Ruben Rodrigues made a first appearance in a Wanderers’ shirt as the B Team collected a potentially important point in their Central League Cup campaign, writes Pete Oliver.
The January signing completed 45 minutes as planned at Lostock as he builds up his fitness levels following a spell playing in Brazil.
The former Oxford United man was influential in a bright start from Andy Taylor’s side as they looked to follow up their opening win in Group A.
And while Rodrigues' presence or a late push couldn't help the Whites go on to find a winner, they know victory in their final fixture at Wigan Athletic will take them into the semi-finals.
Wanderers also included first-team men Ibby Cissoko and Richard Taylor – on his return from injury – in their starting line-up and Cissoko went close with one early chance he dragged wide.
Rodrigues then released wing-back Ollie Smith for an effort well saved by City keeper Noah Cooper and it was all Wanderers in the opening stages.
Cissoko also fired a free-kick just wide and Rodrigues almost capped a tidy afternoon’s work with a goal just before the break as the attacking midfield man turned to curl an effort just past the top corner.
Stoke worked their way into the contest and enjoyed their best spell after half-time as Jack Dallimore was forced to touch an effort from Elliot Fearn over the top.
But it was the Whites who then pressed for a late winner without a cutting edge in the final third to better a heading chance for Toby Ritchie just after the break which saw Cooper make a sharp save to keep out Ritchie’s far-post effort as Wanderers’ hopes of progressing go into their last group game.
“You go into every game trying to win, so obviously disappointed that we didn't do that,” said B Team boss Taylor. “But we’re still in there and if you put it into context, they’re a Category One academy with a strong group and I felt we more than matched them.
“We were the better team on the day, created more chances, had more opportunities to score but didn’t quite take them. I think, above all, there were some really good individual performances against a decent opposition, which is what you want and the team we finished with at the end was really young.
“You know what you're going to get with a Stoke team at any level. They fight and compete and you know you're going to be in a game. I thought we more than matched that side of the game and played some really good stuff.
“I thought there were some really good individual performances and it felt like a real game. It felt like there was something on it and I think the lads played like that, so it was good.”
Wanderers: Dallimore; O'Neill, Temple, Taylor (Kirkpatrick HT); Smith, Irwin, Mawditt (Sixsmith 60), Cissoko; (Thomas 60), Rodrigues (Lewis HT), Ritchie; Lawrence. Substitutes: Nuttall.
Stoke City U21s: Cooper, Phillips, Oppong, Agina, Tortoishell, Smith, Fearn, Enabuele, Ogbebor, Chibueze, Matondo. Substitutes: Eyaife, Clothier, McWilliams, Maskall, Osei.