Wrexham Youth 2
Walsall U18 1
Football League Youth Alliance (North West Conference)

Match Report

Wrexham made it three league wins on the bounce with a hard fought victory over Walsall at Stansty, the points secured courtesy of two first-half goals. With Dan Nolan away on first team duty, assistant coach Gareth Richards took the reigns and understandably opted to leave centre-half Bobby Beaumont on the bench after his fine display for the Welsh Schoolboys side the previous evening at Slough. Scott Butler had also featured in that 1-0 win over England, coming on as a 55th minute substitute, and he started against Walsall partnering Max Cleworth in the back four.

The home side began brightly with Matty Sargent forcing a fine one-handed save from Ethan Dawe but in the ensuing goalmouth melee Cleworth was pulled back by Kian Flanagan and the referee had little option but to point to the spot. Given the Young Reds’ woes from 12-yards in their previous home outing against Accrington, Cameron McGregor displayed great maturity in sending the Saddlers’ keeper the wrong way to give Wrexham a 1-0 lead with just five minutes on the stopwatch.

Despite controlling the game, the home side struggled to carve out clear cut chances and it wasn’t until the half-hour mark when a fine run down the left by Jake Bickerstaff saw him cut inside to see his shot blocked, Thorn sending the rebound into the side netting. Wrexham deservedly doubled their advantage on 37 minutes when the ball reached Sargent on the edge of the area and the central midfielder calmly side-footed into the corner of the net.

Walsall finally managed their first shot of the game just before the interval, Ben Tinkley comfortably saving Jayden Campbell’s effort, and so it was no surprise that their coach Graham Biggs opted to make two changes during the turnaround. The Saddlers began the second half with renewed vigour and pulled a goal back on 54 minutes when Flanagan made amends for his earlier mistake by rifling the ball home from 15 yards out.

With the visitors beginning to dominate, Richards introduced Beaumont for Butler after 65 minutes and this helped re-establish Wrexham’s dominance, McGregor going close shortly afterwards with a delicate chip over the advancing keeper. The game became somewhat fragmented in the closing stages with Walsall’s Joe Wilis saw red three minutes from time for a second booking as Wrexham held on for the win.