Albion v Forest: Blow by blow

Inside the opening minute Brooker had turned smartly away from Thompson and Reid to find Zamora inside the Forest box.

His first touch took him away from goal and Rougier's ensuing shot was blocked.

There was an early indication of the threat posed by Forest's frontrunners as Huckerby showed a clean pair of heels to Watson down the left wing.

Cullip eventually tidied up the situation for the Seagulls.

Albion also forced a couple of corners in quick succession in a bright opening by both sides.

Brooker easily eluded Thompson on the left-hand side of the Forest penalty area, only to completely miscue the ball towards touch on the far side of the pitch.

Williams, who bagged Forest's last minute equaliser against Grimsby, almost got himself into trouble on the edge of his own box by dwelling in possession as Rougier and Rodger challenged.

Albion, playing at a lively tempo, were certainly giving the visitors plenty to think about.

Beasant had little to bother him in the initial exchanges, although he backtracked watchfully as Cullip headed Ward's huge clearance over his own crossbar.

Ingimarsson defended well against the pace of Huckerby on a couple of occasions as Forest struggled to find any attacking rhythm.

Albion were rewarded for their bright start with a 16th-minute goal by Brooker which owed much to Zamora's speed of thought.

His quickly taken free kick on the left, midway inside Forest's territory, caught the Nottingham defence unawares.

Brooker, latching on to Zamora's pass in between defenders, calmly slotted his third goal in the last five home games past Ward from ten yards.

Albion's effervescent approach was unrelenting and they almost doubled their advantage five minutes after Brooker's deadlock-breaker.

A move started inside his own half by Blackwell continued via Rougier and Zamora.

The ball then broke for Carpenter to unleash a fierce drive from 30 yards which Welsh international Ward parried for a corner, diving to his left.

The first real evidence of Forest as a forward force came midway through the half, Johnson heading well wide from Brennan's cross towards the near post.

Superb individual skill by Zamora nearly stretched the Seagulls' lead a couple of minutes later.

He flicked the ball over first one Forest defender then another before Ward smothered at his feet.

Williams demonstrated quick feet at the other end before ruining his approach work by screwing his shot harmlessly wide.

The game was not going according to plan from the visitors' perspective. Their frustration was epitomised by a lecture for Huckerby from referee Richard Beeby for something he said.

Little had been seen so far of Harewood, who scored against Albion at the City Ground and four times in the first half recently against fellow toilers Stoke.

Mayo was watching him closely and the Seagulls stalwart did enough to perturb Harewood into a tame effort straight at Beasant from ten yards.

The woodwork denied Albion in the 33rd minute at the finish of another neat move.

Zamora chested a cross back into the path of Carpenter, whose piledriver from 20 yards crashed against the crossbar with Ward clutching air.

Forest seemed ill at ease with their 4-4-3 system and Albion were finding plenty of space.

The hungry Carpenter launched a thrilling counter-raid following a Forest corner.

Rougier and the marauding Mayo were also involved in a build-up which ended with Carpenter firing over the bar from outside the box.

Just about the only thing Forest were winning at this stage was the corner count.

Albion were producing one of their most fluent first-half performances of the season, the scoreline doing minimal justice to their superiority.

Forest have been known to pass opponents off the pitch but they were the ones being given a chasing as half-time approached.

An aimless pass from deep by Dawson, which sailed over the head of Harewood, was indicative of the way the match had panned out.

Albion finally came under some pressure in the closing stages of the half as Forest enjoyed a spell of possession and forced a flurry of corners.

French fullback Louis-Jean, supporting a patient move, struck a right-foot shot from 20 yards which the diving Beasant did well to divert one-handed for a corner.

It was a rare glimpse of danger for Albion in a half which they primarily dominated.

Zamora was being watched once more by Glenn Hoddle.

The Spurs chief must have been impressed with the first-half performance of Albion's leading marksman.

There was surely better to come from Forest after such a lacklustre showing.

They produced a more purposeful sortie at the start of the second half, Harewood's cross-shot from Williams' pass through the inside right channel just eluding Johnson at the near post.

When they were not in possession, Albion were working extremely hard to hurry Forest out of their measured stride.

Rodger, a cultured player when he has the ball, was particularly prominent in this respect.

The subdued Johnson headed harmlessly into the side netting from a left-wing cross by Reid, with Beasant comfortably covering his near post.

Beasant, who had four seasons at Forest, had to be on his guard moments later to gather a dangerous low cross by Harewood.

Albion were penned inside their own half for a period as Forest began to exert some authority without suggesting an equaliser was imminent.

The Seagulls were looking frugal at the back once more, with Ingimarsson particularly impressive.

Coppell, sensing the pattern of the contest was changing, introduced the energetic Hart up front for Rougier.

Forest responded to the substitution by the Seagulls by bringing on Hjelde for Thompson.

The Norwegian took up his customary position at the heart of the defence, with Scimeca moving forward into the middle of midfield.

Albion survived strong penalty appeals when Johnson got goalside of Cullip and seemed to be bundled over by the Albion captain.

Referee Beeby was well placed and kept his hands firmly behind his back.

Albion were now being forced to play counter-attacking football, more in the manner of an away side.

Brooker and Zamora beat the offside trap from Carpenter's clip over the top, but the former's resulting curler was grabbed by Ward.

Brooker then flashed a low drive just wide from outside the area before the Seagulls survived another spot-kick scare.

Johnson was brought down when Harewood threaded him through. Referee Beeby initially awarded a penalty but had not spotted his linesman flagging that Johnson was offside and he eventually awarded Albion a free kick.

Zamora could have put the issue beyond doubt as Albion broke rapidly from a Forest corner.

Hart made progress before releasing Zamora inside the area but his shot was blocked for a corner by Ward.

Johnson's miserable afternoon was completed a couple of minutes later when he was replaced by Lester.