Brighton fail to make 10-man Palace pay
Brighton failed to take advantage of the sending-off of Danny Granville and missed a glorious chance to claim three crucial survival points.
Crystal Palace's defender was dismissed in the 66th minute after receiving his second yellow card for a late challenge on the striker Gary Hart, although the guilty player desperately protested his innocence.
The referee Paul Durkin had no hesitation after consulting his assistant on the touchline and the incident effectively killed the game with Palace holding on to deny Brighton the win they deserved.
Brighton's fight for survival was dealt a cruel blow by yet another injury to their top scorer Bobby Zamora, who damaged his hamstring a week earlier against Sheffield United.
Steve Coppell's side now have just six games left to lift themselves to safety.
But the first visit of Palace in more than 13 years to Brighton provided much more than just another chance to try and climb above Grimsby and Stoke out of the relegation zone.
The strong rivalry between the two sets of supporters has hardly dwindled and spice was added to the match with the much-loved former Palace manager Steve Coppell desperate to avenge the humiliating 5-0 defeat at Selhurst Park back in October.
With so much at stake Brighton seemed to forget their troubles and went all out to hurt Palace as quickly as possible with the strikers Graham Barrett and Gary Hart both going close to giving their side the lead.
Barrett, on loan from Arsenal, had managed just one goal in 24 appearances before the game but created the best chance of the first half when he floated a shot against the post. The ball fell to Paul Brooker six yards from goal but with everyone waiting for the ball to hit the net he panicked and headed over.
The loss of Brighton's captain Danny Cullip two minutes before half-time with a hamstring injury was a major blow to Coppell and his side struggled to keep their momentum going after the break.
Barrett remained the most potent threat and worked tirelessly to create the goal that the fans packed into the tiny Withdean Stadium were baying for. The player made room for himself to try a right foot shot from the edge of the box but this time the Palace keeper Alex Kolinko was relieved to see the effort go wide.
But the game's most controversial moment was Granville's second yellow card. Luckily for him Palace managed to hold on.