Half way through and Town go top
December
Shrewsbury’s FA Cup adventure was brought to an end at the second hurdle as they went down 2-0 at Preston North End – their second defeat of the season at Deepdale, having also lost in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
With all interest in the cups ended however, it did leave Micky Mellon’s men free to focus on their prime objective: promotion. A goalless draw at Cambridge was followed by a 1-0 win over Morecambe then, on Boxing Day, a 2-0 win at Oxford United that sent them top of the table for the first time. Goals from James Collins and Mark Ellis meant Town had 43 points from 22 games – enough to sit above Wycombe Wanderers and Burton on goal difference.
They were to hold top spot to the end of the year as well, a 0-0 draw with Wycombe in their last game of 2014 proving just enough to keep the chasing pack at bay.
With exactly half the season gone, Town were sitting pretty on 44 points and looking good for promotion.