Walsall made their way to the Crowd Meadow on Tuesday evening as they took on Shrewsbury Town in their third and final group game of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
After already exiting the competition, both the Saddlers and Shrews were looking to build fitness for some of their fringe players whilst also avoiding injuries to those first-teamers who were also named in the matchday squad.
The first goal of the game went the way of the Saddlers as Danny Johnson netted his fourth goal of the season after taking advantage of a Shrewsbury defensive error to pop the ball over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
The home side got themselves back on level terms later in the first-half as Daniel Udoh smashed the ball into the back of the net, his powerful effort giving Jackson Smith little chance to save.
Shrewsbury were soon back among the goals as former Walsall defender Malvind Benning struck the ball home with a well-placed free-kick.
The home side added to their lead early into the second-half as Ryan Bowman placed a header neatly past Smith and into the back of the net. The Saddlers struggling to cope with the home side's movement in the final third.
Walsall got themselves to within a goal of their hosts around midway through the second-half as Isaac Hutchinson slammed the ball home following Tom Knowles' low, driven cross.
EFL TROPHY
| SHREWSBURY | 3-2 | WALSALL |
| UDOH (32') BENNING (34') BOWMAN (49') |
GOALSCORERS |
JOHNSON (6') HUTCHINSON (73') |
| LOUGHRAN (49') | ASSISTS | KNOWLES (73') |
| 37 | POSS (%) | 63 |
| 7 | SHOTS (TOTAL) | 22 |
| 5 | SHOTS (ON TARGET) | 8 |
| 1 | CORNERS | 8 |
| 10 | FOULS | 12 |
| 3 | YELLOW CARDS | 4 |
| 0 | RED CARDS | 0 |
| AT | THE CROUD MEADOW |
| ATTENDANCE | 1,409 (234 WALSALL) |
| REFEREE | RUEBYN RICARDO |
SHREWSBURY TOWN
Burgoyne 🟨; Sobowale, Pierre 🟨, Anderson, Thorpe, Benning, Bennett (Watts, 64'), Perry (Loughran, 46' 🟨), Collins (Nyamwanza, 79'), Bowman (Hutchings, 64'), Udoh (Owusu-Gyimah, 46')
Unused: Godwin, Morris
WALSALL
Smith; Foulkes, Okagbue, Menayese (James-Taylor, 68' 🟨), Allen; McEntee (Thomas, 72'), Stirk (Griffiths, 39' 🟨); Knowles 🟨, Hutchinson, Maher 🟨; Johnson
Unused: Barrett; Bennett, Thomas, Wragg, Leydon