Five Albion players were in action for their respective loan teams over the weekend.
Mo Faal played the full 90 minutes as Doncaster Rovers returned to winning ways on home soil, edging out Jamie Andrews’ Grimsby Town 1-0 at the Eco-Power Stadium.
While Andrews was an unused substitute during the clash in South Yorkshire, forward Faal helped Grant McCann’s men see off the Mariners to claim all three points - with Joe Ironside’s 72nd-minute penalty the difference between the two teams.
Ironside and Faal are forming a good partnership at the spearhead of Rovers’ attacking play, with the pair boasting 12 goals between them from 16 matches in Sky Bet League Two.
After getting the better of his academy graduate during a 3-0 win over Doncaster in midweek, Ethan Ingram had to settle for a point from Salford City’s trip to Barrow on Saturday.
A game with few opportunities ended in a 0-0 draw at the SO Legal Stadium, as England youth international Ingram played 66 minutes in Cumbria before being substituted. The full-back has now started all of the Ammies’ last ten league matches.
In England’s second tier, Karlan Grant and Taylor Gardner-Hickman lined up against each other as Cardiff hosted Bristol City in the Severnside derby.
And it was Grant’s team who claimed the bragging rights as Perry Ng and Rubin Colwill struck either side of half-time to secure a 2-0 win in South Wales, lifting the Bluebirds up to fifth place in the Championship standings.
For Albion youth product Gardner-Hickman, defeat meant Nigel Pearson’s tenure in charge at Ashton Gate came to an end as the West Country outfit parted company with their manager.
Young shot-stopper Brad Foster was unable to prevent non-league Alvechurch from exiting the first round of the FA Trophy following a 1-0 defeat to Coalville Town on Saturday afternoon.
But the keeper and his team-mates will have an immediate chance to right their wrongs when “the Church” face the same opposition in the league this weekend.
Lastly, Jovan Malcolm and Rayhaan Tulloch were both unused substitutes for their loan clubs.
Malcolm’s Cheltenham Town continued their upturn in fortunes in League One under recently-appointed boss Darrell Clarke by defeating Port Vale 2-1 on the road. While in League Two, Tulloch’s Bradford City were beaten 2-1 by Sutton United as they fell to a second successive loss on their travels.
