Match Reports

Baggies begin pre-season with Port Vale win

Okay Yokuslu in pre-season action against Port Vale

Albion stepped up their pre-season preparations with a 3-0 win over Port Vale in a behind-closed-doors friendly at the club’s training ground on Saturday. 

Brandon Thomas-Asante put the Baggies in front midway through the first half, firing home a ferocious volley after Caleb Taylor headed back across goal from Matt Phillips’ left-wing corner. 

Adam Reach doubled the lead after the restart with another well-executed volley from 15 yards, with Alex Mowatt providing the assist with a lofted ball over the top. 

Karlan Grant found a third with a driven right-foot strike after Mowatt burst inside the penalty area before laying the ball into the path of the former Huddersfield striker. 

Carlos Corberán’s men came through the encounter unscathed, earning valuable game time before their St George’s Park training camp begins on Monday. 

Next up for the Baggies is another behind-closed-doors friendly at the club’s training ground on Saturday, July 15, when League One side Shrewsbury Town are the opposition. 

Starting XI: Palmer; Ingram, Taylor, Bartley, Townsend; Yokuslu, Gardner-Hickman; Phillips, Whitwell (Andrews 30), Malcolm; Thomas-Asante. 

Second-half XI: Button; Furlong, Ajayi, Kipré, Pieters (Ashworth 75); Mowatt, Swift; Fellows, Andrews (Mfuamba 60), Reach; Grant.