Albion exited the Birmingham Senior Cup after falling to defeat against Stourbridge in the semi-finals on Thursday night.
Harry Whitwell had given the visitors the advantage at the start of the second half, but the home side rallied with a solid spell of pressure which saw Jason Cowley’s double and Callum Rowe’s strike send Richard Beale’s men out of the tournament.
It was a physical encounter on the night, with Albion’s youngsters having to deal with a bombardment of aerial balls.
Both sides exchanged chances in the opening 10 minutes. Rico Richards made Stourbridge keeper Charlie Price save his close-range effort inside the box, before home captain Reece King stung the palms of Ronnie Hollingshead in the Baggies net.
Having set up Richards for an effort, Reyes Cleary tried his own luck at goal - bursting onto a loose ball into the box, but despite the besting of his man, Price got a strong hand to turn the shot behind.
Akeel Higgins saw a header cleared under the goal line, Rico curled a free-kick over, and the former had a god shout for a penalty turned down after being pushed to ground inside the area. Still, the referee didn’t deem it enough contact to keep the scores level at halfway.
Despite Stourbridge keeping Beale’s youngsters out till the break, it didn’t take long after the restart to break their resistance.
A long ball forward was perfectly poked through by skipper Faal and the England youth international controlled it perfectly, as he looked up and coolly slotted in the opener.
Unfortunately for Albion, two rash decisions saw the game turn on its head.
Firstly, a handball in the box allowed Rowe to tap in after Prosser had missed his initial spot-kick, before the same happened again - this time Cowley followed up his own penalty miss to put the hosts in front.
And Cowley would double his tally, scoring another rebound to add a third and ensure the young Baggies went out in the last four of the Senior Cup despite an admirable run in the competition.
Albion: Hollingshead; Hall ©️, Ingram, Harper-Bailey (Nguepissi 90+2), Humphries; M.Richards, Whitwell (Wangusi 80), R.Richards (Love 80); Higgins, Cleary (Heard 55), Faal.
Substitutes: Cisse.
