FTDL: Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Walsall
ASSISTANT 2: Daniel ParkesASSISTANT 1: Rob Hathaway
: Mr Adam Dean REFEREE
BOOKED: Kyle Rowley (50).
GOALS: Flanagan (9), Joe Kenton O.G. (85).
UNUSED SUBS: Dan Dezeph, Maziar Kouhyar
: Craig MacGillivray (GK); David Atkinson, Rico Henry, Kyle Rowley (Lewis Probert - 80), Matt Preston, Liam Kinsella, Luke Delaney, Reece Flanagan, Jordan Murphy, Levi Rowley (Tevin Shakespeare - 80), Amadou Bakayoko. WALSALL LINE-UP
BOOKED: Hickman (34), Flint (47).
GOALS: Jones (44).
UNUSED SUBS: Alex Ashton (GK), Callum Grogan, Tom Astley, Joel Carta, Joe Kenton, Tom King, Jordan Wilson.
: Shaun Rowley (GK); Sam Hughes, Jeff Watkins, Alex Fletcher, Tom King (Joe Kenton - 71), Niall Flint, Ryan Hickman (c) (Callum Grogan - 71), Ethan Jones (Jordan Wilson - 80), Kaiman Anderson, Josh Ginnelly, Nathan Millis. SHREWSBURY TOWN LINE-UP
"It was a great test because they beat us earlier in the season when we had a lot of pros out.
"We had an under-18 squad against their under-21 side so we were giving away age and experience but massive credit goes to our players and we didn’t deserve to conceded that late goal.
"I thought defensively and attacking wise we controlled the game. We didn’t let Walsall get into areas to hurt us.
"There wasn’t much in the game and we counter attacked well and created a lot of opportunities.
"We kept the ball really well and switched play well. The only criticism is we didn’t show more quality in those key areas." Coach Ian Dawes said afterwards:
And the Saddlers snatched a victory five minutes from time when Joe Kenton headed past his own ‘keeper from a well-taken Flanagan corner.
Walsall hit back with Matt Preston seeing a header well tipped over by Shaun Rowley.
The defender, who was the last man, got back and hauled down the striker with the referee bizarrely deeming the challenge only worthy of a yellow card.
The Saddlers should have been reduced to 10 men when Anderson nipped past Kyle Rowley and went racing in on goal.
Flint looked set to try his luck from 20 yards but ended up slipping the ball though to Ginnelly who spun clear from the wall before firing wide.
Shrews continued their momentum at the start of the second half well and almost took the lead with a well worked free-kick.
Josh Ginnelly burst into the box and hit a rasping drive which MacGillivray parried but only into the path of Ethan Jones who tapped home.
Buoyed by the move, Town started to get more of the ball and they pulled level just seconds before the interval.
Niall Flint showed neat footwork to get down the right flank and cross to Kaiman Anderson who saw his first-time effort well saved Craig MacGillivray.
Town registered their first real chance on the half hour mark.
Liam Kinsella collected the ball on the edge of the box and dinked it through to the midfielder who emphatically fired into the top corner.
The Saddlers opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes from a well-worked Reece Flanagan goal.
Shrewsbury Town's development squad slipped to defeat against Walsall in the Final Third Development League's West Division on Wednesday afternoon.