Albion 2, Preston North End 2

After last season's agony, Albion must be wary of 'if only' games.

Ones they could look back on as costing them promotion.

No match this season had fallen into that category until now.

This giveaway of two points had chilling similarities to the only other 2-2 draw at the Amex in the last 22 months.

In April, with the same ref (Craig Pawson) in charge, Albion let in an injury time equaliser against Preston's Lancashire neighbours Burnley which ultimately denied them a top two spot.

This setback has arrived a lot earlier and, since it came against a team unlikely to be vying with them for a top six finish, will receive less scrutiny. Until, perhaps, the final reckoning.

Especially as the goal which turned a powerful riposte into a wasteful stalemate was conceded against ten men.

Simon Grayson had already thrown on three subs in search of salvation when he lost midfielder John Welsh to a calf injury.

The Seagulls had seven minutes to see the game out with a numerical benefit (three minutes of normal time, four minutes of added time). And failed.

Grayson's route to parity was not rocket science. Among the replacements he turned to was his poor man's Peter Crouch.

Great Dane Simon Makienok became a big pain. The 6ft 7ins striker hired from Italian side Palermo for the season, following a similar spell at Charlton last season, was an obvious threat.

He recently scored a hat-trick further along the south coast to dump Bournemouth out of the League Cup. Albion had the needle this time as the tattoo-infested Makienok guided an angled header past David Stockdale.

It should never have come to that. Jamie Murphy had given the ball away cheaply. Paul Gallagher, another of Grasyon's changes with a reputation for picking a pass, was given time and room to deliver the cross which Makienok feasted on, rising above Shane Duffy.

The repercussions could be far more severe for Albion than the statistical anomaly of Preston stretching their sequence to 12 away league games of scoring twice or not at all.

It changed everything. Chris Hughton would have been concentrating in his post-match press conference on the vigorous second half response which turned the contest around, rather than the two points that got away.

His decision to replace equaliser Sam Baldock with Dale Stephens in the closing stages - justifiable on the grounds of providing more height in an attempt to combat Preston's growing aerial threat and not allowing them possession - would have gone unnoticed.

Hughton should also have been reflecting on the resilience of the third victory from 1-0 down at the Amex of his reign (Baldock equalised in one of the others as well against ex-employers Bristol City, while Albion retrieved a two-goal deficit against Charlton last season).

It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth when you concede in stoppage time away from home, as Albion did in their previous outing at Sheffield Wednesday.

That one did not impact on the result. It is particularly hurtful to leak so late at home when it does.

In a division of such fine margins - as Albion know all too well - presenting Preston with a point will gnaw away.

Makienok's maiming role was compounded by two normally dependable members of the defence whose bid for a fifth straight clean sheet was destroyed only by Gary Hooper's consolation intervention at Hillsborough.

 

Stockdale and skipper Bruno contrived between them to gift the abrasive Jordan Hugill his fourth goal in six league games early on.

Stockdale's clumsy attempt to control the Spaniard's risky lobbed backpass with his chest gave the ball to Hugill. He could not believe his luck, evading the keeper's lunge to find the roof of an empty net.

It was hazardous to give a leg-up to a side noted under Grayson for their organisation, stubbornness and a 3-5-2 set-up on their travels which effectively means a five-man defence to break down once they have their noses in front.

Albion's first half efforts at redemption, at both ends of the pitch, were unconvincing. They were shaken at the back by the manner in which they fell behind and there was not enough tempo in their play going forward to unlock the well-drilled visitors.

It changed once Hughton sat them down. There was more intent and penetration and the decision-making in the final third, lacking in the opening 45 minutes, improved appreciably.

The result was two well-constructed goals in the space of 11 minutes which should have transformed a deficit into a preserved advantage.

Baldock's second in as many matches was the product of a slick, three-man move. A slide-rule pass from Oliver Norwood released the overlapping Bruno for the most inviting of crosses which begged to be tucked away from close range.

The second (below) was largely of Glenn Murray's own making. Latching onto Murphy's feed into feet with his back to goal, he rolled past marker Alex Baptiste with his right foot to set up an angled finish with his left. It was classic centre-forward play.

The Argus: That should have been that, just as it was with Murray's previous five goals, all scored in home wins.

Hughton said: "Even at 2-1 some of the areas we got into with Anthony (Knockaert), with that little bit more killer instinct we kill the game off and when you don't do that there is always a chance the opposition might score.

"We knew we had to play better second half with a better tempo. At 2-1 and fairly comfortable makes it even harder."

Four points against Sheffield Wednesday and Preston, following a draw at Ipswich, would be regarded as a decent return if they had come the other way around.

Albion need to beat Wolves at the Amex tomorrow night now to emphasise the value of that historic first-ever victory at Hillsborough and to ensure the frustration of this draw does not endure.