May 4: Grimsby 2 Albion 2

A closing draw against the team propping up the rest of the First Division emphasised why the Seagulls will be playing Grimsby again next season.

Victory at Blundell Park would not have kept Albion up, Stoke saw to that. Victories against the likes of Stoke and Grimsby during the season would have.

The fact is of the eight matches played against the other teams in the bottom five they failed to win any of them.

The 19 points out of 24 dropped in head-to-heads with their fellow strugglers is as much to blame as that horror sequence of a dozen straight defeats from which Coppell so nearly masterminded an extraordinary escape.

The costly pattern continued in the Sunday lunchtime sunshine on Humberside as Albion's hopes of pulling off the near-impossible effectively evaporated in the space of a few minutes early in the second half.

The dream was still alive when Danny Cullip put them ahead. The 2,500 travelling fans were praying to hear news of a goal at the Britannia Stadium.

It duly arrived, but at the wrong end, for Stoke not for Reading and scored, irony of ironies, by former Albion loan forward Ade Akinbiyi.

Once the Seagulls conceded an equaliser shortly afterwards there was no coming back.

Coppell, understandably, stuck with the side which whipped Watford 4-0, so recovered virus victims Paul Brooker and Richard Carpenter had to settle for places on the bench.

Grimsby, fielding their strongest line-up possible given a lengthy injury list, were the better side in a first half in which Albion just could not get going.

A wind-assisted free-kick from Tony Gallimore, blocked by Dave Beasant with his legs and then blazed over on the rebound by Stuart Campbell, was a sign of things to come.

It was no great surprise when Grimsby grabbed the lead midway through the opening period in controversial circumstances.

Chris Thompson, released by Campbell, was the victim of an untidy tackle by Kerry Mayo.

Mayo vainly argued with ref Clive Wilkes that contact had been made just outside rather than inside the penalty area.

Michael Keane, on loan from Preston, sent Beasant the wrong way from the resulting spot-kick, his second goal in as many games.

It almost got worse for Albion minutes later when Keane found fellow loan signing Richard Hughes in space in the box, but Beasant did well to hold the Portsmouth midfielder's low drive.

The Seagulls had been virtually non-existent as an attacking force until Steve Chettle handed them a get out of jail card in the third and final minute of first-half stoppage time.

A scuffed pass by Hughes was intercepted, Gary Hart surged into the area and the block tackle on him by Chettle, Beasant's former Nottingham Forest team-mate, was deemed illegitimate by Wilkes.

Up stepped the previously starved Bobby Zamora to calmly stroke home his second penalty in three games and 14th goal of the campaign. A mood of optimism was restored.

Albion surely could not play as badly in the second half.

Belief grew when it took Cullip only two minutes into the restart to add his name to the scoresheet.

Simon Rodger's corner reached Zamora.

His shot poleaxed Chettle before falling for the captain to turn the ball in from close range, his first goal since September of last year.

Was this deja vu? Mayo had, after all, scored that own goal at Hereford when Albion survived on the final day six years ago.

Sadly, it proved to be the high point of the afternoon for Cullip and his colleagues.

Akinbiyi had already put Stoke ahead as Grimsby restored parity on the hour.

Campbell's right-wing cross was met by Keane beyond the far post with a crisp volley which Beasant dived to stop, only for Hughes to knee in the loose ball.

Keane, like Graham Barrett a Republic of Ireland under-21 regular, stupidly goaded the Seagulls' supporters packed behind Beasant's net.

Players really must act more responsibly in such situations.

Coppell juggled things around, introducing Barrett for the ineffective Paul Kitson, Carpenter for Nathan Jones and Brooker for Paul Watson.

It was Grimsby, though, who came closest to snatching a hollow victory, Thompson crashing a shot against the crossbar from Campbell's pull-back following a mistake by Dean Blackwell.

Zamora was the first Albion player down the tunnell when Wilkes blew the whistle on life in Division One.

Coppell patted him on the back of the head before disappearing himself.

The manager, unusually for him, refused to be interviewed after the game.

His silence and his side's diminished status changes nothing.

Relegation or not, the odds are against Coppell and Zamora being with Albion next season.

• ALBION (3-4-3): Beasant (gk) 7; Watson (rwb) 6, Mayo (cd) 6, Cullip (cd) 8, Blackwell (cd) 6, Hart (f) 8, Jones (lwb) 6, Ingimarsson (m) 7, Zamora (f) 7, Kitson (f) 6, Rodger (m) 7. Subs: Oatway, Brooker for Watson (withdrawn 73), Carpenter for Jones (withdrawn 69), Packham, Barrett for Kitson (withdrawn 66).
• SCORERS: Zamora (45) penalty, Cullip (47).
• BOOKINGS: Kitson (27) unsporting behaviour, Cullip (44) foul, Zamora (66) unsporting behaviour, Barrett (80) foul.
• GRIMSBY (4-4-2): Coyne; McDermott, Gallimore, Santos, Chettle, Groves, Hughes, Thompson, Keane, Campbell, Mansaram. Subs: Parker for McDermott (withdrawn 89), Rowan, Bolder for Chettle (injured 63), Cooke for Keane (withdrawn 86), Pettinger.
• SCORERS: Keane (22) penalty, Hughes (60).
• BOOKINGS: Gallimore (50) unsporting behaviour.
• Referee: Mr C. Wilkes (Gloucs).
• Venue: Blundell Park.
• Attendance: 6,396.
• Pitch conditions: Very good after watering.
• Weather: Sunny and windy.
• Fan's view, by Paul Brinkhurst (Lewes): "It was disappointing to only draw at Grimsby but we went down because of what happened over the course of the season. At the end of the day, it didn't matter what Albion did because of the result at Stoke. When we pulled it back to 2-1 ahead, Stoke were still level and there was hope but a few minutes later it was game over and it was ironic it was an ex-Brighton and Crystal Palace player, in Ade Akinbiyi, who got the goal."