Town had the chances but in the end it's a replay
Town: Leutwiler, Smith, El-Abd, Sadler, McGivern; O’Brien, Deegan, Black (82), Brown; Dodds; Toney (91)Subs: Halstead, Lancashire, Grimmer, Waring (82), Jones (91)
Northampton: Cairns, Davis (64), Pond, Bolge; McLaughlin, Dempsey, Glendon (64), Grant, Bell; Ball, Cole (72)
Subs: Neal, Jonsson, Nirennold (64), Long (72), Hunter (64), Sowerby, Ekpolo
Ref: Trevor Kettle
Assistants: Matthew Bristow, Steven Rushton
Fourth Official: Nicholas Barnard
Attendance: 2886 (231)
Shrewsbury Town face a replay in the second round of the FA Cup but they can consider themselves highly unlucky after hitting the woodwork three times on their way to a 0-0 stalemate with Fleetwood.
Louis Dodds, Junior Brown and Ivan Toney all came within inches of securing Town a place in the next round but they’ll have to win away at Highbury to earn a potential tie with the big names of the Premier League.
Both sides enjoyed spells of possession in the first period but it was the defensive units that largely came out on top throughout.
Dodds was the main creative outlet for Town early on in his position just in behind Toney, and he worked some good space early on to carve out the first chance of the game.
He drifted into space out wide before lofting a cross that ended up being just too deep for Toney, as the forward could only nod his header into the arms of Alex Cairns in the Fleetwood goal.
Fleetwood captain Nathan Pond was in the thick of the action throughout the half as he first blocked a powerful close range effort from Dodds.
The defensive heroics looked to have taken their toll on Pond with the centre-half being taken off for treatment soon after, but he went on to come the closest of any player in the opening period on the half hour mark.
Adam El-Abd was booked for bringing down Devante Cole, and from the resulting delivery Jayson Leutwiler had to make a flying save to deny the captain from giving his side the lead.
Half Time: Shrewsbury Town 0-0 Fleetwood Town
The game sparked into life after the break as Town enjoyed an extraordinary spell where they struck the same post twice in as many minutes.
First Dodds was set clean through after battling work by Toney but he saw his effort come off the right hand post, roll along the goal line and go wide of the left hand upright.
A break followed just a minute later with Dom Smith’s near post cross finding Brown but his scrambled effort was touched onto the woodwork by Cairns.
Chances were at a premium after that spell with both sides in the knowledge that one goal could see them crash out of the cup.
Toney’s strength and hold up play looked the most likely source of creativity for Town, and the away side struggled to cope with the No.9 for long periods.
Joe Davis in particular was struggling and he was replaced before he earned a second yellow card after a number of tussles with the on-loan Newcastle forward.
Toney was inches away from putting Town through with just over five minutes left to play, as his bending free kick from 25 yards struck the angle of post and bar, with Cairns completely helpless.
He was now partnered by second half substitute George Waring as Paul Hurst’s side searched for a winner but it wasn’t to be, and they’ll do it all again at Fleetwood as they look to reach the third round for the second successive season.
Full Time: Shrewsbury Town 0-0 Fleetwood Town