Albion’s youngsters were knocked out of the Premier League Cup in the group stages following a 3-0 defeat at home to Reading on Monday night.
Second-half efforts from Jayden Wareham, Jahmari Clarke and Michael Stickland were enough to beat Richard Beale’s boys at Hednesford Town’s Keys Park Stadium.
Blackburn’s 3-2 triumph at Sheffield United meant they pipped the Baggies to second place in Group B, joining the Blades in the knockout stages at Albion’s expense.
There was a flurry of opportunities inside the opening 20 minutes of the encounter.
Jayden Wareham headed wide for the Royals, while wingers Kiyan Coke Miles Smith and Adrian Akande fired over and wide respectively with the Albion goal in plain sight.
At the other end of the pitch, Layton Love’s acrobatic effort was blocked by a visiting defender and Matt Richards’ header from the edge of the box was comfortably saved by stopper Harvey Collins.
Both teams enjoyed plenty of final-third entries in the remainder of the half, but the opener remained elusive heading into the break.
Fenton Heard was first to try his luck in the second period, forcing Collins into a save with an attempt from distance.
However, it was the Royals who pushed for the opener and Ben Cisse had to parry away Charlie Wellens’ free-kick after 63 minutes.
The visitors were eventually rewarded for their adventures forward and scored the fixture’s first goal just two minutes later when Wareham slotted into the bottom corner from inside the box.
They added a second 12 minutes from the end through substitute Clarke who saw a fierce shot from the right side of the area evade Cisse and nestle in the far corner.
The scoring wouldn’t end there for Reading. Fellow sub Stickland rose highest in the box in added time to nod beyond Cisse from a right-wing corner.
ALBION: Cisse, Williams, Hall (Sumnall HT), Shaw (Malcolm HT), Nelson, Richards, Deeming (Mfuamba 61), Higgins (Sule 79’), Heard, Bostock, Love.
Subs: Foster.
*Pictures kindly provided by Gareth Evans Photography
