Bobby Zamora's price has already soared since Albion signed him from Bristol Rovers at the start of the season for £100,000.

Now a contender for goal of the month and a headline-catching recommendation from manager Micky Adams has bumped his value up even more.

Word has got around about Albion's wonder kid. Scouts from First and Second Division clubs flocked to Withdean on Saturday and it doesn't require genius to work out who most of them were there to see.

Bolton, for one, have their eye on the teenager taking the Third Division by storm.

An offer is bound to come in for Zamora sooner or later if his prolific form continues. The question then is will Albion accept it?

Providing the price is right they would be mad not to. Of course they would miss him, but Lee Steele is still kicking his heels on the bench and how could you argue if they multiplied their investment several times over?

That is for the future. For the moment Zamora is enjoying himself immensely and the fans are enjoying him, particularly those packing into Withdean.

Fourteen of the 15 goals he has already scored this season have been at Albion's temporary home.

They will not witness a better one than the breathtaking strike which broke the stalemate against a spirited Halifax side making a nonsense of being next-to-bottom.

There seemed little danger when former Seagull Chris Wilder miscued a clearance. As the ball dropped from the heavens, Zamora unleashed a lethal angled volley with his left foot which whizzed beyond Lee Butler.

It needed something special to end the deadlock on a pitch resembling a ploughed field in places.

As Wilder pointed out: "I thought we were comfortable up until then. We had quietened the crowd and they were getting a bit edgy.

"That goal just gave Brighton a massive lift. I would imagine it was shown on the box all weekend."

Adams is not prone to talking in superlatives. For him to say 19-year-old Zamora is a more clinical finisher than Alan Shearer was at the same age emphasises the lanky striker's massive potential.

"The boy is full of confidence at the moment," Adams said. "He showed his quality. I am very loathed to single out individuals, but that goal is as good as any you will see on the telly.

"He is playing in a decent side at this level and he is progressing nicely. The beauty about him is he knows he has got a lot to do.

"He wants to learn, he listens and he works hard. If I raise my voice it doesn't affect him. A lot of kids it does."

That last remark is significant. One of Shearer's biggest assets is his mental strength and Adams believes Zamora is from the same mould.

He used his head to double Albion's advantage early in the second half from a typically incisive Paul Watson free-kick, ten yards in from the corner flag.

For the next 20 minutes they threatened to score plenty more, but the 21 places and 27 points separating the sides were not apparent for most of the match.

Halifax, well organised and more adventurous than recent visitors, threw everything at the Seagulls once Michel Kuipers fumbled a high ball and Steve Kerrigan nodded them back into contention with 11 minutes left.

Adams had to put on Andy Crosby as an extra defender and Albion had a flurry of narrow escapes, notably when substitute Alan Reilly blazed over the crossbar.

Nathan Jones hit a post from 20 yards in the first half, but Gary Jones had several good efforts for the visitors and had he displayed Zamora-like finishing the outcome might have been different.

He missed a sitter early on, heading straight at Kuipers from six yards.

Adams said: "We knew Halifax were better than their League position suggests. A new manager (Paul Bracewell) and different ideas often spurs teams on.

"We were very tenative and lacklustre in the first half. The crowd were fairly quiet and we weren't really at it.

"I asked them to pick the tempo up and for half an hour in the second half we totally dominated, but we gave a sloppy goal away and that gave them a bit of heart.

"But for some people laying their bodies on the line at the end it could have been different."

For Halifax and Wilder in particular it was a case of deja vu. They felt aggrieved when Zamora again scored twice and they lost a stormy affair by the same score at Withdean last season.

The gripe this time was the free-kick awarded for a foul on Charlie Oatway which led to Zamora's clinching goal.

"We were very disappointed with that," Wilder said. "We know Brighton are a dangerous side, especially from set pieces. Micky works a lot on free-kicks.

"Our manager went in to see the ref, so there might be a fine on the cards for the second season running."