A 92nd minute Chey Dunkley goal and 96th minute Jason Sraha strike saw Town come from 2-0 down to secure a dramatic 3-2 victory over Reading.

A disastrous opening 15 minutes saw the visitors grab a two-goal lead - with Sam Smith and Dom Ballard the men on target.

But Salop fought back with Tom Bayliss scoring just after half an hour mark with a lovely curled effort. 

Town then showed bundles of character to claim all three points right at the end with Dunkley and Sraha both scoring to earn us all three points.

Team news:

Boss Matt Taylor opted to make three changes from the team that faced Bolton on Tuesday.

Sticking with a 3-4-2-1 system, Tunmise Sobowale came in for his first league start at right wing-back with Jordan Shipley on the left.

That allowed Carl Winchester to move into central midfield where he lined up alongside Elliott Bennett with Taylor Perry and Bayliss operating just behind Max Mata in attack.

Reading lined up in a 4-2-2-2 formation with Femi Azeez and Smith up top.

Report:

A dreadful start saw Town fall 2-0 down inside the opening 15 minutes.

First, David Button’s long goal-kick found Smith who ran through on goal before finding the top right corner.

Reading then doubled their lead just three minutes later when Ballard headed home from close range. 

Town knew they had to quickly find a way back into the game and they responded by creating a flurry of chances.

A quick-paced counter-attack saw the ball played out wide to Bayliss who drove forward well before cutting inside and seeing a strike sail inches past the post.

Winchester then whipped in a wonderfully dangerous cross that Mata headed wide.

In the 33rd minute, though, Town did pull one back when Mata forced a defensive error at the byline with Bayliss then pouncing on the loose ball before lashing it home.

The first chance of the second half came as Dan Udoh’s cross found Jordan Shipley unmarked at the back post, but his effort was fired wide. 

Just after the hour mark, Bayliss’ corner found Dunkley whose header was palmed away by Button. 

Elliott Bennett’s corner was crossed in deep, Ryan Bowman tried to poke it home but Button was there to stop it from going over the line. 

In the 92^nd minute, Town completed a comeback when another Bennett corner was whipped in. The ball then bounced off Dunkley’s mid-drift and went into the bottom left corner. 

Just four minutes later, Salop claimed all three points as the ball fell to Sraha at the back post who tapped in from close range to send the Meadow wild.

Teams:

Shrewsbury: Marko Marosi; Jason Sraha, Chey Dunkley, Tom Flanagan; Tunmise Sobowale (Dan Udoh 45’), Jordan Shipley, Elliott Bennett, Carl Winchester, Tom Bayliss; Max Mata (Ryan Bowman 62’) 

Unused Substitutes: Harry Burgoyne, Elliot Thorpe, Mal Benning, Joe Anderson, Nohan Kenneh 

Reading: David Button; Harvey Knibbs, Dom Ballard (Ben Elliott 71’), Sam Smith (Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan 85’), Femi Azeez, Andy Yiadom, Jeriel Dorsett (Harlee Dean 71’), Sam Hutchinson, Tyler Bindon, Lewis Wing, Nelson Abbey 

Unused Substitutes: Joel Pereira, Ben Elliott, Nesta Guinness-Walker, Michael Craig, Tivonge Rushesha 

Attendance: 6,893 (1,193 away) 

Referee: Marc Edwards