Albion Under-18s lost 6-3 away at Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
The young Baggies suffered their first defeat of the campaign at Saints' Staplewood Training Ground in what was an end-to-end contest on the south coast.
Harry Gathercole broke the deadlock for the hosts after seven minutes, only for the visitors from the Black Country to level matters with Alfie Maughan turning provider again - crossing from the right for Harry French to acrobatically convert a bicycle kick beyond the Southampton shot-stopper for 1-1.
Two goals in as many minutes soon gave the Saints breathing space, though, at 3-1 and although George Shaw's through ball allowed Adam Okorodudu to finish a one-on-one to stay within reach of their opponents, the hosts soon restored their two-goal advantage through Korban McMullan on 32 minutes.
Attacker French gave the visitors hope going into the second period when he netted his fifth goal in three games across all competitions for the 18s - receiving the ball from fellow forward Okorodudu before converting to make it 4-3 on 41 minutes.
Sadly, Southampton took the game away from Albion's academy hopefuls after the interval; conceding a penalty which was consequently dispatched, prior to a swift counter-attack in the 81st minute seeing the Saints extend their lead to 6-3 which proved too much to recover from for the visitors.
The Baggies' young group return to U18 Premier League South action with a short trip to Birmingham City on Saturday, September 20 (ko 11am).
Albion: Moses, Maughan, Perkins, Abudu (Francis-Caesar 65)), Shaw, Letlat (Jackson 84), Blackshields, Iddrisa, Colesby (Seven-Seven 63), French, Okorodudu (McNeil 62).
Substitutes: Lines (GK).
