Albion self-destructed as their undefeated run in the Championship, stretching back to before Christmas, came to an eventful end.

There was no disgrace in losing to fifth-placed Derby, one of the best sides seen at Withdean this season.

The narrow manner of their demise emphasised the improvement the Seagulls have made since they were comprehensively beaten 3-0 at Pride Park in November, but they uncharacteristically contributed to their own downfall.

All three Derby goals were avoidable and manager Mark McGhee, candid as ever, took some of the blame.

After watching County coast past Leeds he devised what was labelled in his office at the Falmer training ground as a 'cunning plan.' The tactics were by no means entirely unsuccessful, even though McGhee abandoned them after 45 minutes.

Adam Hinshelwood, given a man-marking job on Inigo Idiakez, nullified the Spanish playmaker's midfield influence. The by-product, however, was that Hinshelwood's absence from the centre of defence had an unsettling effect.

He moved back when McGhee reverted to an orthodox 4-4-2 for the second half, but Albion looked less assured throughout than they have been with Hinshelwood, Guy Butters and Adam Virgo as centre halves.

McGhee said: "I take some of the responsibility. People know me by now, I always look at my own performance first.

"I dragged it about a little bit. We put Hinsh against their playmaker. We tried to stop him and we did, but they were still 2-1 up at half-time so we changed that, and moving people around the way we did sometimes just causes you to be just a little bit less secure than you have been.

"It's not just about the team, it's me as well, and some of the decisions I made maybe weren't right."

The impact of McGhee's tactical tinkering should not be overplayed. He could not cater for the kind of basic individual errors which helped Derby to an impressive fifth successive away win.

They started in the 13th minute when Kerry Mayo, whose goal decided the game in the corresponding fixture two seasons ago, gave the ball away to Morten Bisgaard with a stray pass in the middle of the park.

The Danish midfielder strode forward, exchanged passes with Greg Rasiak, and slotted his first of the season past the helpless David Yelldell.

Mayo made amends within a minute, providing a left-wing cross which Mark McCammon met with a diving header to break his duck on his eighth appearance for the Seagulls.

Yelldell gifted Derby the lead again with a blunder two minutes from the break.

The on-loan Blackburn keeper, making his Withdean debut, spilled a hopeful ball into the box from Jeff Kenna as Rasiak challenged. Marcus Tudgay, born in Worthing before moving as a child, toe-poked in the loose ball.

Parity was restored once more in unusual circumstances on the hour. Michael Johnson's attempted clearance from Leon Knight's cross rebounded in off the quick-reacting McCammon.

Knight was involved in the most controversial incident of the match two minutes later. Penalised for a challenge on Idiakez, he urged the theatrical Spaniard to get to his feet.

Ian Taylor, Derby's experienced captain, took exception and raised a hand to Knight's face, which resulted in a straight red card from ref Fred Graham.

Derby boss George Burley said: "It was an absurd decision and I thought all round the referee's performance was questionable."

McGhee agreed. "It was ludicrous," he said. "If you translate it to the letter of the law, Taylor's put his hand on Leon's face, but he hasn't hit him or punched him.

"It was more a case of telling Leon to behave himself. It wasn't something which required a sending-off."

McGhee and Burley both played in an era when referees were given scope to apply common sense, rather than robotic adherence to some inhibitive regulations dreamed up by the lawmakers.

Taylor, 36, should have known better and left Graham little option but, in an attempt to produce more consistent decision-making, the red card count continues to rise to alarming levels. Taylor's was the 64th of 65 in the Championship alone this season.

It should have signalled, at the very least, a continuation of the Seagulls' unbeaten sequence. Instead Butters, captain in the absence of the suspended Charlie Oatway, and Hinshelwood hesitated fatally as Tudgay latched onto another long ball from Kenna to lash in Derby's winner with 18 minutes remaining.

McCammon was twice denied by Lee Camp in a frantic finish and he came within inches of converting a cross from substitute Nathan Jones.

"I was a bit disappointed with myself there," he said. "The ball whizzed across the goal and I should have thrown myself at it."

It was annoyingly appropriate on an afternoon when Albion threw a result away.

  • ALBION (4-3-1-2) Yelldell; Reid, Virgo, Butters, Mayo; Nicolas, Carpenter, Harding, Hinshelwood; McCammon, Knight. Subs: Hart for Reid (withdrawn 60), Jones for Harding (withdrawn 60), Hammond for Nicolas (withdrawn 85), Watson, May
  • Scorer: McCammon 14, 60
  • Booking: Harding 41 (foul)
  • DERBY COUNTY (4-5-1) Camp; Kenna, Huddlestone, Mills, Johnson; Smith, Idiakez, Bisgaard, Taylor, Tudgay; Rasiak. Subs: Bolder for Tudgay (withdrawn 79), Junior for Rasiak (withdrawn 79), Boertien, Peschisolido, Grant
  • Scorers: Bisgaard 13, Tudgay 43, 72
  • Bookings: Huddlestone 77 (foul), Bisgaard 78 (foul)
  • Attendance: 6,587
  • Fans' View: REG HOLMES (Haywards Heath) Derby are probably the strongest, most fluent side we've seen at Albion this season. A draw would have been a fair result, particularly with the chances we had in the last 15 minutes. Leon Knight had a good game and Mark McCammon was a revelation compared to some of his previous performances.

CHRIS PARKER (Brighton) We did well to score twice, even if the second one looked like a fluke, but were let down by some uncharacteristically slack defending and uncertain goalkeeping. We haven't scored more than two in a game since God was a boy so the writing was probably on the wall when Derby scored their third.

HORACE TRUBRIDGE (Cuckfield) It was great to see McCammon do well at last but he should have had a hat-trick and the goals we conceded were sloppy. We probably need three wins and three draws from the remaining games to stay up. There are at least three teams in this division who are worse than us so I think we'll be all right.

STEPH STAINES (Derby fan) We made very hard work of it with the sending off and chances Brighton created in the last few minutes, but the result is all that matters. Ipswich, Wigan and Sunderland will take some catching, but we're looking a great bet for the play-offs. George Burley should be knighted if we go up.