Substitute Florin Andone netted a second-half winner to condemn the Terriers to defeat at the AMEX.
A low-key affair was defined by one piece of clinical finishing by the Romanian from Knockaert's cross which kept the points on the South Coast.
There was just one change made to the starting XI by Jan Siewert at the AMEX; Juninho Bacuna replaced Duheaco Duhaney at right-back. In terms of milestones, Alex Pritchard celebrated his 150th career start in English football. Many impressed in Tuesday's succes over Wolves, none more so than Jon Gorenc Stanković. The Slovenian retained his place in Sussex, starting back-to-back league games for the first time since November 2016.
15 minutes had passed without any meaningful action; Town allowed to dominate possession in a bid to break down a deep Brighton defensive line. Jon Gorenc Stanković, once again, looked composed in the '6', and he had to be aware to divert a dangerous free-kick delivery away for a corner as the notoriously physical presences of Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy lurked.
It was a matter of patience to work an opening. As the ball broke loose in the centre of the pitch, Jonathan Hogg drove forward and slid through to Steve Mounié, who'd timed his run to perfection in-behind Dunk. Unfortunately, Hoggy slightly over weighted the pass allowing Australian 'keeper Mat Ryan to collect.
Alex Pritchard tested Ryan from distance, and what looked like a fairly routine save ended up being spilled. Karlan Grant followed in for the rebound, but the Albion stopper recovered to punch away before the red and black-clad Terriers could find the net.
Terence Kongolo's blushes were spared as a wayward pass aiming for Philip Billing fell to Yves Bissouma. The latter capitalised on a defensive gap to send Glenn Murray on his way, only for the striker's route to goal impressively halted by a superb sliding challenge from Christopher Schindler.
The Seagulls were edging into the contest, and came as close as any side had come five minutes before the interval. Iranian international Alireza Jahanbakhsh cut inside from the left to unleash a rasping right-footed effort. Jonas Lössl could only stand and watch as a combination of power and dip resulted in the cross-bar keeping the encounter goalless.
Town may well have gone into the dressing room a goal to the good, had Juninho Bacuna's injury-time purposeful run and shot found the corner instead of Ryan producing a smart save to deny the Dutchman.
Bacuna switched into defensive mode upon the commencing of the second period. Juninho covered magnificently to slide in and thwart Murray as he was about to pull the trigger whilst one-on-one with Jonas Lössl.
Brighton had a spring in their steps after a low-key first 45. Jahanbakhsh forced Lössl into a reaction save down low, eventually clinching at the follow-up attempt having seen it squirm underneath inches from the line.
A theme of excellent recovery tackles had occurred throughout; Terence Kongolo was the next man to put his body on the line, covering a reasonable amount of ground to cut off substitute Florin Andone's advances.
Town weren't fazed by the home side's improvement. A series of crosses were cleared, and Philip Billing finally tried his luck to no avail, comfortably dealt with by Ryan.
Lössl continued to keep Albion out. A strong right-hand denied Andone after the Romanian was allowed to turn and shoot on the edge of the area.
Andone made no mistake next time around, nipping in ahead of the Town defence to tuck home a late opener from Anthony Knockaert's clever delivery.
After going behind, Town looked to find an equaliser with Ryan tipping a powerful Mounié header over the bar.
Siewert's players continued to press forward but couldn't find a response, and it was Chris Hughton's outfit who made sure of the victory.
Town return to action in HD1 next Saturday, welcoming AFC Bournemouth to the John Smith's Stadium (9 March 2019, 3pm).
TOWN (4-1-2-1-2)
Jonas Lössl; Erik Durm, Terence Kongolo, Christopher Schindler (c), Juninho Bacuna; Jon Gorenc Stanković (Florent Hadergjonaj, 66'), Jonathan Hogg (Aaron Mooy, 40'), Philip Billing; Alex Pritchard (Elias Kachunga, 62'); Karlan Grant, Steve Mounié
UNUSED SUBS
Ben Hamer, Chris Löwe, Zanka, Matty Daly
BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION
Mathew Ryan; Bernardo, Lewis Dunk (c), Shane Duffy, Martín Montoya; Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Jose Izquierdo, 77'), Yves Bissouma (Beram Kayal, 83'), Dale Stephens, Davy Pröpper, Anthony Knockaert; Glenn Murray (Florin Andone, 56')
UNUSED SUBS
David Button, Gaetan Bong, Dan Burn, Solly March
REFEREE
Mike Dean
GATE
30,182
