Marcus Braddock previews Saturday's trip to Market Drayton
It's the middle of summer so I guess it's time for Shrewsbury Town to start playing some friendly games to get fit for the new season. But before all of that, we have the Shropshire Senior Cup semi final to play and this year we have to get past Market Drayton Town of the Northern Premier League Division One South. Drayton have never won the SSC but they are certainly not going to be pushovers having made the final twice in the last decade. Captained by the vastly experienced Paul McMullen who spent most of his career playing in Scottish football, Drayton will be looking for an upset and will likely push us all the way. They also have ex-Shrewsbury man Kevin Street amongst the ranks, many Town fans will remember Kevin’s contribution from our season in the Conference and I'm sure he will receive a warm round of applause from Shrewsbury Town fans at some point.Shrewsbury fans will know that we have much of the team that won promotion to League One last season and have added nine new players to date. In Midfield we have added Martin Woods from Ross County, Shaun Whalley from Luton, Abu Agogo from Dagenham, ex-Barnsley youngster Darren McKnight, and Junior Brown from Mansfield Town. We've also added defensive options with Mat Sadler returning to the club from Rotherham and Matt Tootle who's made the move from Crewe. Our most recent signing arrived yesterday and is a familiar face with Liam McAlinden joining on loan from Wolves. The young striker played for us in 2013, scoring three times in nine games for us in League One.
The game kicks off at Market Drayton’s Greenfields home on Saturday 11th of July at 3.00 pm.
Prediction
Most people will be expecting a decent Shrewsbury Town win, given that we are a few divisions above Drayton. I am too, but the Gingerbread men will be looking to get at us early on and ruffle a few feathers, so the result will depend on how we cope with that. Personally I think we have too much quality for the Northern Premier League Division One South side and if we take an early enough lead, we could do quite well.
Market Drayton 0-3 Shrewsbury Town
Admission
£7 adults, £4 concessions and £1 for children, and its pay on the day at Greenfields.
Address
Greenfields Sports Ground, Greenfields Lane, Market Drayton, Shropshire, TF9 3SL
Details
Saturday 11th July 2015 - kick-off 3pm
COYB!!!
Marcus Braddock