Martin Hinshelwood had the media chuckling after a magnificent start for him and his team when he declared: "Sod it, I'm going to resign now!"

He was joking, of course, but the sentiment of his remark was appreciated. Can it possibly get much better than this?

The Seagulls celebrated their return to Division One by comprehensively outplaying the side that went within a goal of the play-offs last season.

More to the point, they did it without the defensive lynchpins of the Second Division title triumph and with an 18-year-old making his senior bow.

With influential captain Danny Cullip chucking up at home, Hinshelwood's nephew Adam responded with astonishing aplomb to being thrown in as his deputy.

Such assured and accomplished displays are rare indeed for one so young and inexperienced.

Alongside 'boy Hinsh' the adaptable Robbie Pethick proved an admirable replacement for the retired Simon Morgan. Who needs new signings?

Albion obviously still do and Hinshelwood the manager is far too shrewd to be fooled by one result, but this was pretty tasty for starters.

Actually it gets better. He has already succeeded in one respect where Micky Adams, Brian Horton, Steve Gritt, Liam Brady and Barry Lloyd all failed.

Albion are notoriously slow off the mark, so much so in fact that you have to go back to 1984 under Chris Cattlin for their last away win on the opening day.

"I'm chuffed to bits, but I am pleased for everybody connected with the club," said Hinshelwood. "They are the people that have earnt this.

"I've only had four weeks in charge and it's a great start to the season.

"We knew it was going to be difficult for us. We knew their strengths and that we had to get bodies in front of the ball and my defenders were magnificent."

Hinshelwood the younger was preferred to the marginally more experienced Adam Virgo and his colleagues at the back were so good that Burnley did not manage a shot on target until the 47th minute.

Michel Kuipers kept out Ian Moore's angled drive from close range feet first. It was a pity that Lee Briscoe tapped in a scant consolation for the Clarets deep into stoppage time after Gareth Taylor nodded back a corner.

"The thing that pleases me is that the players had a shout at each other about the goal we conceded," said Hinshelwood.

"My back five deserved a clean sheet so we will have a little chat about that, but I cannot fault them."

Burnley were far too predictable going forward, directing most of their attacks at the towering Taylor.

Albion, contrastingly bright and inventive, were rewarded with three smashing goals in the middle part of the match.

Steve Melton took over where Junior Lewis left off on the left of a three-man midfield.

Bobby Zamora picked out his run through the heart of the Burnley rearguard with a precision pass, which Melton embellished with a confident right-foot finish.

Unfortunately for Melton it was his last contribution. He picked up a hamstring injury in the process of scoring and was replaced by Paul Rogers.

Burnley began the second half with more positive intent, but they were undermined by French defender Arthur Gnohere.

He blatantly head-butted Gary Hart after the pair had niggled with each other and was quite properly sent-off. It was sheer madness.

Hart, a target for the partisan home fans after that, was sensibly substituted as soon as Albion had made their numerical advantage count by breezing into a three-goal lead.

The outstanding Paul Brooker bagged No. 2 with a scintillating break, launched by a Hinshelwood tackle. Burnley defenders backed off the tricky winger, which is fatal when he has the ball at his feet.

Brooker made progress into the penalty area to beat Greek international keeper Nik Michopoulos from an acute angle.

Zamora wrapped up the points three minutes later, pouncing when Rogers' attempted diving header from a Paul Watson cross distracted Michopoulos.

How Zamora deserved that goal. It could easily have completed a hat-trick. He had an early header from a Watson free-kick controversially ruled out for offside and another from a Brooker cross deflected off the line by Graham Branch.

Hinshelwood said: "It could have been a bit more at half time. I am looking forward to seeing the goal Bobby had disallowed.

"He has been out for a while and had a little bit of cramp at the death, but he is just a quality player.

"We have talked about Paul Brooker going forward and being positive and it was a great finish.

"I have got some quality up front that will cause people problems this season."

Burnley boss Stan Ternent acknowledged Albion's superiority. "We looked lethargic and Brighton deserved to win," he admitted. "They were by far and away the better team."

On their flight back from Manchester on Saturday night Albion were accompanied by some Crystal Palace supporters in good spirits following their victory at Preston.

Oh well, you can't have everything. At least Hinshelwood's heroes are off to a flyer.

  • Albion Team: (4-3-3) Kuipers, Watson, Mayo, Hart, Oatway, Brooker, Carpenter, Pethick, Melton, Hinshelwood, Zamora.
  • Albion Scorers: Melton (29), Brooker (65), Zamora (68).
  • Albion Bookings: Carpenter, Watson, Wilkinson.
  • Half-Time: Burnley 0 Albion 1.
  • Fans View: Dennis Oliver (Hove).

I freely admit that when I heard Cullip was out, I would have settled for a point there and then. But not for the first time, Albion rolled their sleeves up and got a result.

Paul Brooker's goal was the pick of the bunch for me. I thought it was a foul but thankfully the ref didn't and, once Brooker got the ball, there was only one place it was going.

Although Burnley came seventh last season and three points are not to be sniffed at, I won't get overexcited. Coventry and Norwich will be harder tests and I will be very pleased if the Albion have seven points or more next Sunday morning. I would have liked to have invited the Zamora choir to strike up a chorus of: "Are you watching Peter Taylor." But when I got home I found out he was on Sky Sports already!

How foolish must he feel now?