Brighton and Hove Albion lead Blackburn Rovers 1-0 against the run of play at half time in their Championship clash at Falmer Stadium.

After kickoff was delayed by 15 minutes due to a crash at Shoreham Airshow, Blackburn started brightly and nearly took the lead inside the first minute when Bengali-Fode Koita's low drive from the edge of the box was smartly saved by David Stockdale.

Rovers continued to press and came close again when debutant Tom Lawrence played in Craig Conway, whose low shot was deflected behind for a corner.

Conway had an even better chance a minute later but was denied well by Stockdale after he was played clean through on goal by a fine Danny Guthrie pass.

Albion slowly began to creep into the game and had their first effort after 26 minutes when Dale Stephens dragged a shot just wide of the post from the edge of the box.

Blackburn did not heed the warning sign and were punished when Kazenga LuaLua blasted home from the edge of the box via a deflection off Grant Hanley to give the home side the lead against the run of play.