West Bromwich Albion Under-21s 3 Newcastle United Under-21s 1 | OneFootball

After a goalless opening half-hour, the young Magpies fell behind at the ARMCO Arena, home of Solihull Moors, through Akeel Higgins' emphatic long-range strike before Eseosa Sule's close-range finish doubled the Baggies' lead within the opening two minutes of the restart.

Sule extended the hosts' advantage further in the latter stages of the contest and despite a late flourish from United's second-string, which saw Jay Turner-Cooke pull one back for the visitors, Newcastle's youngsters were condemned to defeat against their Baggies counterparts.

Diarmuid O'Carroll made two changes from the side which claimed a 2-2 draw against Everton a fortnight ago as Joe Brayson, son of former Magpies forward Paul, was handed his full debut at under-21 level while the hosts named Semi Ajayi and Daryl Dike, both senior international debutants with Nigeria and the United States respectively, in their starting XI.

Garang Kuol, who represented Australia at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, went close to netting a stunning solo effort as the 20-year-old forward completed a surging run from distance before his resulting effort from the edge of the box flew onto the underside of the woodwork.

In the 36th minute, Newcastle trailed as Higgins broke the deadlock, carrying out a lengthy run from distance before unleashing a powerful drive from the edge of the penalty area into the top right-hand corner.

Magpies goalkeeper James Taylor produced a terrific stop to prevent Whitwell from doubling Albion's advantage after brilliantly tipping Whitwell's curling free-kick from the left flank onto the crossbar.

The teenage 'keeper, who joined United's Academy from Hemel Hempstead Town last summer, was in action on the stroke of half-time after bravely blocking Daego Nelson's close-range shot as the Baggies full-back combined dangerously with Sule.

Scott Bailey was unable to draw the young Magpies level within the opening minute of the second half as Alfie Harrison's cross was clawed into the central midfielder's path by West Brom goalkeeper Joe Wallis but his resulting effort was sliced wide of the target.

Newcastle were punished 60 seconds later as Sule scored for the hosts, latching onto Michael Parker's low cross into the box before placing a low first-time effort into the bottom right-hand corner.

Bailey, who signed his first professional contract with United last summer, was unable to halve the deficit as Kuol's cross from the left flank was cleared into the Durham-born teenager's path but his deflected shot at goal was comfortably held by Wallis.

Magpies skipper Cathal Heffernan produced an excellent last-ditch challenge to deny Parker extending Albion's lead further as the Irish centre-back tracked the Baggies full-back's lengthy run before his sliding challenge crucially turned the ball out of danger.

However, in the 72nd minute, Newcastle conceded a third goal as Sule recorded a brace. After the United defence were unable to clear their lines, Sule picked the ball up on the edge of the box before managing to fire an effort underneath Taylor.

In the 88th minute, Newcastle pulled one back through Turner-Cooke as the South Shields-born youngster, who made his first-team debut for Eddie Howe's side in December 2022 during a 5-0 win against Al-Hilal in Riyadh controlled Kuol's pass on the edge of the box before curling a delightful strike into the top left-hand corner.

The visitors thought they had set up a grandstand finale moments later as Kuol slotted the ball into the bottom right-hand corner but the goal was ruled out to the frustration of the Cairo-born youngster after referee Declan Brown adjudged Turner-Cooke to be interfering with play whilst in an offside position.