One question dominated the post match inquests after Albion had lit up a grey Nottingham afternoon with their sparkling attacking work.

What chance them repeating the performance when a packed defence arrives looking to nullify them at Withdean?

The Seagulls certainly eased painful memories of their last home outing, a 4-1 thumping by Bristol City, with some gutsy defending and classy work going forward.

True, they had to weather an early storm and rode their luck too when County hit the woodwork at either end of a highly enjoyable contest.

But their swift counter attacking, with Mark Yeates so often the architect and two-goal Leon Knight the spearhead, belonged at a higher level than the division two play-off zone, which is where Mark McGhee's men now find themselves after some helpful results elsewhere.

Take the first goal. County had buzzed forward purposefully for 18 minutes, going closest when Ian Baraclough rattled the top of the crossbar from outside the box.

Then Ben Roberts, who handled the slippery ball impressively, caught a cross and kicked quickly to Chris McPhee on half way.

McPhee, who had already done his bit at the back with a key clearance from in front of goal to keep out Baraclough's looping header, took the ball down perfectly, combined with Yeates and set in motion a spell of Albion possession which only ended with Kerry Mayo's low cross being expertly flicked inside the far post by Knight from close range.

If that was a deft finishing touch, Knight's second was all about his work off the ball.

County had plenty of men back, but they all lost track of arguably the most lethal finisher in the division as he turned home a low cross from Adam El-Abd which travelled right across the goalmouth.

That assist was a sweet moment for Albion's young right back on his League debut.

Just two minutes earlier he had been adjudged to shove Darren Caskey as the former Spurs man went for a header in front of goal.

Whether for the foul or his protests, El-Abd was shown the yellow card but the delay did not put off Paul Heffernan, who sent Roberts the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Caskey, like Yeates, got forward when possible, being denied by a superb Danny Cullip challenge and a diving Roberts save as he twice bore down on goal late in the first half.

There was a bit of hanging on to do at the end too after two-mistimed tackles in the space of three minutes saw the recalled John Piercy dismissed on 85 minutes.

Danny Livesey went close to snatching a late leveller for County when his close range effort came back off the post with Roberts scrambling to get a touch.

Mayo said: "The ball came off the post but I think Ben had it covered. We defended well as a team, not just the back four. It was the whole team as a unit."

Which was the perfect platform for Yeates to spring forward as midfield sidekick Richard Carpenter played more of a holding role.

The Spurs loanee zipped precise through balls across the greasy turf to release McPhee. who shot wide, and then Knight, who let fly from an angle and saw Steve Mildenhall get down sharply to make a good save at his near post.

That was the first of three near things early in the second half as Knight looked to convert his sixth two-goal haul of the season into his first hat-trick.

An angled left-foot effort slithered just past the far post and Mildenhall blocked a full-blooded drive after scintillating attacking work between Yeates, Piercy and McPhee.

Knight said: "The gaffer told us to keep getting the ball to the wide players or Yeatesy and we should cause problems, which we did.

"We haven't had a good performance at home for a couple of weeks and we just want to get back to winning ways there.

"We've got to try to get forward quicker at home. We've got to impose what we want to do and not play how the opposition wants us to play."

Those fans who made it to Meadow Lane will certainly be calling for a repeat performance.

  • ALBION (4-4-2): Roberts (gk) 8; El-Abd (rb) 7, Cullip (cb) 8, Butters (cb) 7, Mayo (lb) 8; Piercy (rm) 7, Carpenter (cm) 7, Yeates (cm) 9, Jones (lm) 7; McPhee f) 8, Knight (m) 9. subs: Keeley, Pethick for McPhee (withdrawn 88), Harding for Yeates (withdrawn 88). Robinson, Rehman.
  • Scorer: Knight 19, 37.
  • Bookings: El-Abd (34) dissent, Jones (44) dissent, Cullip (58) time-wasting, Yeates (66) foul, Mayo (72) time-wasting, Piercy (83, 85) both fouls.
  • Sent Off: Piercy (85).
  • NOTTS CO (4-4-2): Mildenhall, Jenkins, Fenton, Livesey, Richardson; Baldry, Caskey, Baraclough, Riley; Heffernan, Platt. Subs: Garden, Stallard for Jenkins (withdrawn 66), Nicholson for Richardson (injured 85), Bolland, Francis.
  • Scorer: Heffernan (35).
  • Bookings: Caskey (39) foul, Fenton (80) foul.
  • Half-Time: Notts County 1 Albion 2.
  • Attendance: 5,051.
  • Fan's View: David Bartram (Polegate).

At last an Albion performance to be proud of!

All credit to Mark McGhee for turning an abysmal showing the week before into something positive.

It's easy to get carried away so I won't, however I believe we can build on this.

A great all-round showing from the whole team with special mentions to Mark Yeates, who showed his quality and can only get better, while John Piercy took his big chance with both hands and turned in a great 86 minutes before being harshly sent off.

Leon Knight will score a hat-trick very soon and looks like he could go on to beat Peter Ward's record, that is unless Dick Knight flogs him off in January to pay for more Falmer related expenses.