Leeds United 0, Albion 0.

Albion ended mad March with another heroic display in their pursuit of a play-off place.

Their ninth match in 29 days this month was a repeat of Monday's backs-to-the-wall performance against the other big-hitters of League One, Nottingham Forest.

The outcome was the same and that suited the Seagulls much better than Leeds.

They remain two points above the Yorkshiremen, although they have played a game more.

Tranmere's home victory against Swindon the night before means they have dropped just outside the play-off zone but that does not matter after two excellent stalemates away from home.

Leeds had the better of the game, especially in the first half, but Albion defended superbly from front to back and have now been beaten only twice in their last dozen outings.

Albion's game plan was the same as it had been for the 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest five days earlier.

Manager Dean Wilkins employed a midfield diamond once again, with Charlton's on-loan Frenchman Therry Racon sitting deep to offer protection to the back four.

The need for some stout defending was only to be expected and the Seagulls were grateful to Andrew Whing for saving them from the early deficit which Wilkins feared and Leeds craved.

In the 14th minute Rui Marques, the Leeds captain and centre half, broke clear down the right.

He made progress into the penalty area before cutting the ball back to Dougie Freedman. The Scottish striker's shot on the turn beat Michel Kuipers but Whing, back from a two-match suspension, was airborne when he produced an acrobatic goal-line clearance on the volley.

Freedman was on target the last time he played against Albion, for Crystal Palace in the Championship at Withdean.

He went close again midway through the first half, slotting just wide of the far post from a low cross by Bradley Johnson.

The pattern in the opening half-hour was pretty unrelenting. Leeds did not create much else, apart from a few corners and a long range drive over the bar from left-back Alan Sheehan, but they were well on top.

The problem for Albion was that they could not get the ball and they did not help themselves by getting caught offside too many times inside Leeds territory.

They did well to limit the number of opportunities for the home side, considering the Yorkshiremen's first half supremacy.

Sheehan, on loan from Leicester, was only just too high with a curling free-kick from 25 yards after David Martot had been penalised for handball and Racon was booked for an altercation with Freedman.

Kuipers had to push over his own bar a cross from Johnny Howson. It would have been a fluke if that had gone in but the same player went even closer just before the break with a well struck effort from a central position 25 yards out which drifted narrowly wide.

Jermaine Beckford was a peripheral figure in the first half, which was testimony to the way Tommy Elphick and Joel Lynch handled the hosts' attacking spearhead.

It was asking a lot to keep the prolific Beckford quiet for the whole 90 minutes and he duly came to life early into the restart, volleying wide at the near post from Darren Kenton's cross.

At that stage Kuipers had not been required to repeat the kind of heroics which kept Forest at bay but that changed in the 56th minute.

It was Howson once more who was left holding his head in anguish, his swerving shot from outside the box forcing Albion's flying Dutchman into a spectacular stop at the expense of a corner.

Freedman should have broken the deadlock when Casper Ankergren, the rarely troubled Leeds keeper, caught a header from Nicky Forster beneath his crossbar and launched a long clearance down the middle.

Lynch seemed to have the situation under control but his mistake let in Freedman.

He had a free run on goal but, as Kuipers advanced, was torn between shooting or going around the keeper and ended up doing neither.

Albion did have the ball in the net in the 63rd minute when Forster headed down for Glenn Murray to clip in from close range but there were no complaints about another offside decision.

The Seagulls were occasionally more threatening after the break, Forster firing a decent chance wide of the near post from Murray's knockdown.

Beckford spurned an even better opportunity for Leeds with 19 minutes left.

Kenton's run and pass found him with space inside the box but he sidefooted well over the bar.

Albion enjoyed their best spell of the match after that, pushing forward in search of an improbable victory.

Murray might have provided it if he had shot instead of trying to pick out a team-mate when released by Whing.

They can now rest up in preparation for the last six matches, beginning with next Saturday's visit of doomed Port Vale.

The mini-break is well deserved after their sterling efforts this month.

Albion: Kuipers, Whing, Lynch, Elphick, Mayo, Cox (Robinson 85), Thomson, Racon, Martot (Loft 90), Forster, Murray. Subs Not Used: Hart, Butters, Fraser.

Leeds: Ankergren, Kenton, Marques, Michalik, Sheehan, Prutton, Howson, Kilkenny (Kandol 76), Johnson (Douglas 58), Freedman (Elding 85), Beckford. Subs Not Used: Lucas, Huntington.

Attendance: 22,575.

Referee: David Foster (Tyne & Wear).