THERE was to be no club record seventh straight win for Nottingham Forest, but Henri Lansbury's injury time strike did earn them a dramatic draw against promotion rivals Brighton.
The midfielder struck in the 91st minute – albeit with the aid of a gaffe from keeper Casper Ankergren – to secure a 2-2 draw at the City Ground.
It had seemed that the Seagulls would take all three points after Will Buckley had netted in the 85th minute to put the visitors ahead for the second time in the game.
That goal came barely two minutes after Lewis McGugan had came off the bench to score for the fourth game in a row, to cancel out a strike from Leonardo Ulloa.
Forest were not able to secure what would have been a club record equalling seventh straight win. But Lansbury's goal could still prove to be a vital moment for the Reds, as they avoided seeing Brighton climb above them in the table.
Forest made only one change to their starting line-up as Sam Hutchinson was drafted in at right back.
The on-loan Chelsea man took the place of Gonzalo Jara who only returned from international duty with Chile late in the week and did not return to training with the Reds until Friday.
Forest were otherwise unchanged, with Henri Lansbury recovering from a calf and shin problem he had collected while on duty with the England under-21 squad.
Lansbury, in fact, almost made an early impact, with the former Arsenal man producing a smart turn to carve out the room to cross dangerously into the centre, where only a strong header from Matthew Upson denied Forest a chance.
The midfielder then forced a smart save from Casper Ankergren following a one-two with Simon Cox, driving a powerful, rising shot that the keeper did well to parry.
Despite a bobbly pitch, Forest were playing some flowing football, at one stage stringing together more than 20 passes before possession was finally lost on the edge of the Brighton box as Radi Majewski attempted a killer ball.
Hutchinson was getting a lot of the ball down the right and one cross from him gave Cox the chance to steer a header towards goal, although the striker was too far out to properly trouble the keeper.
Adlene Guedioura then let fly with a trademark effort from the edge of the box, which Ankergren watched carefully as it flew wide of the post.
Forest were building pressure on the Brighton goal, with Henderson testing Ankergren's alertness with an angled shot, following good chest control on the edge of the box.
While Reid might have done better when Cox fed him with a clever pass but, as he angled towards goal, the Irishman lifted a cross-shot over the bar, while seemingly in two minds over whether to cross or shoot.
A sloppy ball from Guedioura led to a clumsy, rugged challenge from Danny Collins on Leonardo Ulloa, with the Forest skipper picking up a deserved booking as a result, in the 18th minute.
Forest were agonisingly close to taking the lead in the 31st minute when Majewski saw an angled shot well blocked by Ankergren, with Henderson then seeing his follow-up effort cleared off the line, amid a melee of bodies.
And, on the stroke of half time, Cox was unlucky not to see the ball break for him in front of goal, after Ankergren had only parried a shot from Henderson. The ball rolled right across goal, just out of reach of the striker.
There was still time for a moment of controversy as Kazenga LuaLua escaped with a yellow card following a clash with Hutchinson, which saw him angrily thrust his shoulder and head into the body of the Forest man, amid a confrontation on the touchline.
LuaLua was shown a yellow card by referee Linington, but the Forest fans were baying for a red.
LuaLua did not emerge for the second half, with Brighton boss Poyet perhaps wisely opting to bring on Dean Hammond in his place.
It was the visitors who might have broken the deadlock when Ulloa found space to shoot on the edge of the box – and bent a decent effort only narrowly wide of the post.
But a flowing move from Forest culminated in Majewski feeding Reid on the edge of the box, with the Irishman lifting a shot over.
Cohen was furious when a free kick was awarded against him after he had cleanly won the ball from Will Buckley.
And the free kick proved to be a dangerous one, with Darlow parrying a cross-shot from Andrea Orlandi and Collins brilliantly blocking a follow up shot from Ulloa.
But the Argentine striker was not to be thwarted and, from the resulting corner, he fired a shot through a busy penalty area that, with the aid of a deflection, found the bottom corner of the net.
Karl Darlow made a truly outstanding save to deny Upson a goal, after he flicked a header towards goal as he attacked a wayward shot from Hammond.
Forest then made a change as Jara came on in place of Hutchinson, who had covered a lot of ground down the right, while Lewis McGugan then came on to replace Majewski, as Forest looked for a goal to get themselves back into the game.
A McGugan corner found Cox at the near post, but the striker's flicked shot was always flying high and wide.
A superb first-time pass from Guedioura gave Reid the chance to cross from the left and pick out Henderson at the far post, where the striker's driven shot was well saved.
Reid was rather ambitious as he let fly with a 30-yard shot, but it did not dip too far high of the target.
But it was McGugan who was to have an impact yet again as he latched onto a pass from Reid, powered into the box and fired a shot across goal that, with a the aid of a slight deflection, found the back of the net.
Forest were level for barely two minutes however, as Brighton took the lead for the second time in the 85th minute. When the ball fell to Ulloa in the box he kept his composure to simply square the ball for Buckley, who drove an emphatic finish beyond Darlow.
But there was still more drama to come as, fed by Reid, Lansbury smashed a low shot from the edge of the box that, somehow, Ankergren allowed to slip under his body and into the back of the net.
Forest: Darlow, Hutchinson (Jara 68), Ward, Collins, Cohen, Guedioura (Sharp 79), Lansbury, Majewski (McGugan 73), Reid, Cox, Henderson. Subs: Evmitov, Moussi, Halford, Blackstock.
Brighton: Ankergren, Greer, Crofts, Orlandi, Calderon, ulloa. Upson, Lopez, LuaLua (Hammond 45), Bridge, Buckley. Subs: Brezovan, Dunk, Vincente, Dicker, Painter, Barker.
Referee: James Linington, Newport
Attendance: 28,124 (2,771 away)