Brighton gave their fans the perfect late Christmas present with their first
back-to-back wins of the season.
Guy Butters' seventh-minute goal at the Withdean Stadium was a real triumph in
adversity, with the Seagulls shrugging off the early loss of influential skipper
Charlie Oatway to take an instant lead.
And the hosts survived a late battering to record only their fourth Coca-Cola
Championship win of the season and ease their relegation worries.
Already without Seb Carole from their win over Hull 10 days ago after he
failed a late fitness test, boss Mark McGhee was forced to move Gary Hart to the
right of midfield and recall Leon Knight in attack.
Back in the heart of defence came on-loan Manchester United defender Paul
McShane, with Kerry Mayo dropping to the bench, while Michel Kuipers got the
vote in goal.
The Dutchman's opposite number was Jake Cole, the 20-year-old making his full
Rangers debut for the suspended Simon Royce.
Having completed a ban of his own, Paul Furlong returned up front.
Brighton suffered an early blow when Oatway was stretchered off inside five
minutes following a tackle from behind by Marcus Bean.
But it proved a Christmas blessing in disguise as substitute Richard
Carpenter's free-kick found Butters, who stroked home his second goal of the
season.
The hosts' positive start continued and Hart saw a shot blocked, while
Rangers' misery was compounded when coach Tim Breaker was sent off by referee
Rob Styles after speaking out of turn.
The early drama soon subsided, however, and neither team were able to exert
the level of control they needed to add to the scoring.
Furlong tried a speculative volley from Lloyd Dyer's cross and Hart shot
straight at Cole from just outside the box, while Colin Kazim-Richards summed up
the quality of the finishing on show with a weak effort that sailed over.
But with the half-time whistle approaching there was finally another
worthwhile attempt when Alexandre Frutos' deflected shot was well held by Cole.
Brighton led at the interval of the same fixture last season before going on
to lose 3-2 in stoppage time and they had Kuipers to thank for preserving their
advantage early in the second half when he got fingertips to Richard Langley's
fierce free-kick.
Brighton then had a penalty appeal turned down when Rangers defender Ian Evatt
appeared to handle Dean Hammond's shot from Kazim-Richards' cross.
Rangers did not wait too long before introducing the 6ft 5in Marc Nygaard and
Lee Cook into their attack, while McGhee responded by bring on Mayo and Mark
McCammon.
Kazim-Richards almost reaped the benefit of McCammon's introduction but he
scuffed his 12-yard shot wide.
Nygaard's first attempt was even more wayward, but his mere presence was
causing enough concern to spark some uncertain defending from the home side.
Kuipers easily plucked Cook's shot out of the air as Rangers failed to make
their possession tell, and Hammond almost made them pay when he fired straight
at Cole.
Kazim-Richards saw another penalty shout waved away after taking a tumble in
the box before forcing an excellent save with a thundering mid-range volley with
10 minutes remaining.
But Rangers really should have levelled when Marc Bircham sent Langley's
corner wide, while Furlong was denied a certain goal thanks to McShane's
last-gasp interception.
In a closing five minutes even more frenetic than the opening exchanges, Cole
stopped McCammon wrapping up the points with a brilliant save and Furlong
volleyed over as Brighton held on.
Teams:
Brighton Kuipers, Reid, Butters, El-Abd, McShane, Hart,
Oatway (Carpenter 4), Hammond, Frutos (Mayo 62),
Knight (McCammon 61), Kazim-Richards.
Subs Not Used: Robinson, Sullivan.
Booked: Hammond, Kazim-Richards, Reid.
Goals: Butters 7.
QPR Cole, Bignot, Evatt, Shittu, Bean (Cook 61),
Ainsworth (Bircham 75), Rowlands, Dyer, Langley,
Moore (Nygaard 60), Furlong.
Subs Not Used: Milanese, Rose.
Booked: Rowlands, Bean.
Att: 7,341
Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).
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