Four of Albion's youngsters started for their loan clubs over a busy weekend up and down the country.
In the main, it was a successful one for the club's academy graduates and none more so than for defensive-midfielder, Matt Richards.
Having ended his season's loan at non-league Alvechurch on Saturday afternoon, the 20-year-old made the step up to join National League North side Leamington for the remainder of the campaign, and went straight into their starting XI to play Farsley Celtic at the Your Co-Op Community Stadium.
An impressive debut - in which Richards played the full 90 minutes - helped the Brakes to a 3-0 home victory on home soil, with Ewan Williams bagging a first-half brace and Henry Landers rounding off the scoring in the second 45, as Leamington made it three wins on the spin.
💛 Congrats on your Brakes debut, @mattrichards107!
It’s brilliant to have you with us 🤝#BackingTheBrakes | #BrakesTogether
📸 @69_simo pic.twitter.com/guzfpboDet— Leamington FC ⚽️ (@LeamingtonFC) February 16, 2025
In the division above, Reyes Cleary's Hartlepool United couldn't make their dominance count on Saturday afternoon as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Maidenhead United.
Having bagged his first goal for United during their 2-2 midweek draw with Tamworth, the Albion attacker played the entirety of the game at The Prestige Group Stadium over the weekend and although he couldn't make the difference on the day, Cleary's performance earned him the club's Man of the Match vote.
Josh Shaw made his debut for National League North side Marine AFC during the week, and the left-sided defender started again on Saturday in their league clash with Brackley Town at the Marine Travel Arena.
Sadly, the 21-year-old and his team were unable to build on their morale-boosting 3-1 win over Rushall Olympic as Town came from behind to defeat them. Despite scoring within the first minute through Bobby Grant's goal, the Saints scored in either half via Matt Lowe and Connor Hall to claim the points.
Shaw played 51 minutes prior to being substituted, with defeat leaving Marine 21st in the NL North standings, but he will hope to feature again on Tuesday night when they play a third successive home match - this time, hosting Kidderminster Harriers.
Line Up
1️⃣ change for the starting eleven
Kallan Murphy comes in for Jack Hazlehurst, who picked up a slight knock but still makes the bench.
The remainder of the squad remains unchanged. pic.twitter.com/ruPJ6aICwv— Marine Football Club (@MarineAFC) February 15, 2025
And the last of our academy graduates who featured was Ronnie Hollingshead, who kept his usual place between the sticks during Southern League Premier Central side Alvechurch's 2-2 draw with Halesowen Town.
Currently the Church's No.1, Hollingshead was unable to stop his team going 2-0 down before the interval following strikes from Connor Tee and Kieren Donnelly.
Still, a second-half fightback saw the visitors restore parity in the game. Dan Sweeney and Krystian Pearce converted within 10 minutes to give Ronnie's team hope of finding all three points.
Sadly, their efforts were only enough to earn them a deserved point on the road - a result which leaves the Church 12th in Southern League Central table.
In addition, Caleb Taylor was an unused substitute during Wycombe Wanderers' 1-1 draw away at Crawley Town.
The Chairboys appointed former Sunderland coach Mike Dodds as their new head coach earlier this month, and Albion's centre-half will be keen to prove himself to the new boss during the remainder of their Sky Bet League One campaign.
