Shrewsbury Town

Town went into the game at home to Stevenage knowing a win would give them a big boost as they look to get out of the Sky Bet League 1 relegation places.

The players were up for it from the first whistle and really took the game to Stevenage creating a number of good chances to grab the lead.  It took until the second half though for Town’s dominance to shine through with Jon Taylor getting on the scoresheet once again after great work from young Dominic Iorfa.

Town were reduced to ten men after Asa Hall picked up a second yellow card but despite that and an astonishing 7 minutes of added time Town dug in and to take the all important 3 points.

After the game manager Mike Jackson spoke to the press to give his thoughts on the game:”It’s a good win which got a little stressful towards the end with all the things that were going on.

“I only really want to speak about one the players and two the crowd!  That’s all that really needs mentioning today.

“The way the players have gone about things today and the way the crowd have responded to that, they both deserve that win today.”

The 5,000 Town fans in the Greenhous Meadow really came to the fore today and were noisy and supportive throughout.  The performance on the pitch gave them something to respond to and they sure did that:”They were brilliant but we’ve given them something to shout about in the first half so credit to them.

“Big credit goes to the players as well, nothing else matters today other than what the players have done and how the crowd have helped them.

“It’s not about me or the staff but about that group of players and those fans and the connection that they’ve shown today.”

Town were right at it from the first whistle and put in a performance which could easily have seen more goals for the home side.  There were some excellent performances out there and Jacko was quick to praise young Dominic Iorfa:”We’ve been questioned in the past about passion but I don’t buy into that, the performance against Walsall was more about fatigue from seven games in a 21 days.

“We’ve started the game well and shown and intent and that is something they are capable of doing.

“There have been some unbelievable performances today, young Dominic Iorfa for one, people questioned why we brought him in and I hope that will answer a few of those people.

“He’s a young lad who plays with no fear but what you need is the right temperament and whether going out there fazes them but from what I’ve seen so far that doesn’t for him.”

Iorfa was involved in Town’s goal after good work from him saw him cut the ball back to set-up Jon Taylor who made no mistake with a good low drive under Boro keeper Day:”That’s another goal for him, I said to him to go and score again and to get into double figures this season.

“His goal return for a wide man is excellent and again his performance has helped to set the tone of what we’ve done today.  

It’s not just him but Boz, Tom Eaves, the two midfield players, the back players, the goalkeeper, everyone has played their part.”

Jacko made a number of changes to the Town side ahead of the game, including a switch of keepers with Chris Weale coming in to replace Joe Anyon.  The decisions are ones which the gaffer takes lightly and he had been deliberating about his selection all week:”Yes it was a tough decision to make, I did the same before the Port Vale game and left some players out and they weren’t happy.  I never expected them to be but they tell you that when you need them they are there and that is what you want to hear.

“It’s not a good part of football to leave players out, I never liked it when it happened to me but we need everyone in that group for the rest of the season.

“When I pick a side I have a feeling in my gut which I trust and an idea how the game is going to go and pick a side for that.

“I started the week with Tom Eaves and Bahrudin Atajic in my head but changed it about eight times, but in the end I stuck with what I first thought and they came up trumps.

“With Boz playing he has that ability to make the ball stick and when that happens it allows you to build.  “

Town’s task was made a little tougher with Asa Hall picking up a second yellow card with 10 minutes remaining and with the addition of seven minutes of added time:”It was just a little bit clumsy in the challenge from Asa there was nothing much in it but it’s two yellows and we’ll miss him for the Tranmere game which is a blow.

“Stevenage must have had eight or nine late challenges and nothings got said about them.

“How the ref’s found seven minutes of added time from somewhere and I don’t understand that.

Results elsewhere meant that Town stay in the relegation zone but the result today puts the squad in a strong frame of mind for next Saturday’s trip to Tranmere Rovers:”It just seems to be happening that everyone wins, then everyone draws but the main thing was for us to do our business today.

“We knew what we had to do today and now we go to Tranmere next week knowing what we’ve got to do.

“You come through the challenges and we did that against Bradford, we’ve done it again today and the more you do that the more it galvanises you and we have to be right up for the Tranmere game and take a lot of confidence into that.

“Let’s enjoy this one, the lads deserve it then on Monday it’s all gone and we start again.”