EFL Trophy: Shrewsbury 1 Wolves U21's 2 - Report

The first half saw Wolves dominate the ball against a very stubborn Town side who defended well, but there were few chances in the match.

And the second half followed a similar pattern until the game burst into life with 15 minutes to play.

A brilliant strike by Travis Hernes gave Town the lead in the 75th minute.

But Wolves responded immediately to going behind when their skipper Joe Hodge's strike beat the diving Harry Burgoyne just three minutes later.

And it was that man Hodge, who secured the win for the Staffordshire side when he fired in during injury time.

Steve Cotterill gave eight players competitive debuts when he named his starting eleven.

It was a team made up of very little experience. Only Tom Bloxham, Charlie Caton and Harry Burgoyne had played for Salop before, even though Josh Barlow and Kade Craig have been on the bench quite often this year.

Town's first team regulars were in attendance as they came down to give the Shrews youngsters some support.

Harry Burgoyne made his first start of the season in goal.

It was a back four of Josh Bailey, Kade Craig, Declan Hutchings and Nana Owusu, as Salop moved away from their usual back five, playing four at the back for the visit Wolves U21s.

It was a quiet opening 10 minutes, with both sides looking to impose themselves on the game.

Charlie Caton and Josh Barlow played as a holding midfield two.

And Harvey Watts, Dennis Antal and Jude Collins played behind Tom Bloxham who was the lone striker.

It was a quiet opening 10 minutes, with both sides looking to impose themselves on the game.

And Wolves almost took the lead in calamitous circumstances.

A long diagonal ball was played over the top towards Lee Harkin, Owusus did well initially to get to the ball first, but Burgoyne had come out to claim it and was off his line so when Owusu headed it back, he was heading it towards an empty net.

Thankfully for Town, it rolled just wide of the post.

From the resulting corner Wolves' striker, Nathan Fraser, headed the ball just wide.

Town stuck to the task well, despite having very little experience on the pitch.

Shortly after, Wolves went close again and this time it was with Lee Harkin.

The winger picked up the ball on the left-hand side and cut in.

He bent the ball towards the far corner and his effort skimmed the outside of the post.

Town were forced into a change just after the half-hour mark when Harvey Watts had to be replaced by Kelechi Etienne.

It was a shame for Watts as the winger he had a bright open 30 minutes, winning the ball back and breaking with it on several occasions.

Wolves dominated the ball for the majority of the first period with the visitors having good technical footballers among the ranks - with Lee Harkin being the standout player on the pitch.

But Town fought valiantly, and they often put their bodies on the line to make blocks when the ball came close to their goal.

They would need to offer a little more from an attacking perspective in the second half if they were to get a result from the game.

And the second half started in a similar fashion to how the first ended.

Wolves had lots of possession inside Town's box but they struggled to really create anything meaningful from open play.

Town made a double change on the hour mark, giving more young players their first senior appearance for the club.

Harvey Kirby-Moore and Theo knight came on for Dennis Antal and Jude Collins.

If anything in the second period Shrews were more comfortable than the first.

There was precious little goal-mouth action at either end.

And with 15 minutes to play Shrewsbury took the lead with a brilliant individual strike by Travis Hernes.

The ball broke to Hernes 25 yards out and he hit a brilliant strike into the bottom corner.

The Salop players celebrated in front of the joyful home crowd.

But it was short-lived. Just three minutes later Wolves hit back.

Diyawa pulled the ball back to Hodge and his effort went through Burgoyne and into the net.

And Wolves completed their comeback deep into injury time when that man Hodge picked up the ball inside the Town box, and rifled a shot past Burgoyne and into the top corner.

Cruel for Town who had defended so well and perhaps deserved something from the game.

Subs:

Shrews; Burgoyne, Bloxham, Caton, Craig, Barlow, Bailey (Hearnes 66mins), Hutchings, Watts (Etienne 30mins), Antal (Knight 60mins), Collins (Kirby-Moore 60mins), Owusu.

Subs; Bevan, Knight, Etienne, Hearnes, Warner, Paternoster, Kirby-Moore.

Wolves; Arinbjornsson, Hodge, Tipton, Fraser, Bueno (Roberts 45mins), Harkin, Griffiths, Hubner (Hodnett 63mins), Lembikisa, Birtwistle, Scicluna.

Subs; Motheson, Storer, Hodnett, Diyawa, Chiwome, Roberts, Kandola