Ipswich 0 Brighton 0: Seagulls survive late Dale Stephens sending off to earn a point in Championship clash
The central midfielder was given his marching orders with eight minutes to go as the promotion hopefuls held on for a point
BRIGHTON had Dale Stephens sent off as they blew their chance to move into the automatic promotion places.
Midfielder Stephens saw red in the 82nd minute for a second bookable offence when he brought down Jonathan Douglas.
The only plus for Chris Hughton’s men, who remain third in the table, was that they kept a seventh clean sheet in 10 Championship games this season.
But this will have to go down as a missed opportunity against an injury-hit Ipswich side minus several key players.
Despite his many problems home boss Mick McCarthy made a big call in relegating striker Freddie Sears to the bench after a run of 35 games without a goal.
And it was the Tractor Boys who landed the only two shots on target in an otherwise mediocre first half.