Ellesmere Rangers boss hails his brave Cup battlers against Shrewsbury Town

Goals from Niall Flint and Jordan Wilson along with an own-goal from Sean Griffiths secured a 3-2 win for youthful Town squad in an entertaining match at Greenhous Meadow.

Rangers striker Scott Ryan hit a brace for the north Shropshire side but they were unable to force a later equaliser despite Salop midfielder Flint receiving a red-card for two bookable offences.

But Stevens was still delighted with his players.

"You have to remember this is a professional youth outfit against another young team who train once a week," he said.

"The average age of our side is 19 and we haven't got a player over 20. Yet I thought even with 11 against 11 we dominated at times.

"We have given a really good account of ourselves and to be fair there was only one side in it when they went down to 10. We have shown we are a good footballing side and I think all that was missing was that bit of luck in the final third.

"The ball hasn't dropped kindly for us in the box. We can be proud of our performance but ultimately we are disappointed to be out. It was a game we could have won."

Despite the match being a first team fixture, Josh Ginnelly was the only player in the Shrewsbury side to have any first-team experience with the young Shrews managed by Ian Dawes while Micky Mellon watched on from the stands.

And Dawes felt his side should have performed better on the night.

"That is probably the worst we have performed on the ball in recent weeks.

"We only got out game going in flashes, especially in the first-half. I think we lacked a little bit of bravery on the ball, bravery to take it in tight situations.

"The sending off didn't help us and put us on the back foot but I feel on the whole we need to be better all-round. But it's good they have got to play."

"It's a good occasion and they have had to perform in front of fans and in front of the manager. That added pressure is good for them."