Liverpool U18 1 Albion U18 1

SHANE Lewis saved a late penalty to earn Albion Under-18s a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at St George’s Park on Wednesday evening.

 

The young stopper denied Reds skipper Jordan Lussey in the dying moments of the rearranged fixture at the Football Association's National Football Centre in Burton-Upon-Trent.

 

The Baggies took the lead through Samir Nabi on 31 minutes but Kris Peterson’s 58th-minute equaliser saw the sides share the spoils. 

 

And lead development coach James Shan was pleased with the efforts of his young Albion outfit – reserving special praise for keeper Lewis.

 

“Shane made a great save to keep us in the game with three minutes remaining," he said.

 

“He made another couple of outstanding saves in the second half and he was very important to us as he gave the team slightly more experience. 

 

“He offered the younger lads advice and he’s obviously more physically mature than the other players – he kept us in the game. 

 

“We had a young side out with four under-16s starting the game and another coming off the bench and they applied themselves very well considering they are playing above their age group.

 

“Liverpool are a renowned academy for producing players so for us to come away from the game with a point is testimony to the progress being made by this group of players.

 

"They invest a lot in players of that age group and attract players from all over while we had ten players who live within 45 minutes of the training ground.   

 

“There were plenty of pleasing things to take away from the game.”