Shrewsbury Town bow out of the Carabao Cup after a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Rochdale AFC.

Salop welcomed Rochdale to Montgomery Waters Meadow for their second-round Carabao Cup tie, with goals from Jake Beesley and Danny Cashman in the second-half giving the visitors an all-important victory to send them through to the third round.

The first 20 minutes of the first-half were largely dominated by Steve Cotterill’s men, pressing well and looking tenacious across the pitch. A series of good passing displays allowed Salop to keep the Dale defence on their toes, but despite their eagerness in attack, there was little sight on goal, the closest coming through Ethan Ebanks-Landell in the tenth minute; however, his header was collected comfortably by Dale ‘keeper and former Salop man Joel Coleman.

The Dale came back into the game after 20 minutes, slowly finding their way towards the Town defence. Their closest chance came through defender Eoghan O’Donnell and recent signing Jeriel Dorsett, who somehow didn’t find the net after a goalmouth scramble. The tempo of the first half following Dale’s efforts seemed to fizzle out, with neither side coming close to breaking the deadlock.

The second half started much like the end of the first, with neither Salop nor the Dale coming closer to an opener. With Town in search of a goal, their first change welcomed first-round hero Dan Udoh to the field in the 65^th minute. However, it was just two minutes later when referee Scott Oldham was forced to award a penalty and a red card in favour of the Dale, following a foul from Town’s Matthew Pennington that saw the defender leave the field. It was Jake Beesley who stepped up, converting his effort past ‘keeper Marko Marosi, giving the visitors the all-important opener in the 68^th.

Town were now in search of an equaliser but didn’t seem to be coming any closer to it, with manager Cotterill in need of a change in personnel to freshen the legs on the pitch. Five minutes on from Dale’s goal, youngster Tom Bloxham – penalty hero of the first-round – replaced Sam Cosgrove. But despite Town’s desperate attempts in finding an equaliser, it would be the visitors who scored the next goal. Three minutes on from replacing Odoh, Dale’s Alex Newby clipped in a fine ball that found the head of Johnny Cashman, who doubled the lead for his side. Now at the hands of a two-goal deficit, Cotterill replaced Shaun Whalley with Joshua Daniels but just couldn’t seem to find their way towards a goal.

Looking to close off the game, Robbie Stockdale made changes to his Rochdale side, replacing goalscorer Danny Cashman with Josh Andrews in the 81^st, and later replacing Stephan Dooley with youngster Ethan Brierley just short of full-time. After four-minutes of additional time, the referee blew the whistle signalling the end of Salop’s short-lived Carabao Cup campaign.

Town continues their 2021/22 campaign with Saturday’s Sky Bet League One fixture against Gillingham.

The Teams:

Salop: Marko Marosi, Luke Leahy, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Matthew Pennington, Shaun Whalley (Joshua Daniels 78’), Sam Cosgrove (Tom Bloxham 71’), Josh Vela, Rekeil Pyke (Daniel Udoh 65’), Elliott Bennett, George Nurse, Khanya Leshabela.

Subs not used: Harry Burgoyne, Aaron Pierre, Ryan Bowman, Nathanael Ogbeta.

Dale: Joel Coleman, Corey O’Keefe, Max Taylor, Eoghan O’Donnell, Stephan Dooley (Ethan Brierley 90’), Aaron Morley, Jake Beesley, Jeriel Dorsett, Jimmy Keohane, Abraham Odoh (Alex Newby 75’), Danny Cashman (Josh Andrews 81’).

 Subs not used: Jay Lynch, Aidy White, Jimmy McNulty, Conor Grant, Josh Andrews.

Attendance: 2,229 (190)

Officials:

Referee: Scott Oldham.

Assistants: Ian Smedley, Richard Woodward.

Fourth Official: Daniel Middleton.

Bookings:

Abraham Odoh was booked in the 36^th minute, following an altercation on the touchline with Salop’s Josh Vela.

Ethan Ebanks-Landell was booked in the 60^th minute, following a foul on Rochdale striker Abraham Odoh.

Defender Matthew Pennington was sent off in the 67^th minute, following a foul on the approach to the Shrewsbury Town penalty area.