Ruth delighted with character of his players

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The under-21s scored two late goals to beat Fulham 4-2 in PL2 on Friday.

Luke Nicoli

2026-10-24T11:00+01:00

Shannon Ruth saw his side pick up their second PL2 win of the season against Fulham. 📷Simon Roe

Shannon Ruth praised the character of his under-21 side after they returned to winning ways with an entertaining 4-2 victory at Fulham on Friday.

Albion took control early on through goals from Kofi Shaw and Miah Oriola, but the hosts fought back to level the contest and briefly appeared to have seized the momentum.

Yet Albion regained control in the latter stages, with sub Valentin Joseph and Oriola scoring in the final 11 minutes.

“I thought we were really good in how we started the game,” Ruth said. “We should have been more than two up.

“Then at 2-2, in fairness to Fulham, I thought, ‘we’re in trouble here’. But the boys did a wonderful job of stopping their momentum and then retaking control of the game. That’s really hard to do when it’s against you.

Kofi Shaw (No8) gave Albion an early lead at Motspur Park. 📷Simon Roe

“The players got together and I was really pleased with how they dealt with the adversity of the game. We finished so strongly.”

The victory followed last Sunday’s 3-3 Premier League 2 draw at home to AFC Bournemouth and a narrow 4-3 defeat at a strong Gillingham in the Jersey Mike’s Trophy.

“We’ve suddenly become entertainers, that’s for sure!” smiled Ruth. “I said before the game that we hadn’t quite got the results we deserved for the level of how we were playing. Some of that has been our doing in terms of some of our defending, but we felt that a lot of our play had been at a high level.

“We wanted to make sure that we gave everything and got what we deserved because sometimes football doesn’t give you what you want – you have to take it. I thought we did a really good job of that.”

Albion’s team included goalkeeper Steven Hall, player of the match Oriola and Shane Nti who, less than 24 hours earlier, were all on the bench – along with Younes Ibrahim – for the first team’s UEFA Conference League fixture against FK Jablonec in Czechia.

The trio didn’t touch down in Sussex until the early hours and Ruth was delighted with their application and impact.

“They got back at around 3am and their appetite to want to play and get better is tremendous,” Ruth added. “We try to give them the best experiences and, as always, as an academy we’re extremely grateful to Fabian for the opportunities he gives our players and the boys.

A day after he was on the bench in the UEFA Conference League, Steven Hall made some important saves against Fulham. 📷Simon Roe

“We want to give them the best of both worlds. We want them to be able to experience these high-level evenings and nights away in Europe with our first team, but we also want to make sure that they’re getting better every day and playing in the league and tournament games programme.

“Tonight was a really good example of us doing that.”

Oriola was a threat throughout the 90 minutes, netting a superb individual goal, while midfielder Nti and goalkeeper Hall also stood out. “The effort that Shane, Miah and Steven put in was outstanding,” added Ruth.

“I'm really pleased for Miah because he looked back to his best. He was a real threat. I was delighted that he got his goals and I thought he was dangerous all evening.

“Some of Shane’s work can go unseen, but he’s imperative to how we’re playing at the moment. He’s really important.

“And the assist from Steven [for Oriola’s second] just shows the level of goalkeeper he is, especially with his feet. He also pulled off a superb save as well."