Kitson comes off bench to boost Brighton's hopes

Reading 1 Brighton & Hove Albion

They say the league table never lies and they were right last night. Even though Reading and Brighton are at opposite ends of the First Division, the table Brighton fans had in mind was the one that placed them above the Royals in May last year and once more the Seagulls had the last laugh.

Arguably this win for Steve Coppell's men was a victory for the team that needed it most. While Reading are comfortably set for the play-offs, Brighton's unexpected victory, sealed by their subsitute Paul Kitson's header after 76 minutes, saw them move further away from the relegation zone. Jamie Cureton, himself also a substitute, scored from 30 yards with six minutes remaining but Reading still had too much to do.

A bizarre goal, entirely of Reading's own making, gave Brighton the advantage at half-time even though they had not really done enough to deserve the lead that they took with just 16 minutes gone.

The farce started when the Reading full-back Adrian Murty, harassed by the presence of the Brighton striker Bobby Zamora, flicked the ball back towards his goalkeeper. Marcus Hahnemann was not sure whether it would count as a back-pass but rather than err on the side of caution and obey the goalkeeper's edict of "when in doubt kick it out" he picked it up. When the referee signalled it was a back-pass, Hahnemann turned away in disgust and with his back to play threw the ball only as far as Paul Brooker. He returned it to Zamora, who promptly took the indirect free-kick and passed to Brooker, who found the empty net from six yards.

Reading gave a debut in midfield to Glen Little. He has joined on loan from Burnley, and his contribution, in the face of some earnest Brighton defending, stood out above his team-mates. He directed one header on goal that Brooker cleared off the line and brought an excellent save from Dave Beasant. Brighton's 44-year-old goalkeeper, the oldest player in the Football League, was in the perfect place to thwart Little, when he met a cross with a sweet volley.

However, Beasant was lucky not to be tested from the penalty spot when the referee denied Reading's claims for a spot-kick despite Kerry Mayo upending Nicky Forster before the break.

Any feeling Reading and their manager, Alan Pardew, could have harboured that this might not be their night came when the referee, who had a calf injury, was replaced at half-time by the fourth official from, of all places, Sussex. Not that Mr Penton could be accused of bias towards Brighton, and indeed after 61 minutes he booked Zamora for time-wasting.

Yet none of that helped Reading, who looked increasingly desperate in their quest for victory and the chance to cement their place in the congested play-off zone.

Reading (4-5-1): Hahnemann; Murty, Shorey, Williams, Brown; Harper, Hughes (Cureton, 73), Newman (Watson, 59), Chadwick (Tyson, 79), Little; Forster. Substitutes not used: Ashdown, Sidwell.

Brighton and Hove Albion (4-3-3): Beasant; Waston, Mayo, Cullip, Ingimarsson; Rodger (Oatway, 79), Carpenter, Hart (Jones, 73), Brooker; Zamora, Barrett (Kitson, 73). Substitutes not used: Pethick, Packham.

Referee: M Cowburn (Blackpool) replaced by C Penton (E Sussex), ht.