Shrewsbury Town Under-18s had two goals ruled out as they fell to a narrow defeat at home to Port Vale Under-18s yesterday morning, despite dominating the game.
Charlie Caton had the first big chance of the match, smashing the ball against the crossbar from the top right-hand corner of the penalty box with five minutes played. Town thought they’d taken the lead when captain Josh Barlow took aim from 30 yards out and sent the ball sailing into the bottom corner but, inexplicably, the goal was ruled out and play was brought back three minutes for a goal kick that apparently should’ve been awarded but was missed.
Town had many chances throughout the rest of the first half and were in complete control, they were just missing that clinical touch. Caton, Louis Lloyd, and Barlow all went close again before the half-time whistle while Reece Thompson remained untroubled in the Salop net.
The second half got underway and the game became a more even affair, with Shrewsbury creating the best of the chances but nothing clear cut. Then, against the run of play, Port Vale took the lead in the 70th minute. Thompson, unfortunately, dropped a cross at the foot of a Vale midfielder who smashed the ball home from close range. Shrewsbury’s Jamie Spiers thought he’d rescued a point for Town in the game’s dying moments but it was ruled out for offside and the visitors held on for the rest of the points.
Speaking on the game, boss Kyle Kirby said:
“We’re obviously really disappointed but I think the performance was good. We pressed well, there was a good intensity in our work and after the initial ten or 15 minutes, we held possession well and in good areas. I just think our finishing was lacking today, we didn’t convert our chances.
“We’ve had two goals chalked off, the second one for offside but I’m not sure about the first one, I can’t think why that was disallowed. We were on the wrong side of the result today but I think the attitude and application shows there were a lot of positives so we won’t dwell on today too much.”
