Goals from Alex Rodman and Carlton Morris give Town the win
Chloe Lloyd reports from the Montgomery Waters Meadow
Shrewsbury Starting XI: 1 Dean Henderson, 5 Mat Sadler, 8 Abu Ogogo (Captain), 9, Carlton Morris, 11 Arthur Gnahoua, 12 Junior Brown, 13 James Bolton, 16 Bryn Morris, 20 Jon Nolan, 22 Aristote Nsiala, 23 Alex Rodman.
Shrewsbury substitutes: Craig MacGillivray, Shaun Whalley, Louis Dodds, Lenell John-Lewis, Ebou Adams, Dan James, Christos Shelis.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Starting XI: 1 John Rudd, 2 Matt Doherty, 3 Barry Douglas, 4 Dave Edwards (Captain), 5 Willy Boly, 6 Conor Coady, 7 Ivan Calaleiro, 8 Ruben Neves, 9 Nouha Dicko, 10 Connor Ronan, 11 Roderick Miranda.
Wolves substitutes: Aaron Simpson, Will Norris, Ryan Bennett, Danny Batth, Sylvain Deslandes, Joe Mason, Jack Price, Michal Zyro, Jordan Graham, Ruben Vinagre, Romain Saiss, Bright Enobakhare, Harry Burgoyne.
Referee: Rob Lewis
Shrewsbury faced a strong, experienced Wolverhampton outfit at the Montgomery Waters Meadow that included former Shrewsbury favourite Dave Edwards and the Championship record signing from Porto, Ruben Neves. Both teams started brightly looking to pass and move the ball quickly.
It was the Shrews who started the brightest and their first chance on 7 minutes resulted with a goal. Competitive, nippy play lead to a loose ball bouncing around the 6-yard area after Wolves goalkeeper John Rudd failed to hold an incoming cross. Salop's Alex Rodman was first to respond, firing a cleanly struck volley into the bottom corner of the net, well out of reach of the diving Wolves Number One John Rudd.
Wolves continually looked to level the score line, and on 20 minutes Matt Doherty got in front of Junior Brown by cleverly knocking the ball over the defender to burst into the penalty area. He looked to have been felled by the recovering Brown with the referee just about to blow his whistle and point for a spot-kick, however, with a quick word from his linesman who had the clearest view, all penalty claims were waved away allowing the Shrews to clear.
Although a friendly, that by no means meant that it was a friendly affair, which was likely to be the case with the close geographical proximity held by both teams. Alex Rodman was lucky to escape with a quiet word in the ear from referee Rob Lewis after a meaty challenge, which in a league or cup game would have almost definitely resulted in a card of either colour.
Wolves passed the ball stretching the Shrewsbury defence throughout the first half but with no end product. Shrewsbury took the advantage. A left footed cross by Junior Brown found the impressive loanee from Norwich Carlton Morris, who controlled well on his chest to bring the ball down to hit it sweetly into the back of the opposition net to double the Town’s lead. The goal was met by jubilant Salopian fans, but contrastingly, streams of Wolves fans heading to the concourses just past the midway point of the first half.
Wolves again began to search for a way back into the game. Nouha Dicko found himself with room to run behind the Shrewsbury backline. Instead of a cool and composed finish which was the least to be expected from such a prime position centrally one on one with Salop keeper Dean Henderson, Dicko fired a poor shot way wide of the target.
With half time approaching, Shrewsbury were happy to enter the break two goals in the lead, and so they finished the half passing the ball comfortably and confidently.
HALF TIME: Shrewsbury 2 - 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
The beginning of the second half brought the predicted multiple changes for both sides, as both managers begin to prepare their squads for the opening of the 2017/18 league campaigns beginning on 5th August.
On 53 minutes Wolves substitutes Bright Enobakhare and Michal Zyro combined to escape the grasps of the high pressing Shrewsbury back line. Breaking through the centre, Zyro fired a shot past on rushing Salop substitute goalkeeper MacGillivray. The shot, although on target, did not have enough paces to pass the goal line - eventually being well cleared by 17-year-old defender Christos Shelis, keeping the score line at 2-0 to the Shrews.
The 60-minute mark saw further changes made by both sides as managers Paul Hurst (Shrewsbury) and Nuno Espírito Santo (Wolverhampton Wanderers) looked to freshen up and give game time to more of their squad.
Following a Bryn Morris sliding tackle from behind on a Wanderers player, referee Rob Lewis deemed it to be worthy of a free kick calling Craig MacGillivray into action in the 70th minute. The well-struck free kick from 23 yards out was hit by Romain Saiss to the right side of the goal. MacGillivray dived well getting a strong palm to the ball pushing it away from any danger.
With Wolves pushing to get back into the game, Shrewsbury responded by trying to get a third to finish the game off. Shaun Whalley on the right wing danced his way to the edge of the 18 yard box and whistled in a powerful left footed attempt which was well kept out by the recently signed from Cambridge Norris between the sticks for Wolves.
Shrewsbury continued to overpower Wolves with their faced paced passing and dominated possession. But with the fourth official handing two additional minutes, Wolves last chance to score a consolation goal fell short with a Jack Price free kick on the right side of the box being cleared well out of danger. The game finished with the same score as the first half ended. A goalless second half, but a good workout for both sides ending in a Salop win and clean sheet.
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