LUKE Moore's impressive pre-season campaign continued as he set Albion on the way to a comfortable 2-0 victory at Shrewsbury with his second goal in three games.
The ex-England Under-21 international opened the scoring in the 15th minute and was unlucky not to add further to his tally as he wreaked havoc in the Shrews defence.
Robert Koren made his his first pre-season start after shaking off tendonitis in his right knee with a substitue appearance in the previous game against NK Varteks on Saturday.
And the Slovenia skipper celebrated his return to fitness by doubling Albion's lead in the 33rd minute as the Baggies' Championship class proved too much to handle for their League Two rivals.
Simon Cox failed to recover from an ankle injury in time for the ProStar Stadium encounter and missed his second successive game.
Head coach Roberto Di Matteo rang two changes with Shelton Martis and Koren coming in for Leon Barnett and Dwayne Samuels, who dropped to the bench.
Albion made a bright start and Koren's short-corner to Jonathan Greening in the fifth minute saw the Baggies captain cross for Jonas Olsson.
The giant Swede stooped at the near-post but his thumping header was tipped onto the underside of the crossbar by Andreas Arestidou and bounced the wrong side of the goalline for the visitors' liking before Kelvin Langmead cleared the danger.
Five minutes later Martis played Moore in over the top and, under pressure from Langmead, he let fly with a left-foot effort from 15 yards that Arestidou did well to block.
Koren burst into the Shrews box in the 12th minute and firstly saw his cross blocked before Arestidou saved his follow-up effort from a tight angle.
The hosts swiftly turned defence into attack and Lewis Neal used his pace to get the better of Gianni Zuiverloon down the left, only to see his cross flash across the face of goal.
The Baggies did open the scoring in the 15th minute when Koren fed the ball inside to Moore on the edge of the area and he showed quick feet to turn Langmead before coolly firing a left-foot shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
Scott Carson was tested for the first time in the 24th minute - and the England goalkeeper was up to the task as he dived to his left to parry away Jake Robinson's 30-yard fizzer.
Albion doubled their lead in the 33rd minute when Craig Beattie headed Greening's lofted ball back to Brunt and the Northern Ireland international's mishit 35-yard volley fortunately ran into the path of Koren, who used the pace on the ball and neatly flicked it home just inside the right-hand post from 12 yards.
Two minutes later Moore found himself in space on the right and he cut the ball back for Koren, who fired wide of the left-hand upright from 15 yards when he should at least have hit the target.
A sloppy pass by Greening seven minutes before the break allowed Robinson to cross from the right for Paul Murray, whose powerful 12-yard volley flew just over the bar.
Quick thinking by Beattie saw him thread the ball through to Moore in the 45th minute and the former Villa striker spun sharply before firing a low left-foot strike just past the far post.
Di Matteo made three changes at the break as Dean Kiely, Barnett and Filipe Teixeira came on for Carson, Martis and Greening respectively.
Moore took the captain's armband and was first to threaten in the second half as he drilled a long-range shot just over in the 48th minute.
Moore was in the action again two minutes later as he showed superb chest control from Barnett's long aerial ball - but saw his goalbound strike blocked by Langmead's last-ditch lunge.
In the same minute Teixeira tucked the ball inside to Beattie and he nut-megged Graham Coughlan before seeing Arestidou block at his feet.
The Scotland striker recovered the ball and managed to make room for another shot that was blocked in a crowd of players before going out for a corner.
Neat play down the right from the Baggies in the 57th minute led to Koren teeing up Moore for what looked like a certain goal.
But the rejuvenated Baggies hitman opted for power over placement and saw his 12-yard strike sail over.
Paul Simpson made a double change for the hosts seconds later as Jake Simpson and Terry Dunfield came on for Craig Dobson and Murray respectively.
Samuels, fresh from signing his first pro contract, came on at right-back for Albion in the 61st minute, with Gianni Zuiverloon shuffling inside to centre-half.
Coughlan was forced off four minutes later after a heavy challenge with Teixeira and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff replaced him for the hosts.
Referee Steven Rushton then awarded a free-kick just inside the area when Arestidou picked up Dean Holden's back-pass.
Brunt teed up Beattie, who shaped his curling shot just wide of the left-hand post.
Town should have pulled a goal back in the 71st minute when Robinson exchanged passes with Craig Disley to leave Kiely stranded - but Disley tried to find Robinson again when he should have shot and allowed Zuiverloon to intercept and clear the danger.
Wood looked to have added a third for Albion in the 82nd minute when he latched onto Samuels' pass and turned, only to see his shot from the edge of the area creep just the wrong side of the right-hand post and into the side-netting.
Kim's long-range diagonal pass gave Wood another shooting opportunity five minutes from time - but again he found the same side-netting with a 15-yard effort on the angle.
The New Zealand international's efforts proved to be the last of the game as the Baggies extended their unbeaten pre-season run to three matches.
SHREWSBURY (4-4-2): Arestidou; Holden (Hooman 79), Coughlan, Langmead, McIntyre; Dobson (Simpson 57), Disley, Murray (Dunfield 57), Neal (Leslie 72); Riza (Gray 72), Robinson. All subs used.
ALBION (4-4-2): Carson (Kiely HT); Zuiverloon, Martis (Barnett HT), Olsson (Samuels 61), Cech; Koren (Valero 72), Greening (Teixeira HT), Mulumbu (Labadie 80), Brunt (Kim 80); Beattie (Wood 72), Moore. All subs used.
BOOKINGS: None.
GOALS: ALBION - Moore (15), Koren (33).
REFEREE: S Rushton (Staffordshire).
ATTENDANCE: 2,437.
ALBION STARMAN: Luke Moore.
PIC: MAN ON FIRE...Moore hits opener against Shrews
