Stoke moved out of the first division relegation zone as they beat Brighton 1-0 in a crucial six-pointer at the Britannia Stadium.
The first real chance fell to Brighton in the 22nd minute when a well-taken corner by Richard Carpenter on the right curled over the top of the Stoke defence and was met by Danny Cullip but he could not manage to direct his header on target.
Stoke had a chance of their own six minutes later when, after a scrappy corner, Dave Beasant punched the ball to James O'Connor who struck a superb 25-yard drive that skipped just past the post.
The Seagulls thought they had taken the lead just before the break when Bobby Zamora found Tony Rougier who fired the ball past Steve Banks only for the linesman to rule him to be offside.
Substitute Frazer Richardson made an impression straight away in the 51st minute when his pacy run down the right wing took him past two defenders but his shot let him down when he could only roll the ball gently past Beasant's left-hand post.
After constant pressure the Potters finally got what they deserved in the 82nd minute when Lewis Neal broke down the left before whipping the ball across the face of the goal for Chris Greenacre who stormed in and bundled the ball over the line from two yards.
Brighton boss Steve Coppell said: "I thought we had done the lion's share of the work and it looked like being a 0-0 but we ended up walking away with nothing.
"We have not got a lot of time to pull ourselves together for our next match but that's what tests you at these times."