Goals from Brown and El-Abd give Town the win
Shrewsbury managed to put the nightmares of the last fixture against Chesterfield to bed as they picked up their first win of the season on a blustery day at the Greenhous Meadow.Two goals from corners was enough for Shrewsbury to record their first win against the Spireites since 2010 despite their goal taking a peppering in the second half.
There was a good early chance in the third minute when Moha El Ouriachi robbed his defender out wide and then drove forward before spraying a pass into Ivan Toney in the box but he fired his shot past the post.
But it was Chesterfield who settled best into the unwelcome storm in Shropshire as they took the lead early on.
On the 13th minute Shrewsbury failed to deal with a goal kick deep into their half. Ched Evans picked up the ball and set up Jay O’Shea who found himself with ample space on the outside of the box and he had time to settle himself before placing his effort past an exposed Jayson Leutwiler.
The away side nearly doubled their lead when Gboly Ariyibi beat his marker out wide and cut inside before firing his shot to the near post but Leutwiler did well to get down quickly and parry behind.
Shrewsbury had a succession of corners after 20 minutes which culminated in Junior Brown leaping the highest to restore parity. The fourth corner on the bounce was whipped in by El Ouriachi and headed down and in by Brown.
The goal breathed confidence into the home side and they pushed on to try and get ahead as El Ouriachi continued to impress going forward for his new club.
Leutwiler was called into action again five minutes before the break when Dan Gardner curled an effort which was destined for the back of the net. The Swiss stopper parried away and the following effort by Evans was blocked valiantly by the defence.
There was a great chance for Chesterfield to take the lead on the whistle when Jon Nolan whipped a corner through the rain and onto head of Sam Hird but he narrowly headed over.
There was a pocket of blue sky as the second half got underway but the clouds were darkening for Shrewsbury as Chesterfield were pressing to take the lead. The Derbyshire side furiously appealed for a penalty in the opening minutes of the half when a fierce shot was blocked by Brown in a fair manor according to the referee.
Ariyibi was causing problems down the right hand side and linking up well with his teammates up front. Meanwhile Shrewsbury’s main creative outlet El Ouriachi was substituted just before the hour mark.
Pantomime villain Evans was brought down by McGivern 30 yards from goal and the striker drove the resulting free-kick low and hard which Leutwiler did well to keep out. Seconds later the Welshman linked up well with his team mates and was put through on goal only for the offside flag to be raised to deny him.
With just over twenty minutes to go the Shrewsbury goal was living a charmed life. Evans was fed in on the six yard box by Gardner, he turned and smashed his shot but Lutweiler put his body on the line and dived in to block.
Somehow Shrewsbury were still in with a point after a corner was whipped into the six yard box by Nolan and headed back across goal by Ian Evatt, his effort sailed wide and past all attackers closing in.
Shrewsbury snatched the victory on the 84th minute as captain Adam El Abd stormed onto a corner by Jim O’Brien and blasted his header past Ryan Fulton in goal.
The home side held on to claim the victory which lifts them out of the relegation zone in League One.
James Eley