After making substitute appearances during their first two games, Walsall prospect Jack Shaw was named in the starting eleven as Wales Under-17s faced Serbia U17s in the Elite Round of the UEFA Euro Under-17s tournament.
Shaw, who forms part of the Saddlers' Under-18s squad, was named among the twenty-three-man squad which was scheduled to face Turkey, Serbia, and round hosts Slovenia in the three-game mini-tournament.
Managed by Rich Williams, the majority of the squad were involved in November’s qualifying round, where they progressed out of a group featuring Portugal, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, and also progressed to the Elite Round in the last iteration of the tournament back in 2020.
The eight Elite Round group winners and seven runners-up with the best records against the first and third-placed teams of their respective groups will join Israel in the final tournament.
After suffering a 5-0 defeat to Slovenia and a 5-2 defeat to Turkey in their opening two games and looking to salvage some pride before the round of fixtures came to an end, Tuesday's match, which kicked off at 3.00pm, saw the young Dragons enter a much stronger display.
Opening the scoring via Fulham scholar Callum Osmand after seventeen minutes of play, and went on to double their lead nine-minutes into the second-half as Arsenal youngster Omari Benjamin put the ball beyond Serbia stopper Stefan Marinković.
Sadly for Wales they were unable to keep their sheet clean as Red Star Belgrade forward Mateja Bubanj halved the deficit just four-minutes later, Preston North End goalkeeper James Pradic understandably disappointed.
Pradic's problems didn't end there either as Jovan Milošević leveled the scores shortly after the match had reached the hour mark, neither side able to take control of proceedings with all three points still up for grabs heading into the final thirty-minutes.
Serbia's scoring didn't end with their second as, just five minutes after putting his side back on level terms, Milošević sent them into the lead, breaking Welsh hearts as their hard work looked to be going to waste.
Bubanj joined Milošević in the brace club with thirteen minutes of the game remaining, putting his side into a 4-2 lead as they looked to cement their place at the top of the group following a successful round of fixtures.
Saddler Shaw played for the full ninety-minutes and will no doubt be taking plenty of inspiration from the trio of games as he will soon be back in action for Walsall's struggling Under-18s, who are looking to find form before the 2021/22 campaign comes to an end.
Llongyfarchiadau on your international debut, Jack!
FT
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WU17s
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2-4
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SU17s
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Osmand Benjamin |
Bubanj
Milošević Milošević Bubanj |