Derby County Under-21s were beaten 5-1 by West Bromwich Albion Under-21s on Monday evening.
Osazee Aghatise scored for the young Rams but a brace from Mo Faal and a hat-trick from Reyes Cleary ensured it was Albion that secured all three points.
Things got off to a tough start for the young Rams when Faal got in behind the defence and rounded Luke McGee to put the visitors in front within 60 seconds.
West Brom thought they had two within the opening two minutes when Faal found the back of the net again but this time he was denied by the offside flag.
The Rams had a glorious chance to equalise with their first opportunity when Owen Oseni was put through on goal but visiting goalkeeper Brad Foster stood tall to deny him, while McGee pulled off a fine point-blank save to stop what looked a certain goal from Jovan Malcolm and keep the score at 1-0
Foster then kept the Baggies in it with a superb double save, first from Kido Taylor-Hart before getting down to stop Billy Vigar with the follow up.
The Rams had been the better side for a lot of the half but it was the visitors that doubled their lead before the break, Cleary finishing powerfully from a tight angle.
Albion had their third of the night and Faal had his second within five minutes of the restart, the big forward finishing past McGee after good work from substitute Akeel Higgins.
Vigar pounced on a mistake from visiting goalkeeper Foster to set up Aghatise who finished nicely to give to give Derby some hope with an hour played.
Cleary got his second and West Brom's fourth with a thunderbolt from the edge of the area after the defence had failed to clear a corner properly.
And the winger was able to net his hat-trick before time was up. Neat interplay saw him gain a yard on the edge of the area. His first strike cannoned off the post but it ricocheted kindly into his path for him to slot home the rebound and round off an impressive win for the visitors.
The Teams
Derby County U21s: McGee (GK), Oduroh, Kelly-Caprani (87' Gough), Bates, Cox, Robinson (C), Taylor-Hart, Hawkins, Vigar, Oseni (53' Brown), Aghatise (83' Davidson).
Substitutes not used: Perry, Evans.
West Bromwich Albion U21s: Foster (GK), Ingram (46' Richards), Humphries, Andrews (46' Nguepissi), Bartley (46' Higgins), Hall, Malcolm (46' Harper-Bailey), Livermore (77' Hangusi), Faal, Richards, Cleary.
Substitutes not used: Wangusi.
