THE SADDLERS' youth team ran out convincing 4-1 winners against Wrexham.

"We started the game extremely brightly," said Head of Youth, Dean Smith. "We deservedly took an early lead with a well-worked goal from Sean Geddes with just three minutes on the clock.

"We looked comfortable after that and passed the ball with real purpose, but paid the price for switching off at a throw-in and this allowed our visitors to get back on level terms.

"To our credit, we didn't let our heads drop and continued to press. Our reward finally came when Dan Partridge's header found George Bowerman whose left-footed strike found the back of the net.

"We increased our lead just before the break when Bowerman was felled inside the area and he stepped up to convert from the spot and make it 3-1.

"To be fair, we lost our way slightly at the start of the second period, but managed to regain our composure and created a number of chances only for our final ball to let us down.

"With ten minutes to go, Jamie Paterson carved out an opening for himself before applying the finish to complete the scoring."

WALSALL: Cooney, Wood, Keenan (Haynes), Hickman, Partridge, Overfield, McCourt, Forde, Geddes (Jones), Bowerman (Butlin), Paterson.