I put it to Steve Coppell after this most galling of defeats that the best referees are the ones you don't see.

"We saw plenty of this one," the Albion chief remarked bitterly.

Far too much in fact for Coppell's liking, not just during the game but before it as well.

Paul Rejer's pre-match instructions to Coppell and the Derby camp were filmed for a demo tape.

"It was a nonsense, I don't feel it should be done," Coppell said.

"I was asked for my permission beforehand and I didn't mind but it was a little bit theatrical and it brought the realms of the theatrical to football.

"Many people see it as theatre but as Bill Shankly said it's more important than life and death to some.

"Usually it's a case of it's your game, go out and enjoy it, but we had 'make sure the jewellery is strapped up' and this, that and the other.

"I don't want to dwell on that. We are making him to be a star."

There is the nub of the matter. Rejer appears to have joined that band of referees performing under the gross misapprehension that they are the stars, not the players.

Rejer was, indeed, the central figure, thanks to the scandalous penalty decision which divided the sides.

Adam Hinshelwood, standing in for the banned Paul Watson, was running back towards his own goal when he was chased by Lee Morris for a high and rather hopeful ball played through the inside left channel by Craig Burley.

If there was an offence at all it was on Hinshelwood, who appeared to be the victim of a nudge by Morris as he fell full-length inside his own area.

Rejer, yards away, must have been the only person in the ground to interpret the incident as a handling offence by the distraught 18-year-old defender.

Danny Higginbotham scored from the spot to keep the Seagulls in deep trouble at the foot of the table.

The impact of Rejer's ruling was immense. As Coppell pointed out: "In the first half we laid out a game plan which we adhered to very strictly and diligently and that made it very difficult for Derby to get at us.

"They had a couple of shots from long range, but the thing that turned the game was the penalty decision."

Before it Derby, for all their domination, had been restricted to an early long-range strike from the influential Burley which Michel Kuipers kept out with a strong right hand.

In the quarter-hour between the penalty and half time, Kuipers excelled by saving shots from outside the box by Warren Barton and Burley and producing a fantastic one-handed stop from Chris Riggott's downward header.

Had Albion gone in at 0-0 Coppell might well have left things alone and the game would probably have ended that way.

Instead he felt compelled to chase, which prompted a couple of minor tactical adjustments.

Nathan Jones pushed on down the left flank, before Paul Brooker replaced him, and Steve Sidwell further forward on the right. Later on Gary Hart went on for Richard Carpenter.

The result was that Albion spent the entire second half on the front foot, although in fairness to Derby they were not helped by injuries which forced off Higginbotham and Rob Lee at the break.

Bobby Zamora headed over from a Graham Barrett cross and had an angled drive diverted for a corner by England under-20 keeper Lee Grant as Derby held on grimly for a third home win and second clean sheet in succession.

Coppell made no apology for Albion's first-half containment policy, nor should he.

The brutal truth is that the Seagulls lack the talent of most of the teams they are facing in the First Division. If they allow them to play they will get buried.

"We played a full part in a game against a team of Premiership potential," said Coppell. "It's the start of a hard holiday spell and it's hard to take."

No blame was attached to the efficient Hinshelwood, "a young man with a lot of potential" according to his impressed manager.

As for Rejer, his inept display was epitomised by his failure to award a free-kick when Brooker was blatantly upended just outside the box near the end.

Derby manager John Gregory was relieved to avenge the Rams' reverse by the same score at Withdean last month.

"You have got to give Brighton credit," said the former Seagull. "They are fighting for their lives. They were very difficult to break down and we couldn't break them down in open play."

The good news is that Albion are now above Sheffield Wednesday on goal difference, not just goals scored, and still only three points adrift of fourth-bottom Grimsby.

The bad news is the five teams above that at the start of play all won, including significantly Bradford at the head of the relegation mini-League, and you know who comes next.

Albion (5-3-2): Kuipers (gk) 9; Mayo (cd) 7, Cullip (cd) 8, Carpenter (cm) 6, Pethick (cd) 7, Jones (lwb) 6, Hinshelwood (rwb) 7, Zamora (f) 7, Barrett (f) 7, Rodger (lm) 7, Sidwell (rm) 7. Subs: Hart for Carpenter (withdrawn 73), Brooker for Jones (withdrawn 62), Packham, Butters, Oatway.

Bookings: Zamora (78, dissent).

Derby (3-4-3): Grant; Barton, Higginbotham, Elliott, Riggott, Lee, Christie, Morris, Burley, Boertien, McLeod. Subs: Oakes, Kinkladze, Murray, Evatt, Mills.

Scorers: Higginbotham (29) pen.

Bookings: None.

Half-Time: Derby 1 Albion 0.

Attendance: 25,786.

Fan's View: Dave Bartram (Polegate).

A three-and-a-half-hour drive home in the rain gave plenty of time for reflection.

The Derby penalty award was harsh, as probably was the offside decision against Graham Barrett. I think Adam Hinshelwood was fouled before he handled the ball.

But apart from those two bits of misfortune, there is no getting away from the fact that had it not been for Michel Kuipers in the first half, the penalty would have been academic because the Albion could easily have been three down at half time.

After the break it was Albion business as usual, some quality build up play, a number of chances created but just lacking that final killer blow.

The problem is in this league it's kill or be killed and, frankly, unless Albion tighten up at the back and start putting away their chances, relegation will be a painful reality.