Walsall Under-18s returned to action on Saturday morning as they played host to Shrewsbury Town in their latest EFL Youth Alliance outing of the season.
Heading into the match on the back of a one-all draw with Tranmere Rovers, the young Saddlers were looking to secure more points as they hope to close the gap between themselves and the sides above them.
WALSALL TEAM
Hedge; Baldwin, Simcox, Regan, Sawyers, Shaw, Cristofaro, Maher, Onabirekhanlen, Willock, Edwards
Substitutes: Barrett; Cox, Taylor, Uchenna, Poskitt
Still managed by Development Phase Coach Ben King, the Saddlers were forced to weather the storm during the opening stages of the contest as the visitors went in search of the opening goal of the game.
Walsall's first goal-bound effort of the match saw ever-present attacker Ronan Maher send a free-kick past the Shrews post as the 'keeper scrambled to get a touch on the ball.
Maher continued to be a nuisance for the visitors and forced Josh Barber into some illegal activity, the youngster ultimately going into the referee's notebook after he ended a Walsall attack by pulling on Maher's shirt.
After the game went through something of a scrappy spell, the only real effort of note being a cleared Lucas Edwards cross, the visitors were handed an opportunity to open the scoring as some less-than-stellar defending saw the referee award a spot kick.
Happy to take advantage of their gift, Shrewsbury went on to grab the first goal of the game as Louis Lloyd slotted past goalkeeper Zach Hedge, the young stopper being somewhat unlucky as he guessed the right way, but was unable to make the save.
HALF-TIME
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WFC
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0-1
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STFC
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The young Saddlers started the second-half brightly as they went in search of an equalising goal, with the team looking to prod and probe their opponents, looking for some gaps in their backline.
Though the contest did get somewhat scrappy with captain Josh Simcox picking up a booking and midfielder Lucas Edwards requiring a spell of treatment - the Saddler eventually being forced off as Will Uchenna took to the field.
Unfortunately for the Reds, their search for a goal of their own was in vain, as the visitors were eventually able to grab a second as Josh Bailey got the better of Hedge and his backline to extend his team's advantage.
The Saddlers were soon back in search of a goal of their own as substitute Uchenna and highly-rated forward Shay Willock became something of a pain for the Shrews defence, though they were still unable to find the back of the net.
As he continued to search for ways to get his side back inti the game, coach Ben King elected to make another change as Brad Taylor took the place of Marvellous Onabirekhanlen.
Walsall's afternoon continued in a downward direction as Dennis Antal was able to further extend his team's lead, the young Saddlers suffering that same fate as their first-team colleagues as they fail to make much of their own goal-scoring opportunities before being punished at the other end.
With time running out the Saddlers were able to create another promising opening which resulted in a superb save by Salop stopper Xander Parker, who had to be at his best to deny substitute Brad Taylor his first goal of the game.
The Saddlers' day didn't het any better as Louis Lloyd, the man who opened the scoring from the spot, got his second and Shrewsbury' fourth in second-half stoppage time, the young Shrews enjoying their visit to Ray Hall Lane.
FULL-TIME
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WFC
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0-4
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STFC
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Lloyd [P] (39') Bailey (64') Antal (80') Lloyd (90')
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AT
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Ray Hall Lane
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