You might have expected Steve Coppell to be crestfallen after the dramatic finish to this frenetic thriller.

You would have been very much mistaken.

The Albion boss did not hesitate when asked if he was disappointed at letting a 3-1 lead slip so late in the game.

"Absolutely not," was his emphatic response. "I thought it was a terrific game, end to end stuff with a lot of pressure from Plymouth, who are a very strong and powerful side.

"We competed very well. We can analyse how the goals were conceded and we will study them, but all in all I'm pleased with a point out of this one."

So there you have it. The manager was well satisfied, in spite of his side leading 3-1 entering the 81st minute and 3-2 going into the 89th.

He has a point, if you pardon the pun. Albion were well below full strength again, with Simon Rodger and Paul Watson both still injured and Nathan Jones suspended.

Plymouth's up and at 'em style does not give a moment's peace and the slow trek to deepest Devon, which took the Seagulls six hours on Friday, must have contributed to their wearyness in the closing stages.

I cannot help feeling though that the Albion players would have been kicking themselves on the long journey home for the way in which two extra points eluded them.

They would certainly have been kicking Mick Fletcher had the referee from Worcestershire not been travelling in a different direction.

His decision not to dismiss Plymouth skipper Paul Wotton with 14 minutes left was definitely a turning point.

When Wotton lost control of the ball midway inside his own half it left Darius Henderson with a clear run on goal.

Wotton grabbed him from behind, but Henderson stayed on his feet before firing wide of the far post.

Fletcher then reached into his pocket and, to the surprise of most people inside the ground, produced a yellow card rather than red.

Henderson was, in effect, punished for not going down. Had he done so Wotton would certainly have been off and there surely would have been no way back for Argyle then.

It could arguably have reduced them to nine men, because the abrasive Mickey Evans also escaped with a caution just after the hour mark for elbowing Danny Cullip in an aerial challenge which left Albion's fit-again captain with a big bump on his forehead.

Cullip did not make a fuss, that is just not his style. He got on with things after treatment, but if Fletcher saw the offence as the booking suggests then why wasn't Evans sent-off?

They were just two of the talking points in a contest overflowing with chatter value.

Dan Harding, Jones' replacement on the left side of midfield, will not forget his full debut that's for sure.

His marker, fellow teenager Paul Connolly, launched a crazy afternoon by lifting the ball over his own keeper, Frenchman Romain Larrieu, from 40 yards, to gift Albion an undeserved 14th-minute lead.

Argyle were level within four minutes, the unguarded Graham Coughlan heading in Tony Capaldi's corner at the far post.

Ben Roberts was still protesting that he had been impeded as the players walked off at half time, by which time Albion were back in front from the unlikeliest of sources.

Guy Butters, preferred to Robbie Pethick after a solid first appearance for ten months against Luton, bundled the ball in at the back post when the home defence failed to deal with Richard Carpenter's corner.

The game looked well and truly up for Argyle as Albion caught them with a classic counter-attack 17 minutes from time.

Carpenter released Henderson with a slide-rule pass through the inside left channel. His low cross was driven in right-footed by the previously subdued Leon Knight, his fifth of the season.

Ian Stonebridge gave Plymouth hope on his 22nd birthday with a fine header from a left-wing cross by Lee Hodges and French midfielder David Friio slotted them level when Roberts and Butters got in the way of each other in trying to stop sub Blair Sturrock.

Incredibly, Albion could have lost. Hodges hit the base of a post from 25 yards two minutes into stoppage time, with Roberts beaten.

There were other factors which pleased Coppell.

"Dan Harding ran a million miles and gave everything," he said.

"Guy (Butters) did well. He has not played a lot over the past year and towards the end it showed in his legs, but he was doing such an effective job heading the ball away that I couldn't really bring him off.

"I did think of playing a sweeper for the last 15 minutes, but we were still creating chances going forward. I'd rather fail being positive than negative."

On the negative side, Albion have now conceded three goals from setpieces and Roberts collected his third caution late on for time wasting.

"That is pointless, but I think refs should look at it because he's a deliberate kicker," Coppell observed.

Coppell's odds with Ladbrokes to become West Ham's new boss fell from 33-1 to 7-1 at the end of last week. "It's not my bet!" he joked as he left but funnier things have happened, bearing in mind the Trevor Brooking connection and his record of success with no money to spend.

As Saturday's events at Home Park emphasised, the one thing you can always expect in football is the unexpected.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Roberts (gk) 7; Mayo (lb) 7, Cullip (cd) 8, Knight (f) 7, Hart (rm) 7, Oatway (cm) 7, Henderson (f) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Butters (cd) 7, Hinshelwood (rb) 7, Harding (lm) 7. Subs: Piercy, McPhee, Hammond, Pethick, Flitney.
  • Scorers: Connolly og (14), Butters (36), Knight (73).
  • Bookings: Hart (21) foul, Carpenter (23) foul, Roberts (79) time-wasting.
  • PLYMOUTH (4-4-2): Larrieu; Connolly, Hodges, Coughlan, Wotton, Capaldi, Evans, Stonebridge, Norris, Bent, Friio. Subs: Adams for Capaldi (withdrawn 74), McGlinchey, Beresford for Norris (withdrawn 80), B. Sturrock for Connolly (withdrawn 74), Gilbert.
  • Scorers: Coughlan (18), Stonebridge (81), Friio (89).
  • Bookings: Evans (61) unsporting behaviour, Wotton (76) foul.
  • Half-Time: Plymouth 1 Albion 2.
  • Attendance: 9,289.
  • Fan's View: Duffy (Brightonfans.com).

The question that I keep asking myself is... are we really as good as everyone keeps telling me we are?

Maybe the manner in which we managed to throw this game away, and nearly lose it, answers the question.

Granted, Darius Henderson had his best game yet, and what an own goal by Connolly. Quality!

However, the bottom line is the Albion were the width of a post away from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Is this squad strong enough to mount a serious challenge? Only time will tell but there is no doubting that like 2001-02 this league is clearly there for the taking, so can lightning strike twice even at the Withdean?

All will be revealed in the next few months.