Shrewsbury Town

Town travelled to Stevenage looking to bounce back from the disappointment of the defeat at home to Oldham and looking to record their first away win of the season.

It looked to be a tough task after Boro grabbed the lead but Town stuck to their task and levelled through Reach.  It looked brighter at half-time after Tom Eaves had headed home and then after the restart Joe Jacobson added a third and Town finally recorded that elusive away win.

After the game manager Graham Turner spoke to the press and was asked how it felt:”It feels great, the dressing room is buzzing and we feel we deserved the result today.

“We've felt that we have deserved better results in a lot of games this season so when it goes right we are absolutely delighted.”

Stevenage has taken the lead against the run of play but it made it look a tough test for Town.  They stuck to their task though and recorded a much deserved win:”I think we were a bit unfortunate with their goal, the ball almost hit their fella when it came back off the post.

“We had one or two chances ourself and I thought the way we opened the game up with our passing and the positions we got into that we should have done a little bit better.

“Overall it's been a terrific performance against a team who are decent but we've defended well, headed the ball away and at times our passing has been excellent.”

Town were only behind for around 10 minutes until Adam Reach levelled with a lovely worked goal and a calm finish:”It was calm finish from Adam Reach and a lovely through ball from Luke and he's had a terrific afternoon today.

“It was a good finish but so were the others today and the one chance we created for Joe Jacobson, not the goal but one where he had a good shot, the play building up where we kept the ball, kept the ball and then the acceleration of our play was what we've been looking for and working on in training.”

Tom Eaves was playing when Town recorded their last win on the road in the 3-2 win at MK Dons in March.  He put in a great performance again in blue and amber and the manager was pleased to have in back in the team:”The goal was vital to us and his partnership with Gozie looked good with both of them having attributes that defenders find hard to deal with.

“The one thing we know about Tom is that he can score goals, some people have that knack and he's got it.

“It's great to have him back as he has a big physical presence and he added something to the team today.”

Joe Jacobson is making it a habit of popping up with important goals but the manager was quick to praise Darren Jones for his part in the goal:”It was a great goal but it was also a great bit of play from Darren Jones to chip the ball back in, absolutely top quality play to plant it back onto Joe's head.

“I'd have been upset if he hadn't scored as it was a fairly simple header but I suppose he's still got to execute it and he's done that well.

“The pleasing thing with it is that we've scored a goal from a set-piece, even if it was during the second phase.”

Stevenage continued to pile the pressure onto Town as they looked to get back into the game but the visitors were putting the hard work in to keep their lead intact:”You are always a little concerned especially against a side with the size and physical presence of Stevenage, especially when they kept putting even bigger players on.

“They were looking to get a lot of ball into our box and even though you try your hardest you can't stop all of that service into our box but we dealt with most of what they did get in there very well.”

GT made his first substitution at half-time with Dave McAllister coming on to replace Cameron Gayle, a decision that had a few people scratching their heads but there was an easy explanation:”Cameron couldn't see, he had both contact lenses knocked out and for about 15 minutes we were getting messages across about his vision.

“We couldn't quite understand what the problem was and then we worked out what it was and managed to get through to half-time.

“I didn't want to move Ryan Woods out of midfield as he was doing well but we didn't really have many other options.

“We know Woodsy can play at right-back and he adapted very well in the second half against a tricky winger.”

With Town out of the FA Cup they now have a two week break from competitive football but it doesn't look like the players will have an easy time:”We just talked about it in there, and it gives us a good chance to do some good hard physical work in the first week and then in the second week get back to the football work and preparation for Walsall.

“There is now a long, long time between games and it is just as well we got the 3 points today.”

255 fans finally saw Town's first away on the road and to end with GT had a lot of praise for the loyal faithful:”I'm delighted for them, again there was a great following here today giving us a good vocal support.

“The away supporters have been terrific all season and they've stuck by the side and the players through through a lot of thin times.

“We hope that this can he the start of better things for them in the future.”