Brighton in mint condition after eight

Dec 17 2007 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

NEW BRIGHTON posted their eighth North Two West win at Hartsfield in an entertaining affair.

The two sides had played out a 24-24 draw last month and were again evenly matched.

Forward pressure from a line-out saw Kati Tuipulotu go in on the blind side for the first Blues try after eight minutes, but Rochdale hit back with some enterprising back play for Sean Campbell to cross, with Mike Bradwell adding the goal.

A 32nd-minute penalty by Stephen Dean earned Brighton a single-point interval lead.

Paul Campbell grabbed the next home try on 48 minutes as the pack drove over from a line-out, but it was game on again seven minutes later as Bradwell landed a penalty for Rochdale.

A Loa Topou break from a line-out paved the way for a Rick Hopkin try for the Blues on the hour, but the visitors refused to lie down and set up a tense finale as Campbell grabbed his second try following a tap penalty.

Brighton, however, held the whip hand in the dying minutes when they went close to adding to their lead.

Rochdale moved the ball well behind the scrum but Brighton, in the main, defended well.

Topou made his presence felt in the back-row but the Blues need to cut out the errors. Tuipulotu, back after suspension, and Guy Stringer spent time in the sin bin and it could have cost them the vital points which keep them well in promotion contention .