Brighton were overwhelmed by a powerful London Welsh side who capitalised on two early sin bins to command the match.
Three second half tries from the hosts were not enough to stop the former Premiership side taking advantage of soft defence to come away 47-22 victors.
The result comes as both teams battle in the middle of the league table in a high-scoring affair.
Welsh took an early lead within three minutes of kick off and continued to dominate exchanges for much of the first half.
A breakthrough the middle of the pitch created chances for the visitors who converted a try within minutes of kick off.
Dominant play placed Brighton on the back foot and the hosts were quickly reduced to 14 and then 13 men with yellow cards just two minutes apart.
London Welsh made the most of this to score a further 19 points unanswered before Pete Sowerby kicked a penalty just before the half to get on the scoreboard at 3-26.
Using the wind to their advantage in the second half, Brighton began to pin London Welsh into their own territory and threatened to score.
Continued pressure finally led to Angus North dotting down for Brighton’s first try of the match from a driving maul.
Picking up speed, the hosts tried to get back into the game further and pressured Welsh by getting within touching distance of the try line.
Fly half Sean O’Hagan employed quick feet to evade the defence and scampered under the posts to narrow the deficit.
Brighton’s improved performance stalled, however, and London Welsh capitalised to get into the ascendancy once again.
Soft defensive work once again blighted the hosts and the visitors took two scores in quick succession to widen the margin further.
Despite the win seeming being beyond them, Brighton showed their class with a flashy try from Jake Rutherford.
The back scooped the ball up at halfway before beating three defenders and chipping the oncoming London Welsh full back to send the ball into the open space.
Rutherford then outpaced his opposite man to win the footrace to the line and dive on the ball for the sensational score.
London Welsh had the last say with another soft try and poor defending from Brighton, leaving the score at 47-22 to the visitors.
Brighton now sit in seventh and will look to fend off Hammersmith and Fulham below who sit seven points behind but with a game in hand.
The Blues now take a week off before travelling to midtable rivals CS Stags who sit just a point above.
Full list of results
- Horsham 31 Camberley 38
- East Grinstead 15 Eastbourne 14
- Bognor 5 Portsmouth 28
- Chichester II 24 Millbrook 43
- Heathfield and Waldron 7 Dartfordians 40
- Rye 76 Ash 14
- Horsham II 25 Battersea Ironsides II 17
- Haywards Heath 14 Pulborough 7
- Shoreham 22 Crawley 5
- Hove III 36 Jersey Royals 0
- East Grinstead II 31 Newick 7
- Littlehampton 10 Midhurst 0
- Shoreham II 35 Holbrook 5
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