The age-old British football tradition of enjoying your fiercest rival's failure as much as your own success was effortlessly maintained. The most heartening thing about the entire day was the atmosphere that crackled noisily throughout.

The Crystal Palace manager eventually decided, or in reality was compelled, to place his hands above his head and clap along in unison with the Selhurst Park crowd. Not quite conducting the orchestra,

Three goals, three red cards, and 12 minutes of stoppage time provided plenty of added intensity to an M23 derby that saw nine-man Crystal Palace beat 10-man Brighton at Selhurst Park on Saturday.