Our men's under-21s were beaten 4-2 by Crystal Palace on Sunday evening.
Early chances for Luca Barrington suggested Albion had found their rhythm, but a straight red card for James Beadle after 11 minutes put us on the back foot.
The keeper had denied Ademola Ola-Adebomi smartly just a few minutes before, but his high tackle on the striker saw the former Charlton stopper given his marching orders.
Toby Bull came onto replace him, making his Premier League 2 debut after a prolonged period out with a shoulder injury.
Palace punished Albion with their extra man, as Kofi Balmer’s header back across goal beat both Bull and Antef Tsoungui on the line to give the visitors the lead after 28 minutes.
Ola-Adebomi doubled their advantage seven minutes later as he nodded in from Kaden Rodney’s right-wing cross, before the striker had his second of the evening with a smartly taken finish into the bottom right corner.
Jack Spong fired inches over just before half-time, while Hinshelwood was somehow denied by Owen Goodman when he managed to stay on his feet after a strong challenge from a Palace defender.
Despite being a man down, we began the second half as if we had 11 men on the pitch. Cam Peupion’s perfectly weighted ball across the face of goal was scuffed wide by substitute Imari Samuels, before the Australian was denied by Goodman after cutting onto his right and hammering at goal.
We had a deserved way back into the game just after the hour though as Spong’s corner flew all the way in, but Palace restored their three-goal cushion when David Ozoh was able to fire in from close range.
Peupion reduced the deficit with a minute of normal time remaining as he thumped past Goodman from Andrew Moran's pass, but Palace had the opportunity to add a fifth to their tally for the night from the penalty spot, only for David Omilabu to drag wide from 12 yards.
Albion: Beadle, Nilsson (Bull 15), Offiah, Tsoungui, Turns, Furlong (Samuels 46), Hinshelwood (Chouchane 46), Spong ©, Moran, Barrington (Ifill 78), Peupion.
Unused subs: Chouchane, Ifill, Jackson, Samuels.