Shrewsbury Town 2-0 Morecambe

Eric Ramsey made two changes to the team that drew against Walsall FC in the Youth Alliance Cup last week. Jamaine Turner and Rhys Davies were back in the starting line-up; replacing Dan Walker and Ryan Grosvenor who started from the bench.

 Shrewsbury started the opening minutes with a large amount of possession but struggled to use this to their advantage. Lifumpa Mwandwe was unable to find his way through the defensive line of Morecambe, and found himself offside a minute later after finding the end of Archie Elmore’s pass. The home team continued to apply the pressure to Morecambe; the first chance saw Jamaine Turner’s cross into the box blocked by Cole Edwards and one minute later Kai Herbert was forced to head away James Rowland’s corner to deny Shrewsbury yet again.

 The Blues came close in the 15th minute when they were rewarded a free kick after Rhys Davies was fouled by Toby Twiname. James Rowland stepped up to take the kick and found Luke Ward in the penalty area but his header went wide of the post. Roles were soon reversed as Shrewsbury were forced to go on the defensive, with Rowland intercepting Freddie Price and Zac Hartley prevented Abimbola Obasoto from going on the offensive shortly afterwards. The closest chance of the half for Morecambe came in the 19th minute as skipper Kaleb Young found himself in plenty of space in the box, but his final shot was fired just wide of the left-hand post.

 it was all Shrewsbury in the closing stages of the first half as Luke Ward got his head on the end of another corner, which went wide of the post. He picked up a head injury in the process, but luckily it wasn’t anything too serious and he was able to carry on with the rest of the game. Both Jamaine Turner and James Rowland had their shots blocked, and Shrewsbury were unlucky not to go into half time ahead.

 The home team started the second half similar to the first. Luke Ward’s chance from a corner was blocked by Herbert after they both jumped up for the corner, with the Morecambe player getting to the ball first. Olivier Jumeau prevented Jamaine Turner from finding the back of the net in the 50th minute after receiving the ball from Lifumpa Mwandwe, and Rhys Davies’ shot was blocked by Ellis Jones eight minutes later.

 The deadlock was broken in the 60th minute and Shrewsbury finally found themselves ahead through captain James Rowland who slotted the ball into the bottom right hand corner after a brilliant build-up of play by Rhys Davies. Nearly one minute after the goal, Morecambe were awarded a penalty by referee Ryan McIlravey, with Henry Dorward stepping up to take the spot kick. Amazingly, Shrewsbury keeper Jack Atkinson dived the right way and prevented the equaliser, and made another save seconds later when Herbert attempted to score the rebound. This proved to be vital for Shrewsbury.

 Morecambe thought they had scored but Shrewsbury’s defence managed to prevent it from managing to cross the line; this was another nervous moment for the home team. Jamaine Turner was unlucky not to get his first goal and Shrewsbury’s second when he shot just wide of the post and found himself being substituted moments later. Lifumpa Mwandwe doubled their lead in the 86th minute, much to his delight after having numerous chances on goal throughout the game. He placed the ball into the bottom corner after finding the end of Zac Hartley’s cross from the left.

 This was Shrewsbury’s first win in the league since their 2-0 win at Tranmere Rovers last month, and they will be looking to add to their points tally in their next match away against an unbeaten Wigan Athletic side next week.

Team:Jack Atkinson, Zac Hartley, Rhys Davies, James Rowland (c), Luke Ward, Tom Davies, Jamaine Turner (Reiss Corfield 84), Kian Taylor (Lewis Redding 70), Archie Elmore (Ryan Grosvenor 57), Jack Leask, Lifumpa Mwandwe.

Subs:Wes Garfield, Dan Walker.