Dylan Parker scored a first-half hat-trick as a young Saddlers team beat Lichfield City 3-0 in a pre-season friendly last night.
Academy Manager Graham Biggs commented: “It was the first pre-season game for our Under-18s and it was a good work out for us.
“We played two teams and gave them each 45 minutes. The gaffer asked me to play Dylan Parker, Cameron Peters and Tobias Hayles-Docherty for match minutes and their attitude and application was excellent.
“It was a really hot, sticky night but we got a massive amount of positives out of the game, with Dylan Parker shining with his hat-trick.
“It’s always pleasing to win and keep a clean sheet, but the way the boys went about it, being their first game, was very pleasing.
“A lot of 16-year-old boys played against mature men who had been around the circuit a long time, so it was as much a mental test as a physical test.
“They came through it with flying colours.”
On 18-year-old Parker, who only signed his first professional contract with the club eight days ago, Biggs added: “The great thing about Dylan is that he just wants to play football.
“He applied himself excellently and scored a hat-trick in 45 minutes. He was excellent and there was some good build up play for the goals.”