Kuipers' gift heralds end of Brighton revival

Nottingham Forest 3 Brighton & Hove Albion

Paul Hart refuses to discuss promotion as a possible reward for his increasingly impressive Nottingham Forest side but he will find it difficult to keep expectations in check after this victory lifted them into third place in the First Division, even though two late goals for Brighton made the margin less emphatic than it should have been.

Cruising at 3-0 with 10 minutes left, Forest eased back and allowed the visitors to score twice, giving Brighton, who recovered a 2-0 deficit to claim a draw at Preston last weekend, brief hope that they could snatch another unlikely point.

"I was disappointed with the performance in the end," Hart said. "People will say we played some nice stuff again but we could have been 5-0 up at half-time and at 3-0 it should have been sewn up."

It took Forest little more than eight minutes to impose themselves in front of a City Ground swelled by a cut-price ticket offer. Michel Kuipers, the Brighton goalkeeper, may well have wished there were not quite so many watching, given that his blunder made the goal something of a gift. He did well to keep out a David Johnson strike, but when Marlon Harewood thumped the rebound back from wide on the right the ball spun into the net off the Dutchman's legs.

Although a fingertip save by Darren Ward denied Brighton's Nathan Jones, the visitors were fortunate to reach half-time trailing by only two. Both Jack Lester, who lifted the ball over the bar with only Kuipers to beat, and Johnson, missing the target with a free header from David Prutton's cross, should have extended the lead.

Forest were finding ways through the Brighton defence with such regularity that a second goal inevitably arrived, albeit in the last minute of the half. Riccardo Scimeca put Johnson clear on the left and this time Forest's leading scorer made no mistake.

Lester scored Forest's third after 75 minutes, diving full length to head home Prutton's cross, before Brighton finally discovered a hole in the home side's previously impervious defence, Daniel Webb's pass allowing Steve Sidwell to drive the ball wide of Ward. Jones then struck a wonderful goal from almost 30 yards in stoppage time to narrow the margin further, although by then it was too late for another comeback.

Speculation that Hart is being lined up to succeed Terry Venables should the former England coach quit at Leeds gained extra legs last night when the Forest manager, a former youth coach at Elland Road, seemed to suggest he would not rule himself out as a potential candidate. "I'm happy here but you have to have an eye on what is happening elsewhere because football is a fickle business and you can soon be forgotten," he said.

Nottingham Forest (4-3-1-2): Ward; Louis-Jean, Dawson, Walker, Brennan; Williams (Reid, 85), Scimeca, Prutton; Lester; Harewood (Jess, 70), Johnson (Westcarr, 81). Substitutes not used: Roche (gk), Doig.

Brighton & Hove Albion (5-3-2): Kuipers; Watson (Webb, 75), Pethick, Cullip, Mayo, Jones; Oatway (Carpenter, 67), Sidwell, Rodger; Hart, Brooker. Substitutes not used: Rogers, Butters, Packham (gk).

Referee: M Ryan (Preston).