Under-18s show grit to win with 10 men at Walsall

Shrewsbury Town’s Under-18s produced a superb display of resilience to claim a dramatic 2–1 victory over Walsall, despite playing the closing stages with 10 men.

In cold and blustery conditions, the hosts started brightly and took the lead inside seven minutes following a corner. 

Lewis Smart made a fine point-blank save from the initial effort, but Walsall reacted quickest to the rebound to poke home.

The remainder of the first half was a tight midfield battle, with chances few and far between for both sides.

Nyran Chaffatt fired over on 37 minutes before Shrewsbury came within inches from a corner, only for the Saddlers to clear off the line.

Just before the break, Salop found their equaliser.

Jay Snook threaded a perfectly weighted pass through to Jeval Thompson-McKenzie, who calmly slotted into the bottom-left corner to level the contest.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with both sides battling to create openings.

Snook and Leon Hughes went close but were unable to hit the target as the game remained finely balanced.

A turning point came when Walsall broke on the counter and Will Gray was shown a straight red card following a lunging challenge, leaving Shrewsbury with 10 men for the final stages.

But despite the set-back, the young Town side dug in - and were rewarded in dramatic fashion.

In the 89th minute, Hughes drove in from the wing, beat two defenders and squared for Thompson-McKenzie, who had the composure to place his shot into the bottom-left corner for his second of the afternoon.

Jayden Valentine almost added a late third from a free-kick on the edge of the box, but his effort whistled just wide.

Despite being reduced to 10 men for the final 10 minutes, Shrewsbury showed outstanding character and determination to leave Walsall with all three points.

They are back in league action against Blackpool on Saturday, January 31.

Starting XI: Smart (GK), Chaffatt, Godwin, Valentine, Hall, Hardeman, Aiston, Hughes, Snook, Gray Thompson-McKenzie

Substitutes: Stretton, Kameni, Tait, Shaw, Donnelly