Brighton & Hove Albion earned a victory away to Bristol Rovers that allowed them to open up a three point gap a the top of the League 1 table.
They went down to an early strike from Will Hoskins before Ashley Barnes drew them level before half time. Elliot Bennett gave the visitors the lead before a disasterous rebound lead to an own goal for Albion's third and Glenn Murray made it four with his head. Hoskins doubled his personal tally to make it 2-4 but after Brighton got going in the second half it was never in doubt.
Rovers made three changes to their starting line up, Danny Coles and Chris Lines returning from suspension and Gavin Williams making his first start for the club. Chris Wood was the only new player for Brighton, coming in for Matt Sparrow.
If Brighton survived for two minutes then they would have lasted five hours of game time without conceding and they only just managed this. Into the third minute Will Hoskins picked up the ball, pushed forward and drove the ball into the underside of the crossbar and over the line. He was clearly delighted with the unstoppable strike and the emotion gushed out of him as he celebrated in front of the jubilant Gasheads.
After the electric start Rovers began to sit back and allow Brighton to play, a tactic that was always going to be tough against the league leaders and Albion got into the Rovers third on a far too regular basis and a couple of goal mouth scrambles left the home fans hearts in their mouths. Rovers did break on occasion but never really troubled Casper Ankergren in the Brighton goal.
Ashley Barnes was the man to equalise for Brighton, JP Kalala failing to control the ball in his own half and gave away to possession, allowing Chris Wood to put the ball into the box and Barnes thumped the ball into the net to make it 1-1, no less than his side deserved.
Into the second half the visitors got to the Rovers byline and some neat passes in the area lead to the ball falling at the feet of Elliot Bennett who was able to slot the ball neatly past Luke Daniels.
Despite Brighton turning up the heat Rovers were able to threaten and nearly to allowed them to draw level as first Will Hoskins had a tap in ruled out for offside. Then the spectator's saw new Rovers signing Gavin Williams shooting from the 'D', only to see his shot thump the left hand post and bounce agonislingly across the face of goal, eventually spinning out for a goal kick.
Casper Ankergren and Glenn Murray both went into the referee's notebook, the Danish goalkeeper for time wasting and Murray for punching the ball into the goal. Referee Pat Miller was on top of this, however, denying what would have been an audacious goal and showing the striker a yellow card to boot.
It wasn't to be for the home side, though, and Brighton doubled their lead when Ashley Barnes beat the Rovers offside trap, only to see his shot saved by the outrushing Daniels. Unfortuneatley for Rovers the ball cannoned off of Cian Bolger's knee and over the line to make for a frustrating Brighton third, and it got worse six minutes later.
Substitute Craig Noone, a January signing from Plymouth Argyle, was allowed too much time and space by right back Byron Anthony and he curled a ball towards the back post that Murray was able to nod into the net.
There was a consolation for Rovers that gave the scoreline a slightly better look as top scorer Will Hoskins beat two Brighton defenders in the penalty area and lashed the ball into the back of the net with four minutes to go. Despite that and the five additional minutes the Pirates were unable to get another and set up a tense finale.
After the match Brighton manager Gus Poyet was impressed by the way his side overcame their early adversity, saying:
"Sometimes we try to convince the players that they are better than the opposition and they need to prove it on the pitch. They scored a magnificent goal and it wasn't easy to come back.
"They started to play differently. We had to take the game in our own hands and it took a while to score.
"The only enemies we have in this league are ourselves. If we keep the pace and the quantity of points per game we'll be up in there."
Despite defeat Dave Penney was nonetheless impressed with his side's handling of a new look formation, telling the media:
"We played a very good side today. We came out of the blocks well, we changed the system a bit to match them up and free up Will Hoskins and Gavin Williams, and the work ethic was first class.
"I think it was probably the best performance since I have been here over 90 minutes, against the best team we have played.
"We are disappointed with the goals we conceded, which were basic errors again."
As a result of the final score Brighton remain top of the league for the twentieth game in succession, Rovers meanwhile dropped a place to 23rd, a position they haven't been in since the first game of the season. A last minute equaliser for Leyton Orient away at Bournemouth meant that the Seagulls lead at the top of the table was extended to three points.
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