Town's poor away start to the season continued with a 4-0 defeat at West Brom. The Blues went behind to Ishmael Miller's goal during a first half dominated by the home side. Town improved after the break but were hit by a late three-goal salvo from Filipe Teixeira and Kevin Phillips (2).

Jim Magilton made one change to the side which lost 2-0 at Watford a fortnight ago, Sylvain Legwinski coming into the midfield for his first start of the season in place of Gary Roberts. Neil Alexander was not required to make a dash back to Suffolk to assist his wife who is close to giving birth to their second child.

Pablo Couñago and Owen Garvan both managed shots on target in the opening couple of minutes, something the Blues failed to do in the entire 90 minutes at Vicarage Road, but neither tested former Town loanee Dean Kiely in the West Brom goal.

Other than those efforts, the early stages were all West Brom with Kevin Phillips, who almost joined Town in the summer of 1997, scraping a shot wide of Alexander's post, prior to heading a decent opportunity over.

Alan Lee came close to putting the Blues in front in the 10th minute after Couñago played him in on the left of the area, but the Irishman shot across the face of goal. Jon Walters was off the field at this point requiring treatment for a head wound, returning soon after in an unnamed shirt sporting a bandage on his head.

Ishmael Miller headed a Teixeira cross wide in the 15th minute with Town under almost constant pressure. Soon after, Teixeira and Phillips narrowly failed to get toes to James Morrison's cross from the right, both players ending up in the back of the net.

Walters shot from the left but Kiely saved as the Blues switched things around, Legwinski moving from the right to the centre and Miller swapping places with the Frenchman.

The goal West Brom deserved came in the 23rd minute when Ishmael Miller was sent away, beating De Vos for pace. Bruce tried to get across to cover but didn't get a tackle in prior to the loanee from Manchester City hitting a shot to Alexander's right and into the net off the post.

Three minutes after the goal Jason De Vos picked up the game's first yellow card for a foul on Phillips, prior to Teixeira shooting over.

There were fewer chances in the latter stages of the half with Ishmael Miller's 39th minute effort wide the last.

Town had been very poor during the opening period with West Brom dominating. The Blues failed to keep possession for any length of time and were lucky to go in only a single goal behind.

Jim Magilton made no changes at the break and Town quickly went on the offensive. Couñago played Lee in and Kiely made an excellent save from the Irish international's close-range shot.

A minute later, Wright threaded a ball through to Couñago and the Spaniard hit a shot across the face of goal.

Referee Jonathan Moss wasn't impressing the Town support with some inconsistent decisions and in the 51st minute showed Tommy Miller a yellow card for a foul. Three minutes later, Jaime Peters replaced Sylvain Legwinski, the Canadian taking up his usual right midfield role and Miller moving back to the centre.

Alan Lee's 56th minute run and shot was too close to Kiely, prior to Walters putting the ball in the net, only for referee Moss to call play back to award a harsh freekick against Lee.

David Wright hit a freekick against the wall after a foul on Peters. Four minutes later, a loose ball fell to Couñago on the edge of the area but Kiely got down to his right to save.

On 65 good work from Walters led to Wright whipping in a cross. Lee rose above the Albion defence but saw his header crash off the post. The Irish striker received a kick to the face from Hoefkens as they both went for the rebound, the Baggies' defender putting the ball behind for a corner.

Town were looking a completely different side in the second half and Lee again came close to a goal in the 67th minute. Harding crossed low from the left and a stretching Lee could only manage to divert the ball the wrong side of the post.

Phillips had the ball in the Town net in the 68th minute but from an offside position, then Tommy Miller's shot deflected through to Kiely. Billy Clarke replaced Pablo Couñago for the final 16 minutes of the game.

Alex Bruce headed Owen Garvan's corner wide as the Blues continued to push for an equaliser. Soon after, Tommy Miller sent a freekick a long way over Kiely's crossbar.

Dan Harding picked up what looked like a rather harsh yellow card and from the freekick, Hoefkens shot high and wide.

Walters headed over for Town as the game entered the final 10 minutes, then Alex Bruce reacted angrily to a clash with Kevin Phillips, claiming that the former England striker had stamped on him, but referee Moss seemed uninterested.

Clarke volleyed but too weakly to test Kiely on 85, but two minutes later Town's chance of pulling themselves back into the game was gone. With the Blues pushing forward, Teixeira was found in space on the West Brom right, taking the ball on past Harding and then beating Alexander.

The goal was very much against the balance of play after the break and clearly left its mark on Jim Magilton's side. Within two minutes West Brom scored a third as Teixeira crossed from the right and Phillips bundled his obligatory goal against Town into the net.

Even worse was to follow in injury time as Town stood off their men and allowed Phillips time and space to pick his spot from the edge of the area, giving Albion a 4-0 lead which would have looked an implausible outcome even as late as the 86th minute.

The 4-0 result flattered West Brom a great deal on the balance of the second half with Town the better side after the break until the late goal deluge, although the home side were by far the superior team in the first period.

Boss Jim Magilton will no doubt be angry at the way his side collapsed after conceding the second goal, but will also be concerned that his team again failed to score away from home. Unlike at Watford a fortnight ago, there were shots on target, but there was little to seriously test Dean Kiely in the West Brom goal.

If Town are going to be anything other than a mid-table side this season, their away form needs to improve significantly in the months to come.

Town: Alexander, Wright, Harding, De Vos, Bruce, Garvan, Legwinski (Peters 54), Miller, Walters, Lee, Couñago (Clarke 74). Unused: Supple, Casement, Roberts. Att: 19,460.

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