Steve Coppell, a keen golfer, described Albion as "a team on a tee peg" after a fluctuating stalemate against the best side they have played this season.

The Seagulls, if not quite automatic favourites like Tiger Woods, have been widely tipped to finish on the Second Division leader board.

Coppell believes it is a handicap they are finding hard to cope with.

"The expectations at the start of the season were that we would be a good side, there or thereabouts," he said.

"We are not living up to that at the moment, we are not really in a flow of form.

"Our sharp end wasn't too sharp and our midfield looked a little bit ponderous.

"It certainly wasn't as sharp or as clever passing wise as theirs and defensively we gave the ball away an awful lot.

"The goalkeeper's (Ben Roberts) distribution, which has been top quality, all of a sudden wasn't so good, so in all departments we were down on what we have been but we have come away with a point.

"Given the number of strikes they had, the chances they had, we could easily have been walking away with our tails between our legs."

Albion were below par, but you cannot split the fairway every week. Fortunately, they will not be facing opposition of Swindon's quality every week either.

The bookies are not often generous, but they surely got it spectacularly wrong by quoting Swindon before a ball had been kicked as 25-1 outsiders.

They have an England under-21 goalkeeper, several players with First Division experience and now three strikers from Premiership clubs.

The prolific pairing of Sam Parkin (Chelsea) and Tommy Mooney (Birmingham) have been supplemented by the signing of 17-year-old James Milner on a month's loan from Leeds.

Milner demonstrated in an impressive debut glimpses of the kind of class which made him the youngest ever scorer in the Premiership last season.

It would be easy to pull apart Albion's display but sometimes, as Coppell acknowledged, you just have to give credit to the opposition.

"Very often you play as well as you are allowed and Swindon did not let us play," he said.

"They made a couple of signings in midweek, I think specifically to counter us to a certain extent.

"Ifil (Jerel) came in and did a man-to-man job on Leon Knight and Milner is just a quality player at this level. They are a strong side anyway, so that made them that little bit beefier."

The one thing we have come to expect from Albion is unquenchable spirit. It served them well again as they fought back twice to pinch an improbable point.

Parkin put Swindon ahead in the 14th minute, finishing off a sweeping three-man move stemming from a misplaced pass in midfield by the fit-again Simon Rodger.

Mooney and Milner released him at pace into the penalty area and Parkin rounded a strangely out-of-sorts Roberts to score from an unkind angle.

The visitors were still celebrating when Gary Hart stunned them by levelling within a minute.

Cutting infield, Hart finished off a typically determined run with a shot from a central position 20 yards out with his weaker left foot which beat Rhys Evans low into the corner.

Parity was scarcely deserved and it was no surprise when Swindon went back in front midway through the second half.

Albion failed to deal with a long throw from David Duke, which landed through a cluster of bodies at the feet of Parkin eight yards out.

He slotted home to double his tally and take the Parkin-Mooney partnership into double figures.

Albion's forward duo, Knight and Darius Henderson, are proving to be just as influential.

Knight had been marked out of the game by the powerful Ifil and booked for diving when he had what appeared to be justifiable claims for a penalty for a foul by the on-loan Watford defender.

The Seagulls' little livewire has nuisance value even when he is being kept quiet and, just as Swindon thought they had subdued him, he took revenge.

Knight wriggled away from Ifil and was then upended by former Portsmouth midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi.

It looked a clear penalty to me, even though Swindon boss Andy King felt "slightly robbed".

Henderson, having scored from the spot in the opening day victory at Oldham, calmly sent Evans the wrong way.

It was a good way for the young Yorkshireman, 22 yesterday, to launch his second month on loan from Reading and it meant leaders Barnsley are still the only side to have beaten Albion.

After leading twice but only drawing at Plymouth, the signs are the season will have more twists and turns than one of those enormous greens at St Andrews.

The Seagulls are sure to find themselves knee-deep in rough along the way, but they have the character to survive the course.

The question this halved match left Coppell contemplating is do they have enough quality?

ALBION (4-4-2): Roberts (gk) 6; Mayo (lb) 6, Cullip (cd) 7, Knight (f) 7, Rodger (lm) 6, Hart (rm) 8, Oatway (cm) 7, Henderson (f) 7, Carpenter (cm) 6, Butters (cd) 7, Hinshelwood (rb) 7. Subs: Pethick, Piercy for Hart (withdrawn 70), McPhee, Harding for Carpenter (withdrawn 65), Flitney.

Scorers: Hart (15), Henderson (75) penalty.

Bookings: Hart (59) unsporting behaviour, Knight (63) unsporting behaviour.

SWINDON (3-4-3): Evans; Ifil, Hewlett, Viveash, Gurney, Mooney, Parkin, Miglioranzi, Duke, Milner, Heywood. Subs: Griemink, Smith, Herring, Howard, Reeves for Duke (withdrawn 90).

Scorers: Parkin (14) and (67).

Bookings: Gurney (54) foul.

Fan's View: Matthew Wilson (Worthing, aged 11)

The referee spoilt what should have been a very exciting game. Brighton did alright but never looked like winning and a 2-2 draw was probably a fair result.

Both Swindon goals were given away by bad defending but Gary Hart's equaliser was the best way to come back from giving away such a silly goal.

I don't think Leon Knight is a cheat and shouldn't have been booked for diving, a player of his size is always going to get bundled off the ball in the box, both challenges were penalities Steve Coppell needs to get a new midfielder who can create chances for the front two otherwise its going to be a mid-table season.