By Tim Hodges
Nottingham Forest 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 1
The Albion conceded a late equaliser at the City Ground this afternoon and it was ex-Seagull Joel Lynch who restored parity.
Brighton went in front after Vicente Rodriguez floated in a free kick and Welsh international striker Sam Vokes glanced a header past Lee Camp, in the Forest goal.
Vokes started up front as Craig Mackail-Smith was omitted from the squad, which has suffered in recent days from a sickness virus.
Albion’s most creative and attacking force was once again Vicente, providing the ammunition for Vokes on more than one occasion.
Forest themselves hit the post three times in the second half, with Adlene Guedioura’s shot, from distance, rebounding to safety off the woodwork.
Then from a free kick Andy Reid’s fearsome drive hit Peter Brezovan’s upright and was again cleared by the Seagulls defence.
The pivotal moment for Albion was the sending off of midfielder Matt Sparrow in the last minutes. Sparrow had only come on to the pitch just after half time.
There were a few goalmouth scrambles in Brezovan’s six-yard box in a frantic last few minutes.
Lynch saw his shot hit the foot of the post and go out for a corner. Minutes late a speculative punt into the box saw Lynch slide the ball under Brezovan and he wheeled away in delight.
It was almost identical to when the two teams met at the Amex in early December, the crucial goal coming with virtually the final kick of the match.
