Lewis Dunk marched towards the North Stand, waved his arms and clenched his fists to whip up the cheering hordes.

Then he did it again and again.

And in front of the West. And one big punch of the air as he went down the tunnel.

Other players clapped and thanked the fans.

Florin Andone, scorer of a goal those who saw it will cherish for years, offered a slightly sheepish little wave as he was roared off. But he was all smiles.

And then Yves Bissouma might just have capped it all.

The Bissouma song, to the tune of Tequila, boomed out as the Mali midfielder was the last to leave the field.

He lapped it up, punched the air, and then embarked on a little jig which the fans loved.

He was still dancing as he disappeared backwards down the tunnel and out of sight.

It was that sort of night for Albion. Mad. And one to relish.

After all, these derby wins don’t come along very often.

And one on which to salute maybe unlikely heroes.

Who would have thought Albion would be 3-0 up at the break having lost Shane Duffy to a red card and Glenn Murray to injury.

Cometh the hour still to play, cometh the men off the bench.

Leon Balogun, sent on tor replace Duffy but doing a good impression of Murray as he swung into a right-foot finish from the corner which followed the Duffy dismissal which followed a penalty claim by Murray.

Albion scored that with nine men. Murray, who went down in the incident, was still standing on the sidelines having received attention.

And then Andone. With Albion trying not to see their lead clipped to 2-1 in added time and suddenly flying at 3-0.

Questionable defending by James Tomkins? Yes, of course. Then again, not many goals are scored against great defending.

Andone frightened the life out of the centre-back with his pace and desire, was a nuisance to an already rattled opponent and then did the hard part.

The Romanian first came to the attention of many Albion fans playing in a LaLiga Santander match for Deportivo La Coruna against Real Madrid.

That was about the time the Seagulls were first in for him so fans tuned in to see what he could do.

He terrorised Sergio Ramos and company that night – but failed to finish chances when he was clean through.

This time he was unerring. As his work-rate in the second half was unwavering.

The summer signings took their time to make an impact this season.

Chris Hughton was happy to bide his time in introducing them.

But they were part of a massive effort here – one to match the 3-0 of 2013 in which David Lopez, the VIP guest last night, scored his famous free-kick.

The new boys have arrived. And one of Albion’s own led the way as the party started.