There weren't many of them there to see it, but those Albion diehards who made the trip were toasting a Lee Steele double last night.

The new signing from Shrewsbury produced two super strikes to ensure the three-match tour of Ireland got off to a winning start with a 3-2 win at Longford Town.

But boss Micky Adams will have been equally pleased to see his side edge closer to full fitness in a lively tussle which had the competitive edge missing from last Friday's runout at Worthing.

Steele's was the outstanding contribution for a crowd of around 400 on a perfect summer's evening in Ireland.

He needed just seven minutes to get on the scoresheet and the goal owed everything his improvisational skills inside the box.

They did not look to be immediate danger when Paul Watson played a 1-2 with Paul Rogers and sent the ball bobbling towards Steele at the near post.

But the little striker, with a defender behind him, somehow conjured an overhead kick which floated just inside the far post.

His second, which restored Albion's lead on 39 minutes, was more orthodox as he rolled home an inch-perfect, left-foot drive 20 yards after strike partner Scott Ramsay had laid the ball off.

Longford, preparing for their first-ever season in Ireland's top division played some nice stuff and were level for 12 first-half minutes.

Their equaliser was a cracker as Shay Zeller turned sharply and lifted a shot wide of Michels Kuipers, who had earlier saved well from Niall Byrne.

Albion's 2-1 lead only surivived the opening minutes of the second half thanks to bad misses from Colin Notaro and the busy Zeller.

But they stitched together some nice moves of their own with Ramsay becoming increasingly prominent.

The young hitman provided the cross from which Steele's acrobatic volley forced Kevin McCormack into an agile tipover then Ramsay got the reward of a goal on 66 minutes after Danny Cullip's deep cross had been headed across goal by Gary Crosby.

That settled the contest, although Adams will have been less happy with the slack defending which allowed Keith O'Connor to scramble home Longford's second two minutes from time.

ALBION: Kuipers, Watson, McPherson (sub Cullip 45), Crosby, Mayo (sub Brooker 45), Oatway (sub Andrews 65), Rogers (sub Aspinall 45), Carpenter, Steele (sub Davis 61), Ramsay, Jones. Unused subs: Packham, Russell.