Ruth: I’ve never experienced match like that as a coach

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Under-21s impress their head coach.

2026-03-02T06:00+00:00

Shannon Ruth's team are 12th in Premier League 2. 📷 by James Boardman.

Shannon Ruth was blown away by his team’s performance in their 2-2 draw with Newcastle United on Friday.

The scoreline only tells half the story. A Charlie Penman red card and two Magpies goals at the end of the first half left our under-21s with a mountain to climb. But goals from Miah Oriola and Joe Belmont saw Albion take a point, andJosh Robertson nearly completed the most unlikely of comebacks but his drive flew inches wide.

“The overriding feeling is pride – I am extremely proud of the team,” Ruth said. “It's not often you are down to ten men and 2-0 down at half-time, and then you come back to draw 2-2 with the level of performance that we had.

“We had incredible team spirit and attitude. We showed lots of variety in our game. There was some incredible defending – the guys were sprinting back for each other. But there were always moments of really good play against a team with a man extra.

Miah Oriola has five goals and three assists in Premier League 2 so far this campaign. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“Our goals were good goals. Josh Robertson had a good chance not long after the second goal to take us 3-2 up and we carried a threat throughout the game.

“I'm just really happy that the players have got a reward for all their hard work because how they performed with 10 men for 45 minutes was incredible really.

“As a coach I've not been part of that before. Bearing in mind we actually started the game really well. It was obviously unlucky for Charlie Penman to give the penalty away and get sent off.

“That was tough for the team and it probably rocked us for 5-10 minutes because they scored again pretty quickly which made the task even harder. But the last three performances have been really positive.

Joe Belmont has scored in back to back Premier League 2 matches. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

“There were players who had to fill in positions they're not used to and that had to put the team first. So it was a really well earned point and something we can build on.”

That spirit is something Shannon is keen to see continued when his team play Fulham on Friday.

“I am looking forward to the Fulham game, especially if we can repeat those levels of togetherness, spirit and competitiveness. We know that we'll cause any team in our division problems. We've just got to keep building and moving forward.”