Hemed hits right spot for Seagulls

BRIGHTON missed out on a chance to go top of the Championship as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Ipswich Town on a night when rivals Newcastle also failed to win at Norwich.

A penalty from Tomer Hemed earned Chris Hughton’s men a point after an early opener from Luke Chambers but despite seeing striker Glenn Murray hit the bar in the 90th minute, they could not find a winner.

The result means Albion, who have won just one of their past four league games, are still one point behind leaders Newcastle

Brighton were looking to put pressure on Newcastle but they did not make a good start, going 1-0 down inside the first nine minutes.

A curling free-kick into the box by Tom Lawrence was headed in by Chambers, who just got to the ball before Brighton keeper David Stockdale.

There was a brief scare when it seemed Chambers had injured himself in the collision, but he was able to continue after treatment and Ipswich began to eye up a shock victory.

Mick McCarthy’s side have not won back-to-back away games since December 2015 but they certainly started the stronger as Brighton struggled to catch the pace of the game.

In fact, the opening goal came when Ipswich had only 10 men on the pitch with Emyr Huws off the field having stitches in a head wound.

Huws, however, soon became the villain when he hauled back Bruno in the area to give away a 29th-minute penalty which was converted by Hemed, below.

That made it six goals in his past six games for the Israeli striker, who has been in unstoppable form since the turn of the year.

Suddenly, with Newcastle losing at Norwich, Albion smelled an opportunity.

Ipswich, however, were not going to make it easy for them.

Mick McCarthy’s men had five men booked in the first half alone but were competitive in attacking areas too.

Livewire Lawrence forced Stockdale into a fine save soon after the break. And then Chambers almost grabbed himself a second goal when he scraped the ball against the post from Jordan Spence’s header.

In the melee that followed, Steve Sidwell headed off the line from McGoldrick.

Hughton’s men finished strongly, with Sam Baldock going close and substitute Murray hitting the bar right at the death.

But they could not find a winner no matter how hard they pushed the Ipswich defence.

The result means Albion are struggling to pull away from the chasing pack.

And it also leaves third-placed Huddersfield, who won at Rotherham, starting to close in on the top two.