Late Whalley penalty gives Town win against 10 men Burton
Shrewsbury Town Starting XI: 1Dean Henderson, 5 Matt Sadler, 8 Abu Ogogo (Captain), 9 Carlton Morris, 11 Arthur Gnahoua, 12 Junior Brown, 13 James Bolton, 19 Niall Ennis, 20 Jon Nolan, 22 Aristote Nsiala, 23 Alex Rodman.
Shrewsbury Town Substitutes: Craig MacGillivray, Shaun Whalley, Louis Dodds, Lenell John-Lewis, Bryn Morris, Ebou Adams, Zak Jules, Dan James, Christos Shelis.
Burton Albion Starting XI: 1 Stephen Bywater, 2 Matt Lund, 3 Stephen Warnock (Captain), 4 Luke Murphy, 5 Jake Buxton, 6 Kyle McFadzean, 7 Lucas Akins, 8 Hope Akpan, 9 Liam Boyce, 10 Marvin Sordell, 11 Lloyd Dyer.
Burton Albion Substitutes: John Mousinho, Harry Campbell, Tom Naylor, Matty Palmer, Damien McCory, Joe Sbarra.
Chloe Lloyd reports from the Montgomery Waters Meadow
A second half Shrewsbury penalty dispatched by Shaun Whalley was enough to see off 10 man Championship outfit Burton Albion at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
Shrewsbury faced Championship side Burton Albion in their final preparation match before the league campaign beginsb next weekend. The pre-season friendly coincided with the annual Open Day which provided great entertainment for all ages.
The opening exchanges saw both teams looking to pass the ball and settle into the game. It was, however, the Brewers who had the first opportunity on goal with a deflected Lloyd Dyer catching the Shrewsbury defence, apart from goalkeeper Henderson who dealt with the situation, off guard.
Shrewsbury responded with increased intensity going forwards. A low Alex Rodman cross from the edge of the 6 yard box strayed wide with the chance gone begging after only requiring a simple tap in.
The first half was a fiery encounter. A poor tackle on Abu Ogogo by Albion striker Marvin Sordell saw referee Rob Lewis no other option but to show the striker a straight red card. The Salop captain retaliated after the poor tackle, but escaped with a yellow.
A few minutes later saw Burton's record signing Liam Boyce stay down in agony after challenging for the ball with Toto Nsiala. The former Ross County centre forward required lengthy treatment and left the field of play via stretcher.
With very little goal mouth action from both Salop and 10-man Albion in the first half, the main talking point continued to feature around the heated challenges. Out of the two goalkeepers, Salop 'keeper Henderson was the busiest. This was, however, only claiming crosses, which he completed more than comfortably.
HALF TIME: Shrewsbury Town 0-0 Burton Albion
The half time break brought one change for the home side. Captain Abu Ogogo, also on a yellow card, was replaced by Bryn Morris with the Captains armband being given to Matt Sadler.
On 58 minutes Shrewsbury's Nsiala was caught on the ball by the pacy Akins just outside the penalty area. Burton's number 7 broke into the box and just as he was about to pull the trigger, Nsiala got back to him, outmuscling the Albion player and clearing the ball away to safety.
Just before the 70 minute mark the deadlock was nearly broken. A Whalley corner was aimed at substitute Lenell John-Lewis. The 28 year old was strong at the back post, beating his marker to head the ball down to fellow substitute Louis Dodds. Dodds took his shot on the turn from inside the 6 yard area and saw his right footed shot hammer against the post and ricochet out for a Burton goal kick.
With 6 minutes to play Whalley latched on to a Buxton mistake and the Albion keeper hacked down the Shrewsbury man inside the box. With no hesitation ref Rob Lewis blew his whistle and pointed to the spot, awarding Salop their second spot kick of pre-season. After winning the penalty, Whalley claimed the penalty as his own and dispatched the ball into the centre of the goal with Albion 'keeper Bywater diving left to put the Shrews a goal up.
Almost straight from the restart, a long ball up to John-Lewis was held up well by the big striker and he payed the ball off to Dodds. The attacking midfielder made some neat, skilful touches to give himself room before firing a shot narrowly wide.
That was to be the last of the goal mouth action, with Shrewsbury winning their final pre-season game with another win against Championship opposition. It finished a good work out for both sides, with plenty for both managers to ponder ahead of the opening fixture next weekend. The Salop fans left the Montgomery Waters Meadow with handfuls of optimising as the season quickly approaches.
FULL TIME: Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Burton Albion