Saints were beaten for the first time since September as they slipped to a 3-1 defeat against Brighton at St. Mary's.

Gus Poyet earned a win on his debut as Seagulls boss after taking a 2-1 lead in the first half which was added to by captain Andrew Croft's fine strike in the second period to confirm the victory.

A brace from Glenn Murray saw the visitors race in to a two goal lead, but Rickie Lambert's penalty saw the striker celebrate his fourteenth goal of the season and gave Saints hope just before the interval, but in the end it was to no avail.

Saints: Davis (c), James, Jaidi, Trotman (Thomas 46), Harding (Mills 83), Antonio (Papa Waigo 78), Hammond, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert, Connolly. Subs (not used): Bialkowski, Mellis, Wotton, Paterson.

Brighton: Kuipers, Whing, Elphick, El-Abd, Cox (Hart 59), Bennett (Navarro 74), Crofts (C), Dicker, Tunnicliffe, Murray, Forster (Dickinson 74). Subs (not used): Livermore, Smith, Virgo, Davies.

Referee: Mr. Kevin Friend.

Attendance: 21, 932 (including 2,709 away)

Brighton took to the field in their changed strip of blue and yellow stripes getting the match started defending the Northam End which was housing a large travelling contingent which created a real derby atmosphere early on.

An open start to the game saw the first chance fall to the visitors on eight minutes. Dangerman Nicky Forster broke through inside the area and squirmed a shot in that Radhi Jaidi threw himself in front of which saw the ball fly across the goalmouth and out for a corner.

Michail Antonio made some menacing runs on the right hand side to try and spark the game into life and saw a tenth minute low cross fizzed into the area which was turned out for a Saints corner.

Despite the hosts' early endeavour, Brighton remained a threat, and not long after Forster had warmed Davis' hands, the Seagulls took the lead with fourteen minutes on the clock. Dean Cox's cross from the right was stroked home on the volley by forward Glenn Murray whose shot found the bottom corner with Davis at full stretch.

Gus Poyet's side doubled their advantage five minutes later. Forster supplied Murray on the left of the area and the striker got two bites of the cherry after his first shot was pushed on to the post by Davis. The ball rebounded kindly for the former Rochdale forward who tapped the ball home from close range.

Forster remained difficult to contain, and used his pace once more to get away, however his attempted lob was too low to beat the Saints shot stopper.

Saints had a flurry of corners around the half hour mark which couldn't yield a goal but Adam Lallana went close soon after with a low drive which was saved by Michel Kuipers who gathered the ball at the second attempt.

Ten minutes before the break Rickie Lambert had Kuipers at full stretch to deny the forward a certain goal from his smartly struck direct free-kick from 20 yards out.

Lambert almost conjured something from nothing with a volley on the edge of the area which was well kept out by Kuipers but the two were soon facing each other again as a penalty was awarded.

The spot kick was given for a foul on Lallana who was felled in the area as a cross came in from Lloyd James on the right, and Lambert converted the penalty to notch his fourteenth goal of the campaign.

The James-Lallana combination provided Saints with the last chance of the first half as the latter this time connected to the ball in, but couldn't get enough power on a header which went wide.

Half Time: Saints 1-2 Brighton

Alan Pardew withdrew Neal Trotman for one of Wednesday evening's goal scorers, Wayne Thomas at the interval as Saints sought an equaliser.

It almost arrived five minutes after the break as Dean Hammond met Antonio's cross at the back post, but saw his shot clear the bar as Kuipers loomed large.

Connolly's long range effort went narrowly wide of the left post and Radhi Jaidi saw a header go over as the hosts started to turn the screw.

Dan Harding's run on the left was prematurely ended by Gary Dicker, who found his way into referee Kevin Friend's notebook as a result.

Just past the hour mark, Davis was called into action to deny Seagulls' skipper Andrew Crofts low down with a reflex one handed stop which stopped the midfielder from getting a certain goal from eight yards out.

On 67 minutes Lallana went agonizingly close with a header inside the area, as he got on the end of James' pinpoint first time cross, but his effort scraped wide.

Poyet replaced Forster and Bennett with Liam Dickinson and Alan Navarro for the last quarter of an hour but it was Saints who were doing most of the pressing.
Connolly was somehow denied by a combination Kuipers and his defenders as the Irishman tried to loop a header towards goal.

Alan Pardew introduced Papa Waigo and Joseph Mills to the game but the bold move backfired as Albion sub Dickinson sped away on the left before cutting the ball back to Crofts, who slammed the ball home from the edge of the area with his first time shot on 85 minutes to seal the win.

Full Time: Saints 1-3 Brighton