to Sussex. The Blues went ahead in the first half through Marcus Bent but Brighton improved after the break and Tony Rougier scored twice before Martijn Reuser put Town back on terms.

Joe Royle fielded the same side as against Reading on Tuesday with Reuser continuing on the left of midfield and Richard Naylor at the back. Darren Bent remained on the bench with Marcus Bent and Pablo Couñago up front.

Town's first attempt on goal saw Pablo Couñago put Martijn Reuser's freekick from the right over the bar. Not long after the Spaniard played Matt Holland in on goal but Dave Beasant saved to his right.

Couñago was having a big effect on the game and on 12 he took the ball on ten yards or so before hitting a 20 yard shot wide.

The Blues were having the majority of the possession but the visitors broke on a number of occasions and in the 16th minute Richard Naylor did well to dispossess Rougier in a dangerous position, although there was a suspicion of handball on the part of the loanee from Reading.

Skipper Matt Holland seemed spurred on by his recent goals and again came close on 17. However, the Irish international hit his shot wide after good work on the left from Marcus Bent and Chris Makin.

Three minutes later Town went ahead. Holland played a poor ball into the box but Brighton captain Danny Cullip mishit his ball back to Beasant and Marcus Bent nipped in to slip the ball past the veteran keeper.

It was all Town after the goal and Holland again came close in the 25th minute when he put Jim Magilton's freekick over the bar from close in.

A rare Albion foray forward saw Rougier give the Blues a taste of things to come, getting to the by-line before putting the ball back to Gary Hart but his shot went well wide of Andy Marshall's goal.

On 33 Jim Magilton played a fine ball down the right for Fabian Wilnis who sent in a low cross towards Pablo Couñago. The Spaniard got to the ball but it was sent spinning into the air and was claimed by Beasant.

Brighton had a gilt-edged chance to go on terms seven minutes before the break when Dean Blackwell was left unmarked at the back of the box from a Richard Carpenter corner. Fortunately for the Blues his header went high into the North Stand.

The Blues should have been more than the one goal up at the break but as so often this season they had failed to turn their superiority into goals. However, Brighton had showed so little attacking endeavour that there looked only one winner.

Town went quickly on the attack as the second half got under way, Reuser crossing from the right and Beasant just pushing the ball out of Marcus Bent's reach at the far post.

But Brighton were for the first time to put some pressure on, Carpenter hitting a shot which ran kindly for Andy Marshall. Thomas Gaardsøe brought the ball forward at the other end of the field but his 35-yarder went over the Brighton bar.

Three minutes before the hour Joe Royle decided to bring on the pace of Darren bent for Pablo Couñago who had faded a little after a promising start. The Spaniard reacted angrily to the decision and marched straight down the tunnel, as Matt Richards had a few games ago.

On the hour Brighton came close when Kerry Mayo hit a shot just wide, but an Albion goal, wasn't long in coming. Hart was left free in acres of space on the Town right, Wilnis caught well forward and Naylor in the centre. His ball into the box was headed by Rougier onto the bar, off Andy Marshall and over the line.

A few chants of ‘sack the board' and a boos started to ring around Portman Road but only a minute later Town should have been back on terms. Chris Makin took the ball past Richard Carpenter just inside the area on the left, the Brighton midfielder catching him as he did so. Referee Paul Danson had little doubt and pointed straight to the spot.

There was a delay after the penalty award as the protesting Dave Beasant, who up to then had been enjoying a bit of banter with the North Stand, and Carpenter received yellow cards. Darren Bent looked nervous as he prepared to take it and sent the ball to Beasant's right but over the bar, his second spotkick miss this season.

Four minutes later Bent made a determined run down the right before cutting in and shooting straight at Beasant. But Town were by no means having the best of it and fluency of the first half had given way to the nervousness which has been a trait of so many displays this season.

In the 75th minute a fortunate deflection almost played in Fabian Wilnis ver close in but Dave Beasant had come off his line quickly to block.

With ten minutes remaining Brighton went ahead. The visitors again did well down the Town right before the ball was sent into the box for Rougier who lashed the ball into the roof of the net from a few yards out. On their performance in the second half it was deserved but almost unbelievable on the strength of their first half showing.

Joe Royle immediately replaced the tiring Jim Magilton with Tommy Miller. With eight minutes left Martijn Reuser hit a shot which Beasant saved and a minute later hit another effort wide.

But it was to prove three times lucky for the Dutchman in the 83rd minute, Tommy Miller laying the ball off to him on the edge of the area and Reuser hitting an unstoppable shot past Beasant.

The Blues pressed for a winner in the closing stages but failed to test Beasant further despite four minutes of injury time, much of it caused by Matt Holland receiving a blow to the head which saw him play the latter stages of the game with a Terry Butcher-style bandage round his head.

More points dropped against a struggling side in a game which ought to have been won in the first half. After the break the Blues failed to get going except for a short spell just before the hour, and allowed Brighton back into the match.

In addition results elsewhere failed to give Town supporters anything to cheer about on an afternoon when off-field events saw Blues' followers desperately requiring something positive to shout about.

Photo: Action Images

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