Dunn strike rounds off U21s comeback
Jack Dunn's goal on his U21s debut handed Liverpool a well-deserved 2-1 victory in their hard-fought battle against Wolves at Telford on Monday night.
The young midfielder continued his fine goalscoring form to steal the win after Robbie Parry's early goal stung the Reds.
Conor Coady's first-half penalty levelled matters as Liverpool were in the ascendancy before Dunn capped off a fine first appearance in Alex Inglethorpe's side.
Liverpool were barely allowed to gain any sort of rhythm before the home side stunned them with an opening goal inside the first two minutes.
Sam Winnall was afforded plenty of space in midfield, which enabled him to lay the ball across to Parry on the edge of the area.
The Welshman lost his balance as he struck a shot but his effort managed to creep into the far corner of the net, narrowly beyond the reach of goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi.
A quarter of an hour later, impressive vision from Nacho rendered Wolves' backline helpless.
The Spaniard slid a defence-splitting through ball into the path of Dunn. Unfortunately for the youngster, the pass proved to be just beyond him as the Wolves goalkeeper anticipated the danger well to rush out and intercept the ball.
Liam McAlinden wasted an excellent chance to extend the home side's lead in the 28th minute when his wayward shooting failed to punish the Reds.
The striker raced in behind Stephen Sama to meet a pass from deep but sliced his effort well wide under pressure from the retreating defender.
Wolves were made to rue that missed opportunity when the energetic Ryan McLaughlin won the visitors a penalty on the half-hour mark.
The full-back surged into the box and Jordan Cranston - who struggled to match McLaughlin for pace - blatantly hauled the defender to the ground, leaving the referee no choice but to award the spot-kick.
Coady willingly accepted penalty duty and calmly sent Jonathan Flatt the wrong way as he stroked his attempt into the left corner of the net - sealing his seventh goal of the season.
After being outshone in the early stages of the encounter, Liverpool grew in confidence towards the end of the first half and this was epitomised by the hungry Dunn as the break approached.
The midfielder received possession 20 yards from goal and immediately shifted the ball inside before firing a stinging drive, forcing Flatt to dive across and parry away the danger.
Half-time did not halt Dunn's momentum as the 18-year-old attempted a similar effort five minutes after the restart.
The youngster picked up the ball in an almost identical position and drilled a shot that deflected just beyond the reach of the stretching Nacho before fizzing wide.
Nacho's fortunes failed to improve when his goalbound strike from close range was expertly blocked by Flatt.
The left side of Wolves' rearguard was exposed yet again when Joao Carlos Teixeira found his way into the area. The midfielder dragged the ball back to Nacho, whose shot was acrobatically prevented from crashing into the back of the net by Wolves' goalkeeper.
The pulsating pace of the game did not relent as Wolves responded by testing Gulacsi for the first time in the second period just before the hour mark.
Michael Ihiekwe charged forward and slid the ball through to Whittall, whose ambitious drive from an acute angle was palmed wide by Liverpool's Hungarian goalkeeper.
With little over 20 minutes remaining, Dunn came agonisingly close to finding the debut goal that he craved.
An incisive pass from Teixeira found Nacho on the edge of the area. The 19-year-old remained composed under pressure as he laid the ball through to Dunn, who immediately curled a shot that was impressively glanced wide by Flatt.
Shortly after, the midfield combined to much greater effect to send the Reds into the lead.
An accurate through ball from the outside of Nacho's boot presented Dunn with a glorious chance to finally beat Flatt. The midfielder replicated the style of the Spaniard's pass as he calmly slotted past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Despite growing pressure from the home side in the closing moments of the match, the Reds maintained a solid backline to prevent Wolves and secure a vital three points.
Reds team: Gulacsi, McLaughlin, Roddan, Sama, Jones, Coady, Dunn, Teixeira, Morgan, Nacho (Baio), Ibe.