Gary Hart rammed home an injury-time winner to give Brighton a deserved victory over faltering Millwall.

Hart hammered the ball home at the second attempt for his second goal of the season in a grandstand finish to an otherwise uneventful match.

Millwall's Mark Phillips was also sent off in the dying moments for a second bookable offence.

Brighton had dominated the opening half but were unable to make their superiority count against a dogged Millwall side.

Chances were at a premium for both sides but the home side carved out an early opportunity only for Daniel Harding to send his shot wide of the target.

Although Millwall are pushing for a play-off place it was Brighton who enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges with Paul Reid trying his luck from distance.

Mark McGhee's side continued to push for the opener and Millwall goalkeeper Andy Marshall had to be on his toes to deny Hart after 16 minutes.

But the Lions finally created an opening for their first effort on goal shortly afterwards, Mark Quigley smacking a right-footed shot from 18 yards over the crossbar.

Brighton continued to enjoy the majority of possession though and Alexis Nicolas fired his shot wide from 20 yards midway through the first half.

The flow of the game was interrupted by a series of free-kicks but it was Brighton who continued to look the more impressive as the half wore on.

Quigley was the first player to be booked when he was shown the yellow card for a foul on Richard Carpenter after 27 minutes but he then threatened again to score just five minutes later, forcing former Arsenal goalkeeper Rami Shaaban into a save.

Millwall's Marvin Elliott and Brighton's Mark McCammon were both booked for unsporting behaviour seven minutes before the interval.

Millwall's Matthew Lawrence became the fourth player to be booked early in the second half for a foul on McCammon.

The visitors won two corners in quick succession but the first, taken by Jody Morris, was played short and subsequently cleared and then Peter Sweeney's in-swinger shortly afterwards was well dealt with by Guy Butters.

Brighton brought on Kerry Mayo in place of Chris McPhee just before the hour as they sought to break the deadlock.

Millwall also made a change after 62 minutes with Trevor Robinson replacing Peter Sweeney.

Brighton replaced McCammon with Charlie Oatway with just over 20 minutes remaining but chances remained few and far between as both sides continued to cancel each other out.

Phillips became the fourth Millwall player to be booked nine minutes from time for a foul on Leon Knight, but Mayo's free-kick came to nothing.

Millwall made more changes late on by introducing Adrian Serioux for Curtis Weston and Ben May for Quigley, but it was to no avail as Brighton grabbed that late winner through Hart.

Millwall have now scored just one goal in their last five games.

Teams

Brighton: Shaaban, Reid, Hinshelwood, Butters, Harding, Hart, Carpenter, Nicolas, Knight, McCammon (Oatway 69), McPhee (Mayo 57).

Subs Not Used: Watson, Yelldell, El-Abd.

Booked: McCammon.

Goals: Hart 90.

Millwall: Marshall, Phillips, Lawrence, Ward, Craig, Weston (Serioux 82), Morris, Elliott, Sweeney (Trevor Robinson 62), Quigley (May 89), Dichio.

Subs Not Used: Simpson, Braniff.

Sent Off: Phillips (90).

Booked: Quigley, Elliott, Lawrence, Phillips.

Att: 6,608

Ref: A Marriner (W Midlands).