Late Ginnelly goal salvages Under-18s draw
A late equaliser from Josh Ginnelly earned Shrewsbury Town's youth team a point in an entertaining game at Burnley on Saturday.The young Shrews had fallen behind to Bradley Jackson's strike for the Clarets in the third minute, but goals from Ethan Jones and Ginnelly then fired Town in front.
However, Burnley overturned the game themselves with headers from Ntumba Massanka and Alex Richardson either side of the break.
It looked as though Town were going to fall to their third league defeat of the season, but Ginnelly tapped in on 83 minutes to salvage a draw for Ian Dawes' side.
FIRST HALF
Town's head of academy coaching made one change to the side which put 13 goals past Chasetown in the Midland Youth Cup first-round game at the Greenhous Meadow on Wednesday night, as Joe Kenton replaced Tom King in midfield.
The game began in slight drizzle at the Arbories Memorial Sports Ground - home of Padiham Town Football Club - and Terry Pashley's side made the perfect start after just three minutes when Jackson fired in a strike from the right edge of the penalty area.
Town goalkeeper Harry Lewis was helpless to prevent the ball from going in, having prevented a header from Massanka with a low, one-handed save moments before the goal.
It was a strong start by the home side and Jackson smashed over another effort in search of Burnley's second, but Town equalised in the ninth minute when Jones tapped in the rebound after striker Kaiman Anderson had been denied one on one from the left.
Two minutes later, Massanka flicked wide a header from Christian Hill's cross at the other end, and Town stopper Lewis, who had a busy match, had to stand up tall to block Hill's high effort towards the near post.
The young Shrews were starting to put more pressure on the Clarets' goal, though, and they broke though again when Ginnelly latched onto midfielder Joel Carta's pass before sliding the ball into the bottom corner to put Town in front in the 28th minute.
Burnley were also then lucky not to be reduced to ten men just past the half-hour mark, when Richardson pulled down Jones from behind on the edge of the box as the Town striker burst clean through on goal.
The defender was booked for the challenge but he went on to have a bigger influence in the game later on.
Before that, Massanka levelled the game for the Clarets in the 40th minute with a simple header, once Josh Dolling had headed the ball back across goal from Jackson's cross on the right, and the two teams went in all square at the break.
HALF-TIME: Burnley 2-2 Town
Despite the second period only conjuring up two goals, there were still plenty of chances for either side, with Ginnelly flashing an effort wide from long range two minutes following the restart.
But it was Burnley who grabbed the game's fifth goal as Richardson, who was lucky to still be on the pitch after pulling down Jones in the first half, popped up with a header from Jackson's corner on the right to fire the home side back in front.
The young Shrews never gave up after going behind, though, and midfielder Niall Flint saw a curling strike whistle just past the far post around the hour mark.
Persistence eventually paid off for Town as substitute Jordan Wilson crossed low from the right for Ginnelly to bundle home an equaliser in the 83rd minute, and set up a grand finale.
It was Burnley who went closing to scoring a winning goal with three minutes of normal time left, but Jackson was denied by a brilliant double save from Lewis, and the two teams had to settle for a point in the end.
FULL-TIME: Burnley 3-3 Town
TOWN LINE-UP: Harry Lewis (GK), Jack Butts, Jeff Watkins (c), Ryan Hickman, Ben Burton, Niall Flint, Joe Kenton (King, 59'), Joel Carta, Josh Ginnelly, Ethan Jones (Wilson, 69'), Kaiman Anderson.
SUBS: Alex Ashton (GK), Nathan Millis, George Hassall, Tom King, Jordan Wilson.
GOALS: Jones (9'), Ginnelly (28', 83').
BURNLEY LINE-UP: Tony Agahare (GK), Waqas Azam, Andy Nugent, Hamam El-Fitouri (Wilson, 69'), Shaun Hobson, Alex Richardson, Bradley Jackson, Andreas Bianga, Ntumba Massanka, Josh Dolling (Howarth, 76') Christian Hill (Metz, 25').
SUBS: Connor King, Brandon Wilson, Khius Metz, Mark Howarth.
GOALS: Jackson (3'), Massanka (40'), Richardson (53').
BOOKED: Richardson (32').
NEXT FIXTURE: Town v Accrington Stanley (Youth Alliance, Saturday 13 September, 11am kick-off at Shrewsbury Sports Village)