If Albion are going to survive in the Championship this season they need to be on their game from the first whistle to the last.

They cannot afford to perform for only 45 minutes, certainly not against sides with the sort of strength in depth Norwich possess.

The Canaries had an enviable hat-trick of strikers unavailable to them through injury in Dean Ashton, Leon McKenzie and Peter Thorne.

All the more galling then that the Seagulls, for the first time in defeat this season, pressed the self-destruct button.

This was worse than the previous home reverses by the top two, Sheffield United and Reading, and the solitary away setback at Hull.

Against Neil Warnock's table-toppers three weeks ago they also paid the price for a poor first half but they offered more of a helping hand on this occasion to Norwich's makeshift front line.

Playing and, in particular, defending as badly as Albion did in the opening 45 minutes was a recipe for disaster against Delia Smith's boys.

Darren Huckerby has enough speed to panic even the soundest of back fours, so quite why the Seagulls risked an offside trap is hard to fathom.

Hands were raised, more in hope than expectation, in the 22nd minute when a pass from Moroccan international Youssef Safri released Huckerby through the inside left channel.

There was no chance of playing catch-up as he calmly found the net, via the far post, with a precise right-foot finish.

To give a team like Norwich a goal start was careless, to give them a two-goal cushion tantamount to suicide.

Dean Marney had already sneaked in behind Kerry Mayo to both head then volley wide when Calum Davenport aimed a free-kick from deep in the general direction of the on-loan Tottenham midfielder four minutes before the break.

Mayo failed to cut it out and Marney squared for the diminutive Paul McVeigh to end a 14-month drought with the easiest of goals to add to the one he scored on Norwich's only previous visit to Withdean in August 2002.

Manager Mark McGhee admitted: "The two goals were diabolical. There wasn't any ploy to play offside, I think they (the defence) were just caught square and Guy (Butters) was a little bit deep.

"The boys were saying Lisbie was offside. I didn't actually see that, all I saw was Darren Huckerby running through and I knew he wasn't offside. We should have been dropping back in and defending it and we just got caught a bit flat-footed."

McGhee's summary of McVeigh's deficit-doubler was brief and to the point. "Kerry shouted it was his ball, he missed it and they scored a simple goal."

The way Albion conceded was not the only aspect which upset McGhee in the first half. "We were 11 individuals, not a team," he said. "We know we have not got enough ability to play as individuals, we cannot rely on two or three players to win us any game. We need to be a unit.

"Darren Huckerby will expose any defence for pace, not just at this level but in the Premier League. He is one of the quickest in the country, so we are not embarrassed by that.

"The major problem was that we didn't get hold of the ball or keep the ball. In recent weeks we have been carrying the game to the opposition by passing and by our wingers running with the ball. In the first half the two wingers didn't take part in the game."

Albert Jarrett only took part in the second half for a few minutes before Alexandre Frutos replaced him. The simultaneous introductions shortly afterwards of Jake Robinson and Gary Hart also perked Albion up.

With fellow Frenchman Sebastien Carole increasingly influential on the opposite wing, Frutos halved the arrears midway through in memorable manner.

The left-winger signed on a free transfer from Metz fired in his first goal for the club with a rising left-foot drive from the edge of the area.

Yet another draw looked a distinct possibility until another soft goal with five minutes left killed off the fightback.

Substitute Ian Henderson, latching on to McVeigh's pass on the break, evaded Paul Reid rather too comfortably inside the box to clinch the improving Canaries' third win in four with a curling effort which his namesake Wayne got a hand to but could not keep out.

Reid, not the first or last player to be given a torrid afternoon by Huckerby, had by then switched to leftback. In fairness to the Australian, he has been Albion's most consistent player and his natural position is in midfield.

Henderson was fortunate to still be on the pitch. Within minutes of replacing the injured Safri for the second half he caught Mayo with a late tackle, which angered the Albion servant sufficiently to grab him around the midrift.

Referee Phil Joslin must not have seen Henderson's little kick at Mayo as the pair parted, otherwise he would surely have been issued with a red card instead of yellow.

Spectators in the North Stand did, so it was also foolish and provocative of Henderson to later move towards them in celebrating his first goal in nearly two years.

The second half display gave McGhee some encouragement going into another international break. "We played a lot better," he said. "We got hold of the ball and caused them a few problems.

"Seb got on the ball, Alexandre came on and at least kept possession and scored a terrific goal but if you start the way we did against a team like Norwich you are going to lose."

  • Albion (4-4-2): Henderson 7; Reid 5, McShane 6, Butters 6, Mayo 5; Carole 6, Oatway 6, Hammond 6, Jarrett 5; Knight 7, Kazim-Richards 6. Subs: Frutos 7 for Jarrett (withdrawn 54), Hart 6 for Oatway (withdrawn 58), Robinson 6 for Mayo (withdrawn 58), Blayney, Elphick.
  • Norwich (4-3-1-2): Green; Colin, Doherty, Davenport, Drury; Marney, Safri, Hughes; McVeigh; Lisbie, Huckerby. Subs: I. Henderson for Safri (injured 46), Brennan for Marney (injured 58), Charlton for Huckerby (injured 82), Fleming, Ward.
  • Matchfacts
  • - Shots on goal: Albion 2, Norwich 4.

- Shots off goal: Albion 7, Norwich 9.

- Corners: Albion 8, Norwich 4.

- Offside: Albion 2, Norwich 7.

- Free-kicks: Albion 6, Norwich 12.

  • Albion bookings: Jarrett (14) foul, Kazim-Richards (20) foul.
  • Norwich bookings: I. Henderson (50) foul, McVeigh (88) dissent.
  • Albion scorer: Frutos (68).
  • Norwich Scorers: Huckerby (22), McVeigh (41), I. Henderson (85)