ALBION fought as if their lives depended on it again last night, and they were rewarded with a richly deserved draw.

For the second time in four days the resuscitated Seagulls proved more than a match for a team pushing for the play-offs at rain-ravaged Millmoor. Ahealthy return of four points from Brian Horton's first two games in charge against Chester and Rotherham gives credence to his opinion that there is little to choose between the sides in the Third Division. The most impressive aspect of another encouraging display was the way the players adapted to an entirely new system. His options restricted in particular by the absences of Stuart Tuck, Jeff Minton and Robbie Reinelt, Horton boldly threw caution to the wind by playing three defenders and three forwards. It worked to the extent that Albion kept their first clean sheet away from home since the end of November with relative comfort and, with a better final ball, would probably have scored as well. Indeed, goals were the only missing ingredient, despite several half-chances for both sides in an entertaining encounter which ebbed and flowed on an excellent surface. Everybody played their part, but there were a couple of exceptional individual performances. Steve Barnes, given licence to thrill by Horton, did just that with a series of weaving runs down the left flank which posed the Rotherham rearguard all sorts of problems. The loan signing from Birmingham has enjoyed more possession in his last two appearances than he had in the previous five put together and he also tracked back effectively last night to extinguish the threat from the equally diminutive Trevor Berry. Skipper Gary Hobson had a stormer at the heart of Albion's less populated defence. Rotherham's leading marksman Lee Glover, a forward with a Premiership pedigree and a class act at this level, was kept on a tight rein. The panic displayed in the last 15 minutes against Chester was replaced by poise under mounting pressure from a flurry of corners towards the end as Horton's heroes got their just desserts for an honest evening's endeavour.

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