Walsall Under-18s returned to action on Saturday morning as they welcomed Shrewsbury Town to the Birmingham County FA's headquarters on Ray Hall Lane for an EFL Youth Alliance clash.After earning a dramatic 3-2 triumph over Salford City last weekend, the young Saddlers were looking to continue their recent spell of form and take down a near rival at the same time.
WALSALL
Barber; Harris, Roberts, Oliver, Pawlowski, Straw, Thomas, Worrall, Makavore, Etheridge, Hunt
Substitutes: Hamilton-Wright; Bathan, Sjoerdsma, Wain, Kanyi
SHREWSBURY TOWN
Smart; Chaffatt, Godwin, Valentine, Hall, Hardeman, Ashton, Hughes, Snook, Gray, Thompson-McKenzie
Substitutes: Stretton, Kameni, Tait, Shaw, Donnelly
The opening goal of the game went the way of the Saddlers as, with just eight minutes on the clock, Sam Oliver crashed the ball home from a well-worked corner.
Sadly for the young Saddlers, they couldn't hold onto their lead for the entire half as the visitors levelled on the stroke of half-time when Jeval Thompson-McKenzie put the ball into the back of Harrison Barber's net.
The visitors had the lion share of chances over the course of the second forty-five, but were reduced to ten men with ten minutes remaining, making their drive for the win that little bit harder.
Unperturbed by their reduction in personnel, the Shrews went on to grab a late winner as, with just a minute of normal time remaining, Thompson-McKenzie pounced to score his second goal of the contest.
Walsall boss Ryan Simmonds made a string of second-half substitutions, but was unable to find the formula to continue his team's superb run of form as the visitors took all three points at Ray Hall Lane.
| OLIVER (8') |
THOMPSON-McKENZIE (45+1') THOMPSON-McKENZIE (89') |
| AT | RAY HALL LANE |