Pre-season at the Croud Meadow
Match Report | Shrewsbury 1-0 Everton under-21s
Pre-season | Game Four
Shrewsbury Town secured a 1-0 win over Everton under-21s in a pre-season friendly.
In what was Salop's first friendly outing on home soil - a goal from Josh Ruffels secured a deserved win for Gavin Cowan's side.
Team news:
Town's first-half XI saw Will Brook start in goal.
Isaac Lee, Sam Stubbs and Josh Ruffels made up the back three with Arkell Jude-Boyd and Kevin Berkoe at wing-back.
Tom Sang and Isaac England sat in midfield with Isaac Fletcher in the number 10 role.
Josh Davison and Jay Snook were the front two.
Report:
Salop started brightly at the Croud Meadow and almost created an early opener inside four minutes.
Arkell Jude-Boyd burst down the right flank before delivering an inviting cross into the penalty area, but there was nobody on hand to apply the finishing touch.
Town were then forced into an early reshuffle after 15 minutes when Jay Snook was unable to continue. Jeval Thompson-McKenzie was introduced in his place.
Gavin Cowan's side continued to look the more threatening as the half progressed.
Just after the half-hour mark, Sang's corner was met by Stubbs, with the loose ball falling kindly for Davison, whose instinctive effort flashed narrowly over the crossbar.
Moments later, England's excellent cross-field pass picked out Jude-Boyd on the right. The wing-back's cross found Isaac Fletcher inside the area, but the midfielder saw his shot bravely blocked by the Everton defence.
England remained at the heart of Town's best attacking moments, and another driving run led to Jude-Boyd cutting inside his marker before firing over the bar.
Everton's best opportunity arrived in first-half stoppage time when Foster curled a dangerous free-kick towards goal, but Will Brook produced an excellent save to preserve the deadlock.
Boss Cowan made 10 changes at the break with Sam Proctor making his first appearance in goal at the Croud Meadow.
Ollie Hall, Will Boyle and Tom Anderson made up the back three with Reuben Falding and Byron Pendleton at wing-back.
Jack Price, Will Gray and Jay Turner-Cooke made up the midfield three with Joe Gbode and Thompson-McKenzie up front.
It was Everton's youngsters who had the first chance following the re-start with Proctor claiming well from a Josh Van School free-kick.
But as the clock ticked towards the hour mark, Salop got themselves in front.
Thompson-McKenzie showed brilliant skill to spin away from his marker before forcing a save from the Everton goalkeeper.
The visitors failed to clear the danger, though, and the ball was kept alive before Ruffels nodded home at the back post.
Cowan refreshed his side shortly after with a raft of substitutions.
Will Boyle, Reuben Falding, Will Gray, Joe Gbode, Tom Anderson, Byron Pendleton and Ollie Hall were all introduced, replacing Lee, Ruffels, Stubbs, Jude-Boyd, Berkoe, England and Davison.
The changes injected fresh energy into Salop, who created a host of opportunities to extend their lead.
Falding and Hall saw goal-bound headers blocked, while Turner-Cooke forced George Pickford into an excellent stop after being slipped in by Gbode.
Everton did have a goal ruled out for offside in the 90th minutes. But overall, it was an impressive performance from Cowan's men who thoroughly deserved the win.