If Albion achieve another promotion it is unlikely to be with quite the same comfort as last season.

There were still six games to go when they went up from Division Three. This stirring stalemate, in which Swindon warranted their share of the spoils, offered further evidence of how tight the Second Division is.

There is little to choose between the top six or seven, or even between top and bottom. Swindon are not the only side from the lower reaches to have given the Seagulls a good run for their money.

To have lost only once away from home by December is in itself a remarkable feat. Interestingly that lone defeat came at Northampton, who are currently looking up at the rest.

Albion have also been held by two more of the bottom four, Cambridge United and Notts County. Bury, another of the strugglers, are up next.

It's a division in which no result can be taken for granted and Peter Taylor's table-toppers were perhaps unfortunate to catch Swindon three days after they had been trounced 4-0 at Queens Park Rangers.

Taylor said: "You are always going to get a big test, especially against a team playing on the rebound of a poor result. They tried to get some of their pride back.

"In the weeks ahead I think we will probably be saying it was a good draw."

Albion are fast becoming draw specialists away from Withdean. This was their sixth, a statistic matched only by Oldham.

Draw away and win at home and you win promotion. Two points per game is the aim and Albion are smack on that target at the moment.

If they can keep solid and keep Bobby Zamora there is no reason why it cannot continue.

Zamora's phenomenal run was maintained by another ice-cool finish on the quarter-hour mark.

A long clearance by Michel Kuipers left him clean through the middle and Bart Griemink stranded in no man's land. He scored for the seventh match on the trot with a clinical lob.

The puzzling thing about Zamora's 16th goal of the season from a Swindon perspective was what on earth happened to their trio of central defenders. Neil Ruddock, Matthew Heywood and Andy Gurney were nowhere to be seen.

Boss Roy Evans came up with a freak explanation for what he called a freak goal. He said: "The ball moved in the air and beat everybody."

Albion appeared bound for three points at that stage, but they rather lost their way as an attacking force after that until a late flurry.

Danny Cullip produced a defender's finish when a Paul Watson corner found him in space at the far post. The want-away stopper fired over and into the 3,000 travelling fans who ensured Swindon enjoyed their biggest crowd of the campaign.

Gary Hart also had a shot deflected narrowly over the bar, by which time he had resumed as a right winger instead of a central striker.

Taylor shuffled his pack with the return to leftback from illness of Kerry Mayo. Robbie Pethick was retained on the right side of midfield and Lee Steele relegated to the bench.

It was not an afternoon Pethick will recall with much relish. Twice in the first half he was on the wrong end of a tongue-lashing from the ever-determined Cullip.

He also played a part in Swindon's 58th minute equaliser, although Taylor felt Kuipers was more culpable.

The big Dutchman, responsible for a rare howler which gifted Peterborough a point 72 hours earlier, chose to throw the ball to Watson at a time when Albion were coming under mounting pressure.

Pethick then lost possession to Wayne Carlisle and his low, left-wing cross was swept in from close range by Eric Sabin.

It made up for a first-half miss by the Frenchman. He lacked Zamora's composure when put clear and Kuipers made a good block.

Poor Pethick, booked a minute earlier for a high challenge, was substituted by Steele, making his 50th Albion appearance, a minute later.

Evans said of the Seagulls: "They came to do a job and were very professional about it. They got a goal, then said you have got to come and beat us now, and we took up that mantle.

"They have got quality and consistency, so you have got to give them credit."

Albion were a little too cautious once ahead, although as Taylor pointed out it was often misplaced passes which presented Swindon with opportunities to press.

"The positive things were the way we performed at times and the way we looked solid,"he said.

"The negative was that we gave the ball away cheaply on occasions, which I felt then set Swindon up on their attacks.

"Our fans were even better than at Bristol City, which I didn't think was possible. I'm just delighted we got something for them.

"They saw a good, honest performance with some good things and some frustrating things, but they know the lads always give everything they have got."