Albion skipper shows nerves of steel

Dean Hammond's January departure to Colchester was a blow for Albion but they have a pretty good replacement in Nicky Forster.

Not in positional terms, of course. Steve Thomson has the task of filling Hammond's boots in central midfield but Forster has taken over as captain and now as penalty taker as well.

He was put on the spot in the final minute when Orient midfielder Adam Chambers, averting no obvious danger, stupidly stuck out a hand.

Forster did not disappoint. Even somebody with his considerable experience must have felt a little twitchy after 13 games without a goal but he did not show it.

Orient goalkeeper Glenn Morris was calmly sent the wrong way and Albion got the very least they deserved, although they would only have themselves to blame for profligate finishing if they had been beaten.

The Seagulls had not been awarded a penalty since Hammond, normally deadly from 12 yards, converted in the FA Cup replay against Cheltenham in November. Forster was an obvious candidate, although a team-mate past and present also had a strong case.

"I have taken penalties at Reading," Forster revealed. "Matt Richards, funnily enough, was the penalty-taker at Ipswich.

"There was a chat about it, about who fancied it. After 13 games without a goal I don't know if I fitted into that bracket but on the pitch we quickly established who was confident, who wanted it.

"There weren't a lot of takers so I put myself up and I would do it again as well."

That is the sort of steely determination and desire to lead by example in tight situations which you need from your skipper, a stark contrast to the bizarre behaviour of William Gallas at the end of that drama-filled draw for Arsenal at Birmingham nine days ago.

Nobody will have been more relieved to see Forster keep his cool than his partner, Glenn Murray. The finishing which yielded four goals in his previous four home starts deserted Albion's £300,000 purchase from Rochdale.

A week earlier Murray latched onto Richards' pass and rounded the Oldham goalkeeper to finish in style. He had two similar opportunities, one in each half, without the same lethal outcome.

Put clear in the first half by Sean Thornton's misplaced pass, Murray was forced wide as he rounded Morris and the keeper was back in position to parry Dean Cox's ensuing shot.

Murray again passed up the opportunity to shoot after the break when he dispossessed Sam Oji and rounded Morris once more. Running out of room, he instead fed Forster, who fired wide.

Murray might have scored with a couple of first-half headers as well from crosses by Cox but he should not feel too guilty. He has still made a very encouraging start to his Albion career and was at least getting in the right positions to score.

Finishing things off is often the hardest bit of all. Just ask Michael Owen, so wasteful for Newcastle against Blackburn, or for that matter Forster.

He must have thought his drought was going to end on the stroke of half-time when a slide-rule pass from Dean Bowditch released him. At least Forster got his shot away from a narrow angle after evading the busy Morris but Oji blocked on the line.

That was Bowditch's best moment of an otherwise frustrating afternoon. He was another of the missed chances culprits, lobbing clumsily over early on when well placed and then lacking conviction with a header from another Cox centre which Morris saved with relative comfort.

The Seagulls looked like paying for their generosity in front of goal when Jabo Ibehre, who rejected a move to Withdean 18 months ago, made swift amends for a glaring miss from seven yards by guiding in a header from Jason Demetriou's cross ten minutes from time.

Dean Wilkins will not be happy with the goal, because it emanated from a corner which Morris caught to launch a quick counter-attack.

Nor was he happy with Albion losing their way in the second half, although the pursuit of a play-off place remains very much alive.

It would have been even more feasible if Tommy Elphick's injury time header from a corner by Bowditch's replacement, Jake Robinson, had not been cleared off the line by John Terry's brother, Paul.

Wilkins said: "We are even closer now than we were before the game, six points off with three games in hand, so we are well in touch. That makes it even more frustrating we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had.

"We've been slowly but surely growing as a side again with all the changes we've had. We have started to get a better understanding and for a large part looked fairly solid. Orient didn't have many opportunities.

"There were lots of positives but we have ambitions to get right in amongst those play-off spots and have to be stronger with ourselves and at the very least get those shots away."

Albion cannot afford such benevolence tomorrow night against a Gillingham side fighting for their lives and fresh from consecutive clean sheets, especially with such a tough and hectic programme to come in the rest of March.

If Orient boss Martin Ling is right in calculating 73 points will be enough for a play-off place then Albion need eight wins and three draws from 14 games, not impossible but a very tall order considering they have so many top teams to face and have yet to prove they can beat them. They will certainly need those shooting boots on.

ALBION (4-4-2): Michel Kuipers (GK), Andrew Whing (RB), Tommy Elphick (CB), Adam El-Abd (CB), Matt Richards (LB), Dean Bowditch (RM), Tommy Fraser (CM), Steven Thomson (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Glenn Murray (CF), Nicky Forster (CF).

Subs: Jake Robinson (for Bowditch. 70), David Martot (for Cox, 75), Joel Lynch, Gary Hart, Jonny Dixon (for Fraser, 85). YELLOW CARDS: None.

RED CARDS: None.

GOAL: Forster (90).

LEYTON ORIENT (3-5-2): Glenn Morris (GK), Stephen Purches (RB), Samuel Oji (CB), Brian Saah (CB), Aiden Palmer (LB), Sean Thornton (RM), Paul Terry (CM), Adam Chambers (CM), Jason Demetriou (LM), Wayne Gray (CF), Jabo Ibehre (CF).

Subs: Alton Thelwell (for Oji, 72), Charlie Daniels, Andy Barcham (for Thornton, 75), Adam Boyd (for Gray, 71), Stuart Nelson.

YELLOW CARD: Morris (handball, 20) RED CARDS: None.

GOAL: Ibehre (80).

Does Saturday's result end Albion's play-off hopes?