Craig Noone fired Albion ahead at Millwall tonight - but they had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Noone appeared at the far post to emphatically volley home a Craig Mackail-Smith cross on 61 minutes.

But Jay Simpson surprised most of a crowd of 11,688 by firing Millwall level from long range on 81 minutes, just when they seemed to have run out of ideas.

It was ultimately a disappointing scoreline for the Seagulls, who had to weather first-half pressure but also wasted a penalty.

Albion demoted regular penalty taker Ashley Barnes to the bench so Ryan Harley took spot-kick duties after Mackail-Smith was fouled by Paul Robinson on 18 minutes.

Harley, restored to the side as one of three changes, strolled up and tried to make David Forde commit to a dive before guiding the ball past him.

But he got the execution all wrong and presented the home keeper with an easy save.

If that was a major reprieve for the Lions, there were also plenty of let-offs for the Seagulls.

The biggest came on 33 minutes when Casper Ankergren somehow clawed out a Robinson header and Tamika Mkandawire fired the rebound over from point-blank range.

Liam Trotter headed another easy chance past the post soon after.

Darius Henderson was guilty of a bad miss early on and Simpson fired a terrific volley just past the upright.

There were fewer chances after the break but Harley had already tested Forde from 25 yards when Noone struck to delight the 1,820 away fans.

Millwall looked devoid of ideas and inspiration until Simpson let fly from about 30 yards and caught Ankergren badly by surprise.