As referee Mick Thorpe blew the whistle for full time at The Withdean, Mark Stimson's men left the field of play a war torn side. For over an hour the Gills were forced to play with ten men, after Garry Richards was shown a straight red card for an over zealous tackle; and then finished the game with only nine men on the field when Sean Clohessy was sent off after two yellow cards. Both decisions looked harsh but, with over 15 fouls given for both sides, they fitted comfortably inside the referee's trigger happy display.

The game eventually finished 4-2 to a Brighton side still hopeful of a play-off spot, but their hopes faded slightly in the 4th minute when Gillingham skipper Andrew Crofts fired home from 30-yards. Crofts received the ball from Adam Miller, dollied the ball up, let it drop, and then executed a perfect volley to have keeper Michel Kuipers flapping at a mere shadow. It was a great start and one that answered many of the criticisms about the lack of goalscorers in the Gillingham side.

The goal was a diamond in the rough for the first quarter-of-an-hour, but Gillingham were certainly the better side. Albion, understandably taken aback by their visitors start, could not achieve any flow to their football and the home fans began to voice their disapproval. However, they were soon to get a helping hand when Gills' defender Garry Richards flew into a tackle. The referee was soon on the case and a red card was shown. The decision seemed harsh. The ball was definitely their to be won, with the Albion player also challenging strongly, but Richards had to walk.

The dismissal had an instant effect on the match. Brighton regrouped and began to use their extra man. Gillingham, visibly stunned by the loss, failed to get any shape and were chasing a quick moving ball.

The equaliser came just two minutes after the controversial dismissal. A free kick on the far corner of the box was swung into the box, an Albion player hit the deck and the finger was pointed at Danny Cullip. Mr Thorpe looked over to his linesman, who was vigorously shaking his flag, and pointed to the spot. The ironic thing was, a Brighton player had already swept the ball into the back of the net, but the decision was that it was to be a penalty. Former Gillingham favourite, Nicky Forster, stood up and calmly fired the ball into the roof of the net to make it 1-1.

Brighton should have doubled their lead just before the half hour when Glenn Murray somehow managed to head a free header wide from six yards out. The forward was left all alone in the box and was ready to pounce when his colleague, Forster, was put through down the right channel. His cross took a slight deflection but it was strong enough to send it over the last Gillingham man and straight onto Murray's head, but he screwed it horribly wide.

The game was now being completely dominated by the home side and Dean Wilkin's men were using their extra man advantage to devastating effect. On 43 minutes, they used it to take the lead. A free kick, 20 yards out, was curled over the wall and seemed to be heading for the top corner, however keeper Derek Stillie pulled off a fantastic save. At full stretch, he managed to tip the ball on to the bar to deny Matthew Richards, however the ball bounced into the path of Adam El Abd who was able to convert from a close angle.

Before the half time whistle Brighton made it 3-1. A corner was not cleared properly and the ball fell kindly to Tommy Elphick, who was able to head home from six yards out.

The second half saw an interesting substitution, later to be identified as a forced one but ,at the time, it appeared tactical. Former Seagull Danny Cullip was brought off, right back Barry Fuller brought on and Sean Clohessy moved to centre-half. Gillingham now had more shape and went about dominating possession. The home side struggled to get hold of the ball in the opening minutes of the second half.

The Gills got early blood when a Barry Fuller cross was met by full-back John Nutter. However, the power of the ball combined with the challenge from his opposite number, unbalanced him and his header was high and wide.

Yet it was a real sign of intent and the good start had many dreaming about a possible comeback. Those dreams were given extra fuel when Miller struck the woodwork from a free kick. The former Stevenage Borough forward lined the ball up 20 yards out and curled a pearler over Kuipers, but the dip came too late and the ball hit the top of the bar.

Brighton got their 4th on 68 minutes to send the glorious dreams of a Gillingham fight back straight back into the unconsciousness. Once again it came from the extra man. Substitute Jake Robinson was able to ghost in round the back of the defence and volley past Stillie on the angle.

Gillingham were not finished though and refused to bow out of the contest without a fight. On 74, the tenacious right back, Barry Fuller, broke down the right channel, cut in on his left foot and fired a shot that had Kuipers scrambling to push round the post. From the resulting corner, Kuipers went to claim the ball and flapped at it haplessly. Instead of punching it away from danger, the Albion keeper padded it down to Crofts who simply volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

With the scoreline locked at 4-2, there was still time for more controversy from referee Mick Thorpe when he decided to show Clohessy a second yellow card for time wasting. The young defender had kicked the ball away after the whistle had blown for his rough tackle on a Brighton player. True enough a time wasting rule had been broken, however as was pointed out to this writer, at 4-2 down could a player really be done for time wasting? That is one for the aficionados at the Football League to decipher, if indeed it is appealed against but again the card was shown and Clohessy had to walk. To his credit, there were no complaints from him as he walked back to the changing rooms.

Gillingham's performance at The Withdean was one of true effort in adversity and, had they retained eleven men on the field for the whole 90 minutes, the contest would surely have been much different. For the first 15 minutes of the first half they outclassed the home side. The slick, passing football of that quarter-of-an-hour made way for inevitable graft and determination in the second so, in the end, there are many positive to be taken from the defeat.

Gillingham will next be in action this weekend when they make the long journey to Hartlepool. To book your tickets please call our GFC Ticket Office on 01634 300 000.

Stay will www.gillinghamfootballclub.com for all the post match reaction.

TEAM NEWS:

Gillingham Keeper Simon Royce does not travel.  Derek Stillie in to the starting line up to face the Albion.  Otherwise, it is an unchanged squad.

Gillingham: 22. Derek Stillie; 19. Sean Clohessy, 4. Danny Cullip, 5. Simon King, 37. Garry Richards, 35. John Nutter;7. Andrew Crofts, 39. Stuart Lewis, 36. Adam Miller, 10. Delroy Facey, 30. Leroy Griffiths

Subs: 13. Chris Kiely, 38. Barry Fuller , 9. Gary Mulligan, 20. Simeon Jackson, 28. Dennis Oli

Brighton & Hove Albion: 16. Michel Kuipers, 2. Andrew Whing, 6. Adam El Abd, 8. Ian Westlake, 9. Nicky Forster, 11. Dean Bowditch, 17. Glenn Murray, 22. Tom Fraser, 24. Tommy Elphick, 27. David Martot, 28. Matt Richards

Subs: 3. Kerry Mayo, 5. Joel Lynch, 12. Gary Hart, 19. Jake Robinson, 21. Johnny Dickson 

Match report to follow.