Every beaten team can usually reflect on a turning point, a moment which might have changed the face of the match.

At Withdean on Saturday cometh the hour cometh the young man missing a chance which has all but ended Albion's hopes of defying the drop.

They were trailing to a first-half goal by the fleet-footed Ricardo Fuller when, in the 60th minute, Joel Lynch's clearance from midway inside his own half put Colin Kazim-Richards clean through the centre of the Southampton defence.

The teenager dallied, Kevin Miller - old enough to be his father - closed him down and Kazim-Richards was crowded out as he tried to round the experienced keeper.

Three minutes later, on-loan West Brom midfielder Richard Chaplow compounded the significance of Kazim-Richards' failure by clinching Saints' first away win since the autumn.

It was a spurned opportunity in more ways than one. Other results went Albion's way, even though Crewe's victory over Sheffield Wednesday dumped them to the bottom of the table. Who knows what would have happened in the last half-hour if Kazim-Richards had equalised?

Manager Mark McGhee said: "Colin will take it in his stride. When he wakes up in the morning will he stare at the ceiling and think about that missed chance, as I would as a striker?

"I hope he does because he'll learn from that. It was a big chance and we needed to take that chance to win.

"When we didn't you are obviously worried they might nick another. They were still counter-attacking."

In isolation that sounds like condemnation but McGhee appreciates he has a precocious talent in Kazim-Richards and was rightly not too hard on him.

After all, in the previous home game, a chance missed by Dean Hammond to put Albion 2-0 up was immediately followed by an equaliser for Luton.

McGhee said: "We've not been able to score goals, to take our chances. We've played mostly the way we did in the second half but we have still not been able to put the ball in the back of the net often enough. It's the hardest thing to do.

"If Colin had scored then it gives us the platform to go on and win the game but he's a young player.

"In a sense he was also the heart of our revival in the second half. His movement and power was the thing that really got us going."

Kazim-Richards, Albion's leading scorer with six goals, has actually done pretty well in his debut season at Championship level, considering he was plucked from Bury with precious little first team experience. All credit to him too for being prepared to face the music afterwards and responding with unguarded honesty. It could not have been easy in the circumstances.

Kazim-Richards was not singularly to blame for Albion's first defeat in five games. It was, in political speak, a case of collective responsibility.

The team, almost to a man, under-performed, particularly in a first half when perseverance with the 4-3-3 formation adopted so successfully by McGhee at Millwall a week earlier backfired against smarter opponents.

Chaplow, Algerian Djamel Belmadi and bean-Pole striker Grzegorz Rasiak, on loan from Spurs, were guilty of the worst misses as Saints created and wasted a stream of chances before Fuller slotted them precisely ahead from ten yards in the 37th minute, capitalising on chaotic Albion defending.

McGhee said: "Last week we played three up front but it was against a three. We talked about it in the dressing room.

"I knew there was always a danger it could look the way it did. I've played that way before with other teams and you can look scrappy at times. You get outnumbered and have to scramble.

"What we didn't do was keep the ball well enough when we did get it forward, so that undermined our performance in the first half.

"It wasn't down to attitude or desire, it was down to the shape and the ability of Southampton against that shape, so I've got to accept it."

Albion, with Gary Hart reverting to the left of a 4-4-2, improved considerably after the break.

Miller had to save a header from Lynch and a fierce shot by Kazim-Richards. The Seagulls were still a goal threat once Chaplow had side-footed in Belmadi's low cross.

Kazim-Richards, desperate to atone for his miss, provided the highlight of the afternoon - an extraordinary run through several challenges, including a crunching tackle to retain possession, before setting up the subdued Gifton Noel-Williams for a shot which Miller kept out with his right hand.

Seb Carole, a disappointing early second-half substitute, could have set up a granstand finish for a record Withdean crowd but the Frenchman volleyed over from Hart's cross.

The need for an Albion victory ought not to disguise the disparity between the sides.

Southampton may have struggled this season but they are still packed with Premiership experience and have blatantly under-performed.

As McGhee pointed out, they were "playing against a team who have come from the Second Division two years ago and are splattered with young players who have come through our system.

"We shouldn't really be expected to beat Southampton, even though it was an important game for us and we haven't so it's no surprise."

It should be no surprise to anyone either if Albion are relegated, as they surely will be now.

  • Albion(4-3-3): Henderson 6; El-Abd 6, McShane 7, Hinshelwood 7, Lynch 6; Reid 7, Carpenter 6, Hammond 6; Kazim-Richards 7, Noel-Williams 6, Hart 6. Subs: Carole 5 for El-Abd (withdrawn 53), Gatting for Noel-Williams (withdrawn 84), Butters for Hinshelwood (withdrawn 86), Mayo, Chaigneau.
  • Southampton (4-4-2): Miller; Baird, Powell, Lundekvam, Ostlund; Belmadi, Wright, Chaplow, Brennan; Rasiak, Fuller. Subs: Madsen for Ostlund (withdrawn 87), Potter, Smith, Cranie, McGoldrick.
  • Matchfacts
  • - Shots on goal: Albion 3 Southampton 6.

- Shots off goal: Albion 7 Southampton 5.

- Corners: Albion 6 Southampton 7.

- Off-side: Albion 4 Southampton 3.

- Free-kicks: Albion 11 Southampton 12.

  • Albion booking: Lynch (42) foul.
  • Southampton bookings: None.
  • Albion scorers: None.
  • Southampton scorers: Fuller (37), Chaplow (63).