The young defender making his debut for Brighton just nine months after surviving potentially lifesaving heart surgery inspired Brighton to their first win in eight games, simply by never putting a foot wrong all afternoon.

Pascal Gross got the matchwinner Brighton had been waiting more than 600 minutes of playing time for, but it was brave Goldson who stole the show.

The early tackles he made to stop his former Shrewsbury Town pal, Andre Gray, and Brazilian whiz kid Richarlison were greeted by as near a hero's reception as you'll get.

But if Goldson's appearance warmed the cockles of your heart, the barnstorming start his team-mates made was worthy of a similar greeting. Brighton looked up for this from the word go and Heurelho Gomes' Watford goal led a charmed life.

There's no guessing what might have happened - other than the roof coming off, that is - when only an instinctive save by Gomes denied Goldson a dream debut on the half hour.

He crept up unnoticed to power a head that would have bagged him the goal of his life, but for the Brazilian keeper's heroics.

Why Brighton didn't score before the interval  was probably a combination of bad luck and lacking that extra bit of quality in the final third.

And no more was that evident than three minutes into the second half when Tomer Hemed blazed a golden chance over the bar after doing all the hard work in the build up.

To be fair, the man preferred to the sometimes prolific Glenn Murray, left on the bench to start with yesterday, was only a whisker wide soon afterwards. Solly March went similarly close. 

But from such misses catastrophes sometimes follow, and Brighton fans must have feared that Watford, restricted to breakaways from the start, might just nick one given half a chance. 

They needn't have worried.

Just when it seemed frustrations might get the better of them Pascal Gross turned saviour on 64 minutes with a cracker from the edge of the box that Gomes got his hands to but couldn't stop hitting the back of the net.

It was, it must be said, no more than gritty Albion deserved. And they were desperately unlucky not to get a second a couple of minutes later when Lewis Dunk got his header to a corner that deserved a goal, but was just too wide of the target.

Murray, making his 200th appearance for Brighton, was duly called upon to help cap the fairytale. But in the end he wasn't needed.

 Connor Goldson had already done it.

 Brighton: Ryan 7; Bruno 7, Dunk 7, Goldson 8, Suttner 6; Knockaert 6, Stephens 6, Propper 7, March 6 (Izquierdo 90); Gross 7( Kayal 82); Hemed 6 (Murray 87).

Watford: Gomes 7; Janmaat 6, Prodl 6, Kabasele 6, Holebas 6; Watson 6 (Capoue 73), Cleverley 5; Carrillo 5, Pereyra 5 (Sinclair 71), Richarlison 6; Gray 5 (Okaka 78).

Star Man: Connor Goldson

Referee: Paul Tierney.