Young Baggies battle to draw with second-placed Black Cats
JOEL Ambalu was on the scoresheet as Albion earned a 1-1 draw at Sunderland in the Barclays U18 Premier League on Saturday.
The striker’s 51st-minute goal gave the Baggies the lead but the Black Cats fought back to steal a point late on.
And lead development coach James Shan praised his young squad, which featured a number of first-year scholars and under-16s, for their impressive performance at the weekend.
“It was definitely our best performance of the calendar year and possibly the best of the season,” said Shan.
“We slightly edged the first half and should have converted one of three very good chances.
“Having said that, Jack Rose was forced into two outstanding saves, but Sunderland didn’t really create as many chances as we did.
“We were magnificent in the second half and we created numerous chances.
“I was very happy with our intensity and we played with real purpose.
“From my perspective it was a very pleasing performance.
“It felt a bit like a defeat because we did more than enough to win the game.
“Other than three players we had first years and under-16s all over the pitch so it’s another positive performance from a very, very young team.”
ALBION: Rose; Buchannon, McCalla, Greenidge, Wedderburn; Pace, Hayes; Barrow (Campbell 70), S Nabi, Hallaghan; Ambalu. Subs not used: Palmer; Howkins, Cater, Ezewelle.