Burnley 1, Brighton and Hove Albion 1

An explosive start to the Championship encounter saw both goalkeepers beaten inside the opening three minutes at Turf Moor.

Bobby Zamora broke the deadlock from close range after just 57 seconds when Tomer Hemed fired against the underside of the crossbar and full back Tendayi Darikwa failed to clear his lines.

But the Clarets were presented with the opportunity to level moments later as defender Lewis Dunk was penalised for grappling with Michael Keane and referee Simon Hooper pointed to the spot.

Leading scorer Gray took responsibility from 12 yards out and made no mistake to net his 11th of the campaign, lifting the ball just out of reach of David Stockdale to make it 1-1.

Solly March attempted to restore the Seagulls' lead after the restart but could only find the gloves of Tom Heaton after cutting past Ben Mee and shooting left-footed.

Brighton stopper Stockdale was brought to question when spilling George Boyd's drive from 20 yards out as the ball squirmed free of the upright, but the former Fulham man more than made amends when instinctively denying Rouwen Hennings his first goal for the club as the German striker stole a yard from Gordon Greer to meet Boyd's centre.

Veteran forward Zamora showed his excellence and experience throughout the afternoon, causing a whole manner of issues for Burnley's rearguard, and the 34-year-old threatened on a couple of occasions.

The one-time Hammer forced Heaton in to a save when heading Bruno's delivery goalwards and then looped another header just over the bar when towering above Darikwa from another assist from the Spanish full back.

After the break the Clarets created the clearer openings to snatch maximum points and end Brighton's impressive unbeaten run. However, the hosts couldn't find the net.

Early in the half midfielder March failed to connect with Zamora's cross as the home side were caught on the break, though a reversal of that combination would've spelt trouble for Sean Dyche's side.

And Hemed's strike deflected wide off the leg of Keane as the Israel international was allowed to turn on the edge of the penalty area.

But the two big chances fell to Scott Arfield, who netted a winner against Rovers at Ewood Park last month in front of the Sky cameras.

The Scot's first attempt had Stockdale beaten, and many supporters on their feet, but the ball flashed agonisingly wide of the upright. Dyche's reaction from the sidelines suggested just how close the effort was to finding the top corner after Arfield had combined incisively with Gray.

Then a look of disbelief emanated from the midfielder as he pulled a shot wide with just Stockdale to beat from Gray's pull back.

The result, though, means that the Clarets are now eight games unbeaten even though they dropped to fifth in the table over the weekend.