It was a game that had all the action, a red card, five goals and most importantly a Chelsea comeback that resulted in a win.

After being a man and a goal down on 35 minutes it seemed Chelsea had a long afternoon ahead of them - but three well-earned goals, one each for Ben Elliott, Joe Haigh and Ronnie Stutter secured the win which moved the boys up to fifth place and on to 20 points.

Early blow

Chelsea got the game underway and enjoyed the fairer share of the ball. West Brom did well to limit our clear chances on goal to a minimum but the young Blues certainly looked the more confident of the two sides in the early exchanges.

Against the run of play it was the hosts who opened the scoring with the first shot of the game inside the 19th minute. It was a decent spell of link-up play which opened up the space for the goal, that was finshed well inside the six-yard box.

Chelsea had the chance to make up for the goal conceded a few moments later with both of our wing-backs involved in a slick attacking move. Silko Thomas’ cross dropped at the back post for Brooking but his well-hit volley had a bit too much power behind it and cleared the crossbar.

Others had the chance to claw a goal back, Haigh was the closest when he fired just beyond the post with the Baggies keeper stretching. Unfortunately for Chelsea our hopes of drawing level were dealt a blow when Brooking was harshly shown a straight red card on 35 minutes and we had a lot of work to do from then on.

Glimmer of hope

A goal and a man down as time headed toward the interval, Chelsea were by-no-means out of the game and the resurgence started at the perfect time, just before the break. Midfield man Elliot forced home Haigh’s low cross at close range to give Chelsea a chance at resurrecting something from the game.

In the few moments that remained of the half Chelsea didn’t look like a side with 10 men and almost took the lead through Elliott’s next chance which was a diving header with Haigh instrumental in the build-up once again.

Haigh hits home

Haigh was finding acres of space in midfield and the hosts were having difficulty stopping his surging runs towards goal and it was one of those sprints which saw the youngster put Chelsea ahead.

Vale won the ball back in the middle and quick thinking saw him find Haigh, the number 10 advanced towards the box and dropped his shoulder to the right before fizzing the ball perfectly in to the bottom corner. It was an excellent and a well-deserved goal for the youngster and it was three for Brand's boys not before long.

Charlie Wiggett mopped up at the back and gave possession to Charlie Webster in midfield, with space on his side, the midfielder looked up and spotted schoolboy Ronnie Stutter making a run for the box. The 17-year-old dropped the ball in behind the defence and Stutter’s touch took his marker out of the game, leaving him with just the ‘keeper to beat and he did just that, finishing way beyond his years for our third of the afternoon.

Nervy finish

With the man advantage West Brom had to respond and their change of shape forced Chelsea back in to our own half, giving us a lot of defending to do for the final 15 minutes.

West Brom were gifted a way back in to the game with 11 minutes remaining on the clock. The referee deemed Elliott to have fouled a home player in the area and pointed to the spot. Reyes Cleary stepped up and slammed home from 12 yards meaning just a single goal separated the sides.

Sami Tlemcani was called upon to make numerous stops in the dying moments and Chelsea's Thomas will be disappointed he couldn’t add a fourth to wrap up the points a little earlier. Sprinting towards the box leaving his marker for dust, the youngster had just the keeper to beat, but a good save denied the visitors another goal.

There was a sigh of relief from those in blue when the full-time whistle went and Chelsea will be delighted with the character shown to come from behind despite playing with 10 for the majority of the game.

What’s next?

Up next for our youth team is the Under-17 Premier League Cup tie against Fulham, kick-off at Cobham on Wednesday afternoon is 4pm.

Chelsea 3-4-2-1 Sami Tlemcani; Alfie Gilchrist (c), Charlie Wiggett, Luke Badley-Morgan (Ronnie Stutter 47); Josh Brooking, Bashir Humphreys, Charlie Webster, Silko Thomas (Jimi Tauriainen 90+1); Ben Elliott, Joe Haigh (Derrick Abu 90+6); Harvey ValeUnused subs Teddy Curd, Edwin AnderssonBooked Gilchrist 18; Vale 66; Webster 90+6Sent off Brooking 35Scorers Elliott 43; Haigh 59; Stutter 63

West Brom Jamie Emery, Lino Sousa, Ryan Grant, Caleb Taylor (c), Reece Hall, Reyes Cleary, Tim Iroegbunam (Jamie Andrews 69), Aurio Teixeria. Jacob Sheppherd (Sam Okaka 79), Tom Fellows, Mo FaalUnused subs Ronnie Hollingshead, Vinnie Dwyer, Fenton HoardBooked Grant 51; Okaka 90+1Scorers Fellows 19, Cleary 79 (pen)