The best teams in the country don't just have the best players, they also work tremendously hard.

It is a quality all too rarely appreciated but sheer endeavour was the essence of Albion's most notable scalp of the season.

Perspiration, allied to a moment of inspiration from Bobby Zamora, sentenced Forest to their first defeat in ten in the League and gave the Seagulls the best possible start to a stern sequence of fixtures.

John McGovern marshalled the midfield in the no-frills Nottingham team guided by Brian Clough to European and domestic glory.

McGovern, now a local radio pundit, appreciated the same kind of unity of spirit in the Albion camp which made Clough's side of no obvious stars such a success.

"They worked exceptionally hard," he said. "That was the first thing you noticed about them.

"Everyone was helping each other out. It was a tremendous team effort and they deserved to win.

"In the first half people like Brooker were causing Forest problems by breaking quickly from midfield areas.

"Carpenter is another one that gets on the end of things and Rodger helped out brilliantly when they were under pressure at the back.

"They all played well. There was nobody who had a bad game for Brighton."

Richard Carpenter epitomised Albion's vibrant performance.

The 3-2 defeat at Forest in November was one of only two matches he has not started this season. His contribution often goes unnoticed, but not by boss Steve Coppell.

"He is a very important player for us, our unsung hero," Coppell said. "He does that stabilising role in midfield.

"He covers a million miles and doesn't often get an opportunity to impress. With a little bit of luck he could have scored three or four with some terrific striking."

In the space of 13 minutes in the first half, Carpenter forced Darren Ward into a diving save from 30 yards, crashed another long-range shot against the crossbar and a third just over the bar.

"Nothing changes with my game week in and week out," he said. "You apply yourself in the right way and keep doing the right things.

"It was a big result for us and it shows we are not afraid of anybody coming to Withdean, considering the quality in their side.

"It's just a shame things didn't go so well earlier in the season, because the same application was there. We've got nine games to go now and every one is a cup final for us."

Albion had already scored the decisive goal when Carpenter embarked on his shooting spree.

Zamora's quick free-kick caught the Forest defence off guard and Brooker showed admirable calmness to slot his fifth of the campaign past Ward.

It became a different sort of display in the second half as Forest, fielding a three-man attack of David Johnson, Marlon Harewood and Darren Huckerby with 43 goals between them, predictably perked up a bit.

Danny Cullip, as inspirational as ever, was a little fortunate not to concede a penalty when he appeared to bundle over Johnson.

Ref Richard Beeby also changed his mind after awarding a spot-kick when Johnson went down again inside the area. He had not noticed his assistant flagging that Forest's 24-goal marksman was offside.

Andy Reid cracked a shot against the crossbar Carpenter style as well in the closing stages, but Albion deserved the little bit of luck that went their way.

Dave Beasant, approaching his 44th birthday, was so well protected from Forest's prolific forward trio that he had little bother in stretching his unbeaten record at Withdean to five minutes short of five hours.

It was in fact a fullback, Frenchman Matthieu Louis-Jean, who forced Beasant into his only serious stop with a well-struck effort just before the break as Albion defended their lead superbly.

There were monumental performances all over the pitch, but my man of the match was Ivar Ingimarsson. He hardly gave Huckerby a kick.

Coppell said: "We worked hard for it, it wasn't just dumped in our lap. We prepared hard for the game and knew what we were going to do.

"They are a quality side. They had not been beaten since December in the League, which shows what they are all about.

"Our performance had a little bit of everything. We created some good opportunities and dug in when we had to."

That December defeat for Forest was at Sheffield Wednesday and they also only drew at home to Grimsby last Monday.

Manager Paul Hart may reflect that such poor results against the strugglers have cost them a chance of automatic promotion.

"It was a disappointing result and a disappointing performance," he admitted. "The goal was vital for them and we were sleeping.

"We came here to win, but we were ordinary all over the park. I thought Brighton deserved to win."

  • Albion (3-4-1-2): Beasant gk) 7; Mayo (lwb) 8, Cullip (cd) 8, Blackwell (cd) 8, Ingimarsson (cd) 9, Watson (rwb) 7; Brooker (m) 8, Carpenter (m) 8, Rodger (m) 8; Rougier (f) 6, Zamora (f) 8. Subs: Hart for Rougier (withdrawn, 64), Jones for Watson (withdrawn 87), Oatway for Brooker (withdrawn 90), Packham, Barrett.
  • Scorers: Brooker (16).
  • Bookings: None.
  • Forest (4-3-3): Ward; Louis-Jean, Brennan, Scimeca, Huckerby, Williams, Johnson, Harewood, Thompson, Dawson, Reid. Subs: Hjelde for Thompson (withdrawn 65), Lester for Johnson (withdrawn 77), Roche, Doig, Jess.
  • Bookings: None.
  • Half-Time: Albion 1 Forest 0.
  • Attendance: 6,830.
  • Fan's View: Terry Trumpess (Worthing).

An excellent game, the team worked hard for this result.

A piece of Zamora magic created an early goal for Paul Brooker and Brighton were the better team for the rest of the game.

If they continue to play with this determination they will definitely avoid the drop.

Well done Steve Coppell.