KEVIN Phillips' first-half opener wasn't enough to save Albion from an opening-day defeat.

The 34-year-old striker earned Tony Mowbray's side a deserved half-time lead with a clinical 18^th-minute finish.

But Michael Duff headed the hosts level two minutes after the break and Andy Gray smashed home a decisive penalty 11 minutes from time.

Mowbray handed league debuts to five of his nine summer signings, with Carl Hoefkens, Leon Barnett, Tininho, Filipe Teixeira and Craig Beattie all starting.

Fellow new boys James Morrison and Pele were on the bench but Bostjan Cesar and Shelton Martis, plus Curtis Davies and Paul Robinson, missed out altogether.

Burnley handed debuts to Robbie Blake - his second for the club - keeper Gabor Kiraly and Steve Jordan.

Turf Moor was bathed in glorious sunshine as last term's 15th-placed finishers entertained the losing play-off finalists.

Burnley were the first to threaten when, from a second successive Blake corner, Chris McCann flashed a header just over from ten yards.

Albion hit straight back and Barnett was unlucky not to grab a dream fourth-minute goal.

The £2.5million signing flung himself at skipper Jonathan Greening's free-kick, only to see his goalbound diving header blocked on the edge of the six-yard box by a Clarets defender.

The sides continued to size each other up as Burnley striker Gray headed another Blake corner over and Neil Clement was well off target with a 30-yard grass-cutter.

Burnley had settled the quickest, but it was Albion who drew first blood thanks to a stunning 18^th-minute breakaway move.

Greening sent Teixeira scampering towards the halfway line with a hooked clearance from Blake's corner.

The silky-skilled midfielder found Zoltan Gera who instantly fed Phillips.

The pint-sized striker jinked inside Jordan before clinically curling the ball low inside the far corner from 15 yards.

Albion were now starting to dictate the play and Kiraly was relieved to see Greening's 30-yard drive loop off Joey Gudjonsson and drift wide of his left-hand post.

Great play by Beattie then saw Tininho charge into the box and only Duff's last-ditch clearance denied two Albion men a simple far-post tap-in.

More clever build-up allowed Tininho to get in behind the Burnley defence again in the 37^th minute and he found fellow Portuguese import Teixeira unmarked 12 yards out.

The £600,000 signing pulled the trigger, only to see his goalbound effort deflected wide.

Burnley briefly threatened when sub Kyle Lafferty shot well wide from 20 yards.

And Albion would have headed into the half-time break with a bigger cushion had they made better use of several promising breaks.

The industrious Gera, who had made several key interceptions, had an 18-yard effort deflected over before the right-sided midfielder saw a downward header from Greening's corner fly straight at fellow Hungarian Kiraly.

Phillips brought the half to a close when he shot straight at the Burnley No.1 from 25 yards following another flowing Albion move.

But the second-half was barely a minute old when Steve Cotterill's men drew level.

Defender Duff leapt at the far post to head Blake's corner into the top left-hand corner.

The Baggies regrouped and the attack-minded Tininho wasn't too far away with a 25-yard rocket.

But the visitors soon had a huge let-off.

Striker Gray was left completely unmarked as he raced onto Kiraly's long punt upfield.

Thankfully, Dean Kiely was alert to the danger and raced out in the nick of time to dispossess the ex-Sunderland man on the edge of his box.

The early equaliser had breathed new life into the home side and they began to attack with renewed purpose.

Back came Albion and Beattie saw a low left-footed drive from 20 yards well held by Kiraly in front of his near post.

The action swung straight to the other end and Gray should have done much better with a wayward header after Duff had nodded Jon Harley's deep free-kick into the danger-zone.

Mowbray rang three changes in the space of six minutes, with Teixeira, Chaplow and Beattie being replaced by debutants Morrison, Pele and Nathan Ellington.

But it was a Burnley sub who had the next effort on goal, with ex-Wolves striker Ade Akinbiyi shooting wide from Lafferty's slide-rule ball.

Akinbiyi fluffed an even better chance in the 75^th minute, directing a free header wastefully wide from Harley's pinpoint centre.

But the Burnley No.9 made a more telling contribution when he won a 79^th-minute penalty.

After Albion had had loud handball appeals turned away inside the Burnley half, the hosts broke and Clement was adjudged to have handled the ball as he slid in to dispossess the ex-Leicester striker.

Gray calmly stroked the resulting spot-kick past the helpless Kiely.

Pele had a great chance to equalise three minutes from time when he directed a free header wide from Tininho's sublime centre.