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Walsall Under-18s returned to action on Friday afternoon as they welcomed Carlisle United to Ray Hall Lane for their second EFL Youth Alliance outing of the new campaign.After opening the season with a disappointing four-nil defeat to Blackpool, the youngsters were looking for a more positive result as they welcomed the young Cumbrians to the Birmingham County FA's headquarters in Great Barr.
WALSALL TEAM
Barrett; Beckford, Roberts, Bennett, Lawal-Olumegbon, Cox, Preece, Thomas, Wragg, Juliff, Leydon
Substitutes: Kilroy; Jones, Chakki, Poskitt, Uchenna
Unfortunately for Walsall, their disappointing start showed no signs of coming to a swift end as they gifted the visitors the opening goal of the game with around four minutes on the clock as a defensive mix-up allowed United to take an early lead.
Carlisle doubled their lead shortly after the first-half had reached the halfway point via a well-placed free-kick that young Walsall goalkeeper George Barrett was unable to keep out of the back of his net.
The pain didn't end there either, as, with just moments of the first-half remaining, the visitors were awarded a penalty after the Saddlers' failure to deal with a Cumbrians corner saw an attacker felled inside the area, before the spot-kick was comfortably dispatched.
HALF-TIME
| WALSALL | 0-3 | CARLISLE |
Walsall weren't without goal-scoring opportunities of their own and went closest just moments into the second-half as Charlie Wragg saw an effort cannon off the crossbar as he looked to drag his team back into the contest.
The Saddlers made a couple of changes as Marley Roberts and Jackson Preece were replaced by Will Uchenna and Linton Chakki, but they were unable to make any sort of impact upon the scoreline, but that changed when more changes were made.
With thirteen minutes of the game remaining Cailen Beckford and Tom Cox made way for Oliver Jones and Zak Poskitt and that pair of changes produced an immediate impact as Poskitt cut the visitors' lead to two with a fine finish.
However, the Cumbrians were soon back to their three-goal lead as Walsall's backline was breached once again, with Walsall's losing start to the season continuing, but not before Abdul-Malik Lawal-Olumegbon saw red after collecting his second bookable offence.
Another difficult day for the youngsters, though there were several below-age players included in the squad as the club continues to offer a clear pathway between the academy and first-team.
FULL-TIME
| WALSALL | 1-4 | CARLISLE |
| POSKITT | |
| AT | RAY HALL LANE |