Shrewsbury Town lose out 2-3 to Oxford

Town: Jonathan Mitchell, Ro-Shaun Williams, Omar Beckles, Shaun Whalley, Greg Docherty, Tyrese Campbell (Fejiri Okenabirhie, 58), James Bolton, Luke Waterfall, Scott Golbourne (Alex Gilliead, 83), Ollie Norburn (Josh Laurent, 54), Anthony Grant.

Subs: Reice Charles-Cook, Mat Sadler, Fejiri Okenabirhie, Sam Smith, Alex Gilliead, Ryan Sears, Josh Laurent.

United:  Jack Stevens, Luke Garbutt, Rob Dickie (Nico Jones, 57), Curtis Nelson, Samir Carruthers (Cameron Brannagan, 45), Gavin Whyte, Jordan Graham (Jamie Hanson, 45), Jamie Mackie, Sam Long, Mark Sykes, Ahmed Kashi.

Subs: Jamie Hanson, Cameron Brannagan, Jerome Sinclair, Malachi Napa, Fabio Lopes, Nico Jones.

Referee: Christopher Sarginson

Assistants: Danny Gratton and Matthew Bristow

Fourth official: Nik Barnard.

Attendance: 7189 (901)

Shrewsbury Town were unable to hold on to a 2-1 lead and lose out to Oxford United 2-3.

Greg Docherty and Ollie Norburn’s goals were not enough to see Town earn the win against the U’s.

Team News: Sam Ricketts made one change to the line up for this afternoon’s game against Oxford United. Ryan Sears, who started the last game, made way for James Bolton to return to the starting 11.

First Half:

The first 10 minutes didn’t start as Town would have planned, with the visitors notching a sixth minute goal. Gavin Whyte managed to get on the end of a bouncing ball inside the box to stab home into the opposite corner of the net.

Town were awarded a penalty in the 16^th minute after Shaun Whalley was fouled inside the box. Ollie Norburn stepped up to take the spot kick and buried the ball low into the left-hand corner – bringing the Shrews back on level terms.

As time went by Sam Ricketts’ men were growing into the game and looked dangerous carrying the ball forward. Norburn and Greg Docherty both did well to link up the Town defence and the front line.

A poor challenge in the 35^th minute saw Ahmed Kashi shown a straight red card by referee Christopher Sarginson. The midfielder flew in towards Tyrese Campbell with his studs showing, which the referee deemed to be dangerous play.

Town got their second goal with just five minutes of regular time remaining in the half. Campbell did well to find Docherty in the box, and with a yard of space the midfielder set himself well and fired the shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The half came to an end with Town making the extra man count. The Shrews created a barrage of chances and made the visitors chase the ball.

Second Half:

The second-half started brightly with both teams looking to be competitive and win duels in the middle of the park. Similar to the first 45 minutes the Town midfield were dispatching balls around the pitch well.

Anthony Grant was given a yellow card in the 56^th minute for a late challenge in the middle of the park.

Scott Golbourne and Whalley were very prominent on the right wing and continually applying pressure going forward. The pair linked up well and were managing to fire crosses into the box.

Golbourne was given a yellow card in the 71^st minute for challenge in the final third.

Whyte managed to pull the U’s back on level terms in the 72^nd minute. The forward latched onto a through ball and slotted the ball under Jonathan Mitchell to earn his second goal of the game.

Town were nearly in again and could have taken the lead in the 77^th minute. Golbourne and Whalley linked up well once again, which saw Town’s wide man have a shot at goal. However, Whalley’s shot didn’t hit the target.

The visitors had their tails up and went up the other end and notched another goal. Whyte managed to grab his hat-trick after running through and blasting his shot into the back of the net.

Town were pushing and pushing to get back into the game but were facing a very defensive Oxford.  The main bulk of the Shrews success was on the wings as Alex Gilliead and Whalley looked to fire balls into the box.

Whalley was booked in the latter stages of the game for preventing the U’s from breaking on the counter-attack.

The game came to an end with the visitors taking home all three points with a 2-3 victory.