Steve Coppell's first words after an astonishing contest were: "I would have been quite content with a boring game."

It took 90 minutes for the new manager to discover Albion don't do boring.

Six goals, a hat-trick, two penalties, crowd unrest and a ranting MP, just another run of the mill afternoon at Withdean.

Sheffield United pilfered the points with the same audacity as the thief who boarded the team coach outside their Brighton seafront hotel on Friday to escape with the belongings of assistant manager Kevin Blackwell.

Two down with 20 minutes left, substitute Carl Asaba inspired an improbable comeback which brutally exposed Albion's frailties and must have left Coppell wondering what he has let himself in for.

Coppell, restricted by two training sessions with the full squad, not suprisingly opted for experience over promise for his first match.

Gary Hart and Charlie Oatway were recalled at the expense of Daniel Marney and Dean Hammond and a leaner Guy Butters replaced suspended skipper Danny Cullip.

It was, however, an imaginative move to make Zamora captain and for an hour Coppell could hardly have wished for more.

As so often happens with a new appointment, Albion raised their game. The Sheffield defence could not cope with the pace and movement of Zamora and his partner Graham Barrett.

The Seagulls took the lead at Withdean for the first time this season midway through the first half when Hart met Barrett's right-wing cross with an unstoppable diving header.

The second goal 11 minutes later emphasised the instinctive understanding Albion's classy front pair have already developed.

Hart released Zamora in space down the left and Barrett darted towards the near post ahead of his marker to head a precision cross powerfully into the roof of the net.

The astute Coppell, watching from the directors' box, showed no emotion and scribbled away. In spite of Albion's cushion he had spotted enough to concern him.

Michel Kuipers had made two fine saves in the opening 20 minutes to foil Wayne Allison.

Coppell, perhaps wary of what might follow, chose the dugout for the second half, but his warning at the break to "be on our toes" went unheeded.

Asaba, introduced just before the hour at the expense of Michael Boulding after four matches out with back trouble, almost pulled a goal back immediately as Blades boss Neil Warnock made a pivotal switch from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2.

Albion were caught flat-footed when Michael Brown advanced unchallenged from a free-kick to halve the arrears with a low drive from 20 yards with 20 minutes left.

You sensed the third goal of the game was going to be the crucial one and within eight minutes it was all-square, Asaba pouncing from close range following a breathtaking solo run into the box by highly rated teenager Michael Tonge.

There was only going to be one winner from then on, although the manner of Albion's demise was terribly cruel.

With four minutes remaining, ref Phil Prosser controversially ruled that Kuipers brought down Asaba as he dashed off his line, with Paul Watson close by.

Kuipers was cautioned, Watson hobbled off to be replaced by Adam Hinshelwood and Shaun Wilkinson simultaneously came on in place of Paul Brooker before Asaba eventually converted the penalty.

A second more obvious penalty two minutes later, awarded for a push on Allison by Adam Virgo, completed Asaba's amazing hat-trick and gave the scoreline a flattering look for Sheffield.

What happened next off the pitch on opposite sides of the ground added to the drama.

Not for the first time at Withdean, supporters spilled out of their south stand seats onto the running track to vent their anger at Prosser. It's a problem Albion must address.

Immediately after the match Hove MP Ivor Caplin headed for the press box to launch an extraordinary verbal attack against Prosser. The FA should investigate Prosser's performance and suspend him in the meantime, Caplin claimed. Why, he asked, was a ref from West Yorkshire, in charge of a team from South Yorkshire?

The absurdity of Caplin's argument was subsequently exposed as Prosser explained he is from Oldbury in the West Midlands, works for the RAF in Gloucester and has only just moved to the white rose county.

The level-headed Coppell put Caplin's comments into their proper perspective. He chuckled at first, then declared: "What about world peace, the problems in Bali and all that?

"You accept it. The ref doesn't go out there with a particular flavoured shirt on."

Of more concern to Coppell was the manner in which Albion relinquished their lead. "The game slipped away from us," he said. "The longer the second half went on they looked more physical and forceful and we were very much on the back foot.

"Brown is a bright, intelligent player capable of playing higher and he just caught us cold. After that I think everybody sensed it was going to be hard work."

Hard work is the only way out of the crisis for Albion according to Coppell.

"The dressing room was like a morgue."he added. "It's really hurting these players. They are desperate to get results. It's not as if we are going to have four or five new players come over the hill on white chargers. It's down to the people in the dressing room to work and work."

  • Line-ups: Albion (4-4-2) - Kuipers (gk) 8, Watson (rb) 7, Mayo (lb) 7, Butters (cd) 7, Hart (rw) 8, Oatway (m) 7, Brooker (lw) 7, Carpenter (m), 7, Virgo (cd) 7, Zamora (f) 8, Barrett (f) 8. Subs: Rogers, Wilkinson, Packham, Marney, Hinshelwood. Scorers: Hart (23), Barrett (34). Bookings: Kuipers (85) foul.
  • Sheffield United (4-3-3) - Kenny; Ullathorne, Yates, Murphy, Page, Brown, McCall, Allison, Ndlovu, Tonge, Boulding. Subs: Kozluk for Ullathorne (withdrawn 64), Asaba for Boulding (withdrawn 59), Montgomery, de Vogt, McGovern for McCall (withdrawn 66). Scorers: Brown (70), Asaba (78), 86 (pen), 88 (pen). Bookings: None.
  • Referee: P. Prosser (West Yorks).
  • Venue: Withdean.
  • Attendance: 6,810.
  • Pitch: Good, watered before KO.
  • Weather: Crisp and sunny.
  • Fan's view, by Ken Gander (Broadwater) "An extraordinary game which took the fans from elation to despair in the second 45 minutes.

"At half time we were jubilant, celebrating being in front by two goals and playing our best football of the season.

"At last the tide had turned! At full time we were disappointed and angry. Disappointed we had returned to the type of play that had dragged the Albion down to 11 defeats in a row and angry at a certain Mr P. Prosser, from West Yorkshire (I wonder if he travelled down on the United team coach?), whose refereeing was diabolical.

"But the damage had been done before his debatable penalty decisions by the way we let Sheffield back in a game that should have yielded our first three home points.

"Now for Palace, have we ever met them with a worse record?"