Port Vale 0 Albion 1

They were soon singing the name of Gary Hart, who broke his left leg in Albion's previous away game at Peterborough.

The home fans were in humorous mood as well. They followed chants of 'we've got an England international' by yelling to Horton 'you should have stayed with a big club'.

Morgan was making possibly not only his last appearance for Albion but also of an illustrious career, much of it spent with Fulham.

The veteran stopper's right knee has been giving him problems and he will make a decision on his future in the next couple of weeks.

Morgan was evidently determined to produce yet another faultless display.

He cut out a cross from McPhee after the Vale striker got the better of Mayo.

Morgan then got another block in when Carragher worked a one-two with Stephen Brooker.

Albion forced four corners in the opening quarter of an hour, three of them in quick succession, but they came to nothing.

McClare had his name taken in the 17th minute for a deliberate handball midway inside his own half.

Walsh was given a stern lecture by referee Mike Ryan moments later for an over-robust tackle on Paul Brooker halfway inside the Albion half.

Packham had little to do in the first quarter of the contest apart from gathering a poorly struck shot by Stephen Brooker.

Zamora, scorer of the only goal when the sides met at Withdean in November, launched Albion's first real threat when he clipped a delightful diagonal pass to Paul Brooker in space down the right.

Jones, supporting inside, took advantage of a kind ricochet off a Vale defender and Goodlad had to rush off his line to smother bravely at the feet of the Welshman.

It was a competent pice of goalkeeping by Goodlad, voted Vale's player of the season.

Mayo, the only survivor of Horton's reign as Albion manager in the absence of Hart, caused the home defence some anxiety with a long throw.

It was eventually flicked on by Zamora for Gray to have a shot on the turn deflected over the bar by Ingram.

An uneventful first half exploded into life on 34 minutes when Vale striker Stephen Brooker was sent off.

It all started with his partner McPhee off the pitch receiving treatment for a wack on the nose.

Brooker caught Carpenter with a nasty challenge moments later, sparking an ugly melee involving most of the players from both sides.

Once everybody had calmed down, referee Ryan consulted with his assistants before showing a red card to Brooker to a crescendo of boos from home supporters.

Carpenter collected a caution shortly after for a deliberate handball and then had a free-kick from outside the area turned behind by the agile Goodlad after it had taken a deflection.

Vale were temporarily disrupted by their numerical disadvantage and Albion almost capitalised.

Gray got goal side of Burton, only to tread on the ball 12 yards out.

Vale fans applauded in ironic fashion when referee Ryan penalised Oatway for a challenge inside his own half. They clearly felt their team had been on the wrong end of a number of dubious decisions.

Gray failed to score during three games on loan to Vale and he managed to clear the stand with a shot from long range set up by Zamora.

Half-time: Port Vale 0 Albion 0.

Early into the restart Walsh made an important tackle to foil Gray as he threatened to latch on to a through ball from Jones.

Gray scored on his debut for Albion at Colchester and he was clearly eager for his second goal for the club.

He beat Goodlad to a cross to the near post from Brooker but could not keep his header down.

Vale made a change nine minutes into the restart, Byrne coming on for McClare.

Walsh was booked a minute later for a foul on Zamora as the Albion marksman tried to make progress through the inside right channel.

Albion were trying hard to make the extra man count against a disciplined Vale defence.

Mayo evaded Cummins to deliver a deep cross which Zamora chested away from Ingram, but there was enough cover to nullify the threat.

The Seagulls introduced Lee for Carpenter in the centre of the Park on 63 minutes.

Carpenter's growing influence during the promotion run-in was acknowledged with a warm ovation, together with handshakes from several of his colleagues and from Taylor as he left the pitch.

Zamora had two chances to add to his season's tally in as many minutes.

He was airborne when he could not steer a right foot volley on target from a Brooker cross, then another right foot effort flew narrowly high and wide from Gray's pull-back.

Dead ball expert Watson made the breakthrough for Albion in glorious fashion with 18 minutes left.

He curved a free-kick from the right hand edge of the area with his left foot over the diving Goodlad into the far corner of the net.

Watson's previous four goals this season were all at Withdean. His last on the road was at Aldershot in the F.A. Cup in November 2000.

This one was worth the wait and prompted police to line-up in front of Albion's travelling army in case their celebrations spilled on to the pitch.

Vale responded by introducing Birchall for Brisco, while Rogers came on at the expense of Gray for the Seagulls.