Shrewsbury Town secured their place in the third round of the FA Cup after an impressive performance saw off Peterborough United at the Meadow.

As they did against York in the previous round, Shrewsbury Town took the lead in the second minute as Tom Bayliss converted Jordan Shipley's cross.

The lead didn't last long though as Peterborough capitalised on a mistake in the 13th minute and Kwame Poku netted the equaliser.

Centre-back Matt Pennington put Town back in front just after the half-hour mark when he poked home from close range and Luke Leahy's penalty with the last kick of the first half gave Posh too high a mountain to climb.

Steve Cotterill opted for a 3-4-1-2 formation at Montgomery Waters Meadow – with the boss keeping faith with the team that was so unlucky to fall to defeat at Sheffield Wednesday. 

It meant Rob Street partnered Christian Saydee up front with Bayliss in the number 10 role. 

The Salop bench consisted of four academy scholars/graduates in Declan Hutchings, Tom Bloxham, Josh Barlow and Josh Bailey who were all among the substitutes. 

Peterborough manager Grant McCann went with a 4-2-3-1 system with Jonson Clarke-Harris leading the line.  

It was Town who flew out the traps with Bayliss opening the scoring inside two minutes. 

Shipley used his pace to send in a dangerous cross with Bayliss then producing a wonderful first-time finish to sweep the ball home from 12 yards. 

With momentum behind them, Shrewsbury – and Bayliss – came close to a second just a few minutes later. 

Again Shipley was the creator with the former Coventry man powering his way to the byline and sending in a low cross that a defender just nipped clear ahead of Saydee. 

But the ball then fell for Bayliss who, from just inside the box, sent a powerful drive inches over the bar. 

Peterborough pulled level in the 13^th minute after Marko Marosi made an uncharacteristic mistake when he played a pass straight to Clarke-Harris.  

The League One leading goal scorer subsequently sent a cross that Poku tapped in from close range. 

Shrewsbury pulled ahead again through Pennington just after the half-hour mark.  

The move originated from a free kick which came back out to Taylor Moore who fired a thunderbolt effort towards Lucas Bergstrom.  

The Finnish keeper was unable to keep hold of the ball and Pennington reacted quickly in the box to bundle home.  

Town went close again in the 39^th minute through Shipley delivering another wonderful cross to Moore who rose highest but Bergstrom made an outstanding stop to keep it out.  

Steve Cotterill’s side did get a third, though, in added-on time at the end of the first half when Chey Dunkley was shoved to the ground by Harrison Burrows.  

Referee Simon Mather had little choice but to point to the spot – with Leahy calmly firing the resultant penalty. 

Shrewsbury were quick out of the blocks once again through Saydee as looked to lift the ball over the on-rushing Bergstrom.  

Peterborough’s number one was on the edge of his box when he blocked the shot and it was very debatable whether he was just outside the box when he made the save but the referee waved play on.  

Peterborough were applying the pressure thereafter and Clarke-Harris turned in the box quickly to try his luck.  

But Tom Flannagan made the all-important block to stop the number nine grabbing his first goal of the game.  

Clarke-Harris had a second attempt eight minutes later when he collected the ball just inside the box but fired his effort wide.  

Despite this pressure, the visitors couldn't break down their hosts and Town’s dominating first-half performance saw them clinch a place in the hat for the third round of the FA Cup.

Teams    

Salop XI:     

Marosi (GK), Leahy (C), Pennington, Moore, Winchester, Street (Pyke, 89), Bayliss, Dunkley, Saydee (Bowman, 82), Shipley, Flanagan  

Unused subs:    

Burgoyne (GK), Hutchings, Barlow, Bailey, Bloxham 

Peterborough XI:  

Bergstrom, Butler, Knight, Kent, Fuchs, Taylor, Clarke-Harris (C), Mason-Clark (Jones, 83), Poku, N. Thompson (Mensah, 83), Burrows (Marriot, 45) 

Unused subs:  

Blackmore, Watts, Kyprianou, B. Thompson, Randall, Taylor 

Bookings:   

Yellow: Street, Saydee, Fuchs, Butler, Kent, Thompson, Shipley, Moore 

Attendance: 2,895 

Away: 234