Albion young gun Chris Wood has been named New Zealand’s young player of the year for 2008 at an awards ceremony in Auckland.

The 17-year-old striker’s success at The Hawthorns has earned recognition Down Under in the form of the Nike Young Men’s Player of the Year Award at the 2008 New Zealand Football (NZF) Awards luncheon.

The award marked Wood’s achievements last year in earning a place in the Baggies academy but he is already considered a front-runner for the 2009 award after earning a shock call-up to the first team squad in recent weeks.

The giant forward became only the fifth Kiwi to play in the Premier League when he made his senior debut as a substitute at Portsmouth a fortnight ago.

Wood has been a prolific scorer for the youth team and has played regularly for the reserves this term.

Auckland-born Wood recorded a video message which was screened at the ceremony. He said: “This is a great honour for me and I want to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for me and for all the support I’ve received from back home.

“It’s been a hectic last few months and this is a great achievement.

“I started off in the youth team but have kicked on in the last few months, played well, got my chance and hopefully I’ve taken it.

“It’s great to know that New Zealanders are supporting me and pushing me on to go further in my career.”

n Albion’s youth team kept up their winning run with a 3-0 success at Leeds to make it three victories in a row.

The prolific Saido Berahino gave the Baggies a 1-0 half-time advantage with a goal on the half-hour.

Sam Mantom and Lateef Elford-Alliyu then added goals in the 60th and 85th minutes respectively.

Coach Michael Appleton said: “It was a thoroughly deserved victory and another good performance.

“We could have gone on and won by more.”