Albion suffered a second home defeat of the season as West Ham's Kevin Nolan beat an old mate tonight.

Nolan rifled a terrific finish past his former Newcastle colleague Steve Harper on 17 minutes to give West Ham a 1-0 success at The Amex.

The midfielder struck after nicking the ball off Liam Bridcutt as Albion looked to build from the back.

That goal punctured self confidence from an encouraging start by the Seagulls but they almost levelled on half-time when Manuel Almunia did well to parry a Craig Mackail-Smith volley.

Albion had a lot of possession and territory in the second half as they attacked towards the North Stand.

They won a series of corners – but never really looked like dragging themselves level.

Their misery was compounded when Gary Dicker was stretchered off with what looked a serious injury in the closing stages.