Albion are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup thanks to a memorable 1-0 win against Premier League Newcastle United tonight.

Will Buckley struck his seventh goal of the season with 15 minutes remaining, but Albion performed magnificently throughout.

Former Toon winger Kazenga LuaLua and Craig Noone did not recover from hamstring injuries in time, as Gus Poyet made just one change to the side that won at Peterborough last week with Adam El-Abd replacing the injury Marcos Painter.

The opening minutes, in front of another sell-out Amex crowd represented a tactical battle with both teams sussing each other out.

Both were happy in possession of the football, but on 11 minutes came the best opportunity of the first half.

Danny Simpson played a precision long ball from right-back into the path of Leon Best; the Newcastle striker brought the ball down brilliantly ten yards out but pulled his shot narrowly wide of Peter Brezovan's right post.

But Albion also showed their attacking prowess, namely through Buckley down the right. The in-form winger outran Davide Santon down the flank and delivered a low cross, but Tim Krul was quick off his line to smother the ball.

Then moments later Albion cut through the Toon defence with a slick counter-attack. Brezovan threw the ball to Matt Sparrow, who linked up with Buckley and Craig Mackail-Smith but the Albion striker fired wide from 18 yards.

Simpson also had a decent chance in the closing moments of the first half, but was denied by a timely Lewis Dunk block, and Gordon Greer was on hand to clear up.

The game really sparked into life in the second half, but it was the visitors who threatened to strike first with three chances in quick succession; Brezovan got down quickly to deny Best with his feet, while El-Abd blocked the following shot from 12 yards, before the Slovakian was called into action again from the resulting corner, blocking Ameobi's volley on the turn.

At the other end, Krul was called into action to block Mackail-Smith's 18-yard effort which threaten to squeeze past the Dutchman at his near post.

Just past the hour mark came a real talking point as Toon's Yohan Cabaye looked lucky to stay on the pitch; El-Abd looked to make a legitimate tackle on the midfielder but the Frenchman objected and appeared to lash-out at the Albion defender, while both were on the floor.

Referee Lee Probert and his assistant Ronald Ganfield did not see the incident but El-Abd was left needing treatment for a facial injury.

The game was heating up and in the 76th minute came the breakthrough courtesy of Buckley. The speedy winger rode a Simpson challenge on the halfway line, before outpacing Cabaye sitting in at right-back. He then broke into the box and his shot flew past Krul with a helping deflection off Mike Williamson.

Meanwhile, in the closing minutes Newcastle had a big appeal for a handball by Ashley Barnes turned down by Probert, but in truth Albion looked solid in the defensive third.

The visiting manager Alan Pardew threw his last roll of the dice inside the final ten minutes, introducing Ryan Taylor, Dan Gosling and Shane Ferguson but could not make an impact on the solid Albion defence.

It's Brighton & Hove Albion's name which will be in the velvet bag for the fifth round draw.

TEAMS

Albion: (4-3-3) Brezovan; Calderon, Greer, Dunk, El-Abd; Bridcutt, Sparrow (Navarro 46), Forster-Caskey (Harley 65); Buckley, Mackail-Smith (Hoskins 90+1), Barnes. Subs not used: Ankergren (GK), Vincelot, Agdestein, Hall.

Newcastle United: (4-4-2) Krul; Simpson, Williamson, Perch, Santon (Ferguson 83); Ben Arfa (Taylor 83), Cabaye, Guthrie (Gosling 83), Gutierrez; Best, Ameobi. Subs not used: Elliot (GK), Lovenkrands, Obertan, Kadar.

Referee: Lee Probert

Yellow Cards: Sparrow (Albion), Simpson (Newcastle)

Attendance: 21,558 (2,359 Newcastle)