Paul Hurst reflects on the 5-0 victory over Aldershot Town
Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Hurst was pleased to avoid a potential banana skin and make it through to the second round of the FA Cup.
Two first-half goals in the space of four minutes and three in the space of six second-half minutes gave Town a comfortable 5-0 victory.
“I’m delighted with the scoreline”, Hurst told the Press.
“I wasn’t overly enthused with the way we played, but we had some good moments and then we were quite clinical and we could have probably scored a few more as well.
“Although the scoreline doesn’t suggest it, the game was exactly what I expected and Aldershot had some good bits of play and possession, but looked vulnerable when we made forward runs and passed the ball.
“I’m delighted to get through because it can be tricky and there were some other results where managers won’t be happy with what they’ve seen today, so I’m delighted to be in that second round draw.”
Town had five different goalscorers in the game, but Hurst admitted that hadn’t even thought about that and instead praised his goalkeeper Craig MacGillivray who came in for Dean Henderson.
“I didn’t really think about that, but it’s great when you put a substitute on and they score with their first touch”, Paul said.
“Once we got to three-nil a big emphasis was on keeping a clean-sheet and having a pride and desire to want that. I thought Craig, who without being worked too much, was outstanding in the work he did do and he can be very pleased with his afternoon’s work.
“He’s done exactly what he’s done in all the previous games he’s been involved in. It’s difficult for him because of how well Dean’s done, but he can’t do anymore and he’s certainly not doing himself any harm in my eyes, so long may that continue.”
Town will now go into Monday’s FA Cup draw as the highest ranked club in the competition and Paul admitted he would like another home game.
“A home tie again would be great and the easiest one possible, whoever people deem that to be”, Hurst said.