Youth Alliance: Blackpool 2 Walsall 1

The young Saddlers were back in action on Saturday morning.

Walsall Under-18s returned to action on Saturday as they morning as they made the trip North and took on Blackpool in their latest EFL Youth Alliance - North West outing of the 2022/23 campaign.

Following a fixture-free weekend last week, the young Saddlers, who sat at the foot of the North West Alliance table ahead of kick-off, were looking to secure an all-too-rare win as they faced the mid-table Tangerines.

Taking place at Longridge Town's Recycling Lives Ground, the first goal of the game went the way of the home side as 18-year-old winger Dannen Francis slotted the ball home with eleven minutes of the first-half played.

Unperturbed by their hosts' opener, the Saddlers went on to level the scores as Ronan Maher, who had looked lively throughout the half, was first to a rebound as he slipped the ball past Blackpool 'keeper Harvey Bardsley with five minutes of the half remaining.

Sadly for the Saddlers, they weren't level-pegging for long as Francis, who had already put his side into the lead once, did the honors once again with just four minutes of the second half played.

There were no further goals, though the home side created a hatful of chances as the half progressed, as the young Saddlers' struggles continued.

FULL-TIME

BLACKPOOL	2-1	WALSALL

FRANCIS (11') FRANCIS (49')	MAHER (40')