Under-18s bow out with defeat to Baggies

Our Under-18s concluded their campaign with a 1-0 defeat at West Brom on Saturday afternoon (10 May).

The Baggies took the lead in the first half, as Divine Onyemachi pounced on the rebound from a big save by Dylan Thompson to steer them into a lead that proved unassailable.

An improved second-half performance saw Luca Williams-Barnett and Jun'ai Byfield, who stepped up to play in midfield, fire narrowly over the bar, before the former forced a stunning save from the keeper late on.

Stuart Lewis named a young side which saw league debuts for schoolboys Frankie Day, Ezra Agyekum and Armand Muslika and just a second league appearance for midfielder Tyler Tingey.

The result means we finish seventh in the Under-18 Premier League table.

A poor quality first half saw three chances blazed wide at either end in the opening 10 minutes, two for the hosts, while Williams-Barnett fired goalwards from outside the box for us, but saw his effort saved as it was heading for the top right corner. An attritional midfield battle then followed, until Onyemachi broke into the right side of the box 22 minutes in. Thompson pulled off a strong save to keep his effort out, only for the rebound to land kindly for Onyemachi, who made no mistake at the second time of asking by burying it into the bottom left corner.

The only other shot on target for either side in the first half came in the 44th minute from Williams-Barnett, but his effort from long range was caught comfortably by Louis Brady.

Coach Stuart Lewis made a double change just after the hour mark, as debutant Day was replaced by Ellis Lehane and Dan Batty was replaced by Muslika - who in turn made his Under-18s debut - and it wasn't long before both substitutes got involved in the game. Lehane was immediately involved in the link-up play for Williams-Barnett's next chance, however he blazed over from the edge of the box. Three minutes later it broke to Byfield inside the area but he also saw his effort go over the bar.

Williams-Barnett came closest to scoring with 71 minutes on the clock, breaking through on the right before curling an effort towards the top left corner, but saw his effort again saved by Brady.

Tingey made his second league appearance at this level when he replaced Tye Hall with 12 minutes to play, while Agyekum made his league debut, replacing Leon Myrtaj as part of a double substitution in the closing stages.

West Brom didn't register a shot on target in an improved second-half showing from our perspective, but we were left frustrated at the full-time whistle, the defeat meaning we narrowly missed out on a top-five finish.