Micky Adams continued his squad rotation policy for Albion's centenary fixture against their South Coast rivals.

He made two changes to the team which snatched a last gasp eleventh straight home win in the League at Withdean on Tuesday to return to the top of the table.

Nathan Jones was preferred to Kerry Mayo at leftback and Paul Brooker replaced Geoff Pitcher in the free role behind the strikers.

Bournemouth, pulverised 6-0 at Peterborough on Tuesday, made only one change as manager Sean O'Driscoll offered his players an opportunity to redeem their reputations.

A recurrence of calf trouble ruled out Scottish under 21 international Richard Hughes, so James Ford came into the midfield.

Holmes and Watson were in opposition on the pitch, but you did not need to be a detective to appreciate that this was a special occasion for the Seagulls.

A carnival band entertained another sell-out crowd before the kick-off as Albion celebrated 100 years of football.

Before kick-off hotshot Bobby Zamora was presented with the PFA Fans' Division 3 Player of the Year Trophy for last season by former Albion forward Denis Foreman.

And there was also a bottle of bubbly for Zamora's strike partner Lee Steele, the Seagulls' Player of the Month for August.

Shortly before the players came out a giant Albion flag was paraded in the centre of the pitch.

The £2,000 flag, organised and paid for by contributors to the North Stand Chat website, is being dedicated to Robert Eaton.

Albion fan Eaton was among the thousands of victims in the terrorist atrocities in New York.

Albion: Michel Kuipers; Paul Watson, Danny Cullip, Simon Morgan, Paul Rogers, Charlie Oatway, Paul Brooker, Richard Carpenter, Lee Steele, Nathan Jones, Bobby Zamora. Subs: Mayo, Pitcher, Hart, Wicks, Pethick.

Bournemouth: Gareth Stewart; Stephen Purches, Eddie Howe, Warren Feeney, Shaun Maher, Carl Fletcher, James Hayter, Wade Elliott, Jason Tindall, James Ford, Derek Holmes. Subs: Eribenne, O'Connor, Menetrier, Broadhurst, Stock.

Referee: Mr P. Taylor (Cheshunt).