ALBION Under-18s fell victim to Crewe's last-gasp smash and grab raid as they suffered a 3-2 defeat in FA Premier Academy League (Group C) on Saturday.

The Baggies took the lead in the 35th minute when Ethan Mannion was brought down for a penalty, which he took and saw saved before slotting home the rebound.

Alexandra pulled one back to make the scores level at the break but five minutes into the second-half Akil Grier restored Albion's advantage.

Unfortunately, there proved to be a sting in the tail as the hosts snatched all three points with two late goals to subject the Baggies to back-to-back defeats.

Albion Academy coach Keith Downing said: "We had a poor ending to a game in which the majority of the time we were in control of.

"I was disappointed we didn't keep the first-half lead for longer but we were reasonably pleased with the performance at half-time and just needed to add an element of patience to our game.

"We started quite brightly in the second-half.

"In fairness to Crewe they pushed us back a little bit and the game became quite open and end-to-end.

"Crewe had a few chances to equalise and didn't.

"Then we switched off from a free-kick and they scored.

"Almost on time they got the winner with a header from a free-kick.

"I was disappointed our players didn't manage the game when they were 2-1 up and we didn't see the game out.

"Having said that credit to Crewe, who pushed us all the way.

"But we lost our shape and our discipline.

"It was a disappointing result especially after the first half of the season we've had.

"We've now had back-to-back defeats so we need to reflect and start off the New Year by coming back stronger."

ALBION: Tebbutt, Gayle, Waghorn, Mantom, Connolly, Malcolm, Lynch, Thorne (Lovell 75), Mannion (Roofe 80), Grier, Berahino. Subs not used: Mulholland, Lewis, Nabi.