Under-18s make it back-to-back wins
ANOTHER fantastic brace from Kaiman Anderson fired Shrewsbury Town's youth team to victory over rivals Wrexham in the league on Saturday.
The striker scored in each half at Shrewsbury Sports Village as he made it five goals in three games in the Football League Youth Alliance - North West League.
Town goalkeeper Shaun Rowley also made a string of good saves to ensure that the Under-18s kept a much-needed clean sheet.
Head of academy coaching Ian Dawes made five changes to the side which won 5-4 at Rochdale a week before.
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Rowley replaced Alex Ashton in goal while captain Jeff Watkins returned from injury and went back into the starting line-up alongside Callum Roberts, Niall Flint and Jacob Farleigh.
Ashton, Callum Grogan, Ryan Sears, Joe Kenton and George Hughes were the five to drop out.
FIRST HALF
Shrewsbury got off to a flyer when they grabbed the lead with just six minutes on the clock.
Niall Flint’s perfectly-weighted pass allowed Ryan Hickman to whip in a low cross where Anderson cleverly flicked the ball in at the near post.
It was a decent opening for the home side but the visitors reacted well and started putting Town on the back foot.
Hickman had to be alert to deny Wrexham winger Jack Davis at the near post before the visitors thought they had equalised two minutes later.
A neat passing move led to Davis crossing for Daniel Reynolds who’s poked effort was ruled out for offside, much to the dismay of the away supporters.
Wrexham continued to press the home side with a succession of corners but the Shrewsbury defence stayed strong and limited the Welsh side to long-distance efforts, with Shaun Rowley making a smart save to deny Davis.
HALF-TIME: Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Wrexham
Shrewsbury made a switch at the break with Tom King being replaced by Joe Kenton.
And Town looked to step up the pace after the restart as they aimed to get a grip of the game.
They did just that when they doubled their lead within four minutes of the break.
Josh Ginnelly, who had moved into a more central position, waltzed through the Wrexham half before slipping in Anderson who fired the ball past Adam Whitlock in the Wrexham goal.
The same combination linked up again minutes later but this time Whitlock came out on top as he palmed away Anderson’s powerful effort before the resulting corner saw the crossbar rattled from Anderson’s left foot volley.
Wrexham were doing well to stay in the game and they should have halved the deficit on the-hour mark when Reynolds headed a Jake Phillips cross wide with the goal at his mercy.
Town had keeper Rowley, fresh from his recent loan move to Market Drayton, to thank for keeping Wrexham from getting on the scoresheet when he expertly tipped over a rasping volley from Reynolds.
Anderson again went looking for his hat-trick when Hickman found him at the near post only for Daniel Roberts to get in a great block to deny him Town’s number-nine.
Rowley had to be alert again when he tipped a curling free-kick from Jake Duran round the post as Town battled for that clean sheet.
With time running out, Shrewsbury almost put a bit of gloss on the scoreline when substitute Jordan Wilson latched on to a short back pass.
The striker’s pace allowed him to go around Whitlock from a tight angle and after the keeper did well to get back, Wilson saw his goal-bound effort cleared off the line.
But Town had done enough to earn the three points and give themselves a boost heading into Tuesday night's Shropshire Senior Cup match at Greenhous Meadow against Ellesmere Rangers (7.45pm kick-off).
FULL-TIME: Shrewsbury Town 2-0 Wrexham
: Shaun Rowley (GK); Ryan Hickman, Nathan Millis, Callum Roberts, Jeff Watkins (c), Niall Flint, Josh Ginnelly, Alex Fletcher, Kaiman Anderson, Jacob Farleigh (Jordan Wilson, 51), Tom King (Joe Kenton, 45).
SHREWSBURY TOWN LINE-UP
UNUSED SUBS: Alex Ashton (GK), Jack Butts, Joel Carta.
BOOKED: Watkins (63).
GOALS: Anderson (6, 53).
: Adam Whitlock (GK); Jake Phillips, Adam Harvey-Davies, Jake Duran, Daniel Roberts, Matthew Harumunis, Jonathan Smith, Iwan Cartwright (c), Joe Williams, Daniel Reynolds, Jack Davis.
WREXHAM LINE-UP
SUBS: Leo Smith, Jamie McColl, Rakim Newton, Jordan Davies.
: Shrewsbury Town v Carlisle United (Football League Youth Alliance – North West league, Saturday 13 December, Shrewsbury Sports Village, 11am kick-off).NEXT FIXTURE
Please note, the youth team players will be involved in the Shropshire Senior Cup semi-final match against Ellesmere Rangers on Tuesday 9 December (7pm kick-off at the Greenhous Meadow).*
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