Our defence may have performed heroically at Middlesbrough on Saturday, but were badly overrun by Brighton and Hove Albion last night. The only similarity between the two games was another fine performance from Silvestri.

Leeds had two enforced changes to make to the starting line-up, with the suspended Bellusci and injured Byram replaced by Cooper and Sloth respectively. So we still had Morison on his own up front, but bizarrely had four strikers among the seven substitutes.

Leeds made a lively start, with long range shots from Austin and Murphy in the first ten minutes, but the first sign of things to come came when Teixeira was allowed to run into the box completely unmarked, and he sent his header only just wide. The replay on the big screen showed it missed the far post by inches.

Our defence was starting to look jittery and lacked cover from midfield, so it was no real surprise when Brighton took the lead on 26 minutes. Mackail-Smith outpaced Taylor on the Brighton right and Baldock got between our two central defenders to convert his cross from close range. Silvestri had a go at Taylor for allowing the cross to come in, but could equally have blamed to two in the centre.

Bamba in particular seemed to be having a ‘mare and several times he gave the ball away in dangerous positions, with Silvestri having to spare his blushes with a fine save after Bamba had let the ball slip under his foot instead of making a simple clearance. The Albion had further chances as Silverstri saved from Mackail-Smith with his legs and Teixeira curled a shot just wide.

Brighton could easily have gone in four goals up at the break, and I was hoping we could come back in the second half and make them regret the missed chances. But all we got in the second half was more of the same, as Teixeira was denied by a great tackle from Wooton and a fine save by Silvestri.

On 49 minutes Morison limped off to be replaced by Cani, and ten minutes later Redfearn made another change to try and get back into the game, with Antenucci coming on for the ineffectual Sloth. With a bit of extra firepower we started to enjoy a bit more possession in their half of the field, but Mowatt wasted a free kick from a dangerous position, by sending it well over the bar.

And any hopes we might have had of getting back into the game were dampened by the second Brighton goal, as Silvestri’s save from Kayal rebounded of Calderon into the net. Certainly there was an element of fortune about the goal, but if you let the opposition have enough chances then sooner or later they will get a lucky break.

At the other end Bamba got plenty of power behind a header from a corner, but sent it over the bar. In a last ditch attempt to get something from the game Redfearn sent Doukarra on for Mowatt for the last seventeen minutes. The Frenchman had our best chance of the came after Antenucci’s brilliant backheel had set him up, but his shot cannoned against Stockdale’s legs.

After that it was only a question of whether Brighton could add to our embarrassment in the closing stages, which they would have done without a brilliant double save from Silvestri. Teixeira was announced as the man of the match and immediately miscontrolled a simple ball in front of goal, but his overall performance deserved the award, as the little Spaniard had been their driving force all night.

There were four minutes injury time to endure, with Leeds looking a well beaten side, before the final whistle put us out of our misery. Both central defenders came over to give their shirts to a couple of the travelling fans behind the goal, possibly by way of an apology. And there was also a strange fight between two Leeds fans as we queued to get out, which at least gave all the police and stewards something to sort out.

On the train back into Brighton a couple of Albion fans told me they’d been dreading the came after our recent results, but they thought that was the best they had played in a long time. Maybe, but I was keen to put much of the blame on our slack defending. Redfearn seems to think it was all down to tiredness, even though Brighton must have played the same number of games as us in recent weeks.

At least we can now stop worrying about any slight chance of getting to the play-offs, while the clubs at the bottom all lost to maintain our safety cushion above the relegation zone. Roll on next season.

Photo: Action Images

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