Pools were beaten by a late goal at the Withdean Stadium as Dean Cox pounced to steal all three points for Brighton & Hove Albion with just sixty seconds left on the clock.

A deep cross to the far post was nodded back across the box unselfishly by the unmarked Glenn Murray and Cox couldn't miss from six yards.

It was a cruel blow for Pools who had fought their way back in to the game after falling behind eight minutes before the break when Murray found enough space to fire home.

In truth, the hosts could have made more of their dominance in the first half but rarely tested Arran Lee-Barrett, though they did have a goal ruled out when Steven Thomson's fine strike found the net only for a dubious offside flag to cut short the celebrations.

A more determined Pools side re-emerged for the second half and they pushed Brighton for an equaliser but were struggling to create any clear-cut chances.

However, the leveller arrived when substitute David Foley's shot proved too hot to handle for the nervous Michel Kuipers and Joel Porter was on-hand to force home the rebound.

And from then on it was Pools who looked the more likely to snatch maximum points, with Ritchie Humphreys again exposing Kuipers with a drilled free-kick which was spilled but this time Porter could only put the follow-up wide.

Foley and Robson both let fly with efforts which grazed the woodwork as Danny Wilson's men pushed play-off chasing Brighton on to the back foot.

But then came a Brighton foray in to the attacking third where they made Pools pay for another piece of slack defending and Cox converted to make it 2-1 and keep Albion's slim hopes of making the top six alive.

Meanwhile, Danny Wilson will once again be left to come to terms with another game in which defensive slip-ups have cost his team at least a share of the spoils - something that has become an unwanted characteristic of away games this term.

Brighton & Hove Albion: Kuipers, Whing, Mayo, Butters (Lynch 81), Elphick, Cox, Westlake (Gatting 82), Thomson, Racon, Murray, Dixon (Robinson 70).
Subs not used: Fraser, Martot.

Pools: Lee-Barrett, Sweeney, Nelson, Clark, Humphreys, Brown, Liddle, Boland (Robson 66), Monkhouse, Mackay (Foley 66), Porter.
Subs not used: Elliott, McCunnie, Collins.