Shrewsbury Town

A look at how our players are getting on away from the club

It was a busy weekend for Town’s loan players with six of the seven players currently away from the club involved.

John McAtee scored twice for Halesowen Town as they beat Lancaster City 4-3 in a thriller. McAtee had opened his Halesowen account in their penalty shootout defeat to Romulus in midweek and followed that up with a brace this weekend. McAtee scored the second and third goals as Halesowen led 3-0 on the hour mark. Lancaster got two back to set up a nervy final 10 minutes, but McAtee set up Serygne Diop for Halesowen’s fourth in the 90th minute. John was awarded the Man of the Match Award for his performance.

Another Town goal scorer this weekend was AJ Leitch-Smith as his diving header gave Dundee the lead against Partick Thistle. However, that was as good as it got for Leitch-Smith who went onto miss a penalty as Dundee were beaten 2-1 by bottom side Thistle. This was Partick’s first win of the 2016/17 season.

George Hughes lined-up against former Town defender Callum Grogan on Saturday as Colwyn Bay travelled to Radcliffe Borough. Hughes started the game, but it was Grogan who came out on top with Radcliffe winning 2-1. That result means that Colwyn Bay have now lost three times in their last four games.

Shaun Rowley was back in goal for Tamworth, but they were narrowly beaten 3-2 by Alfreton Town. Tamworth twice went behind, but went into the break at 2-2 thanks to two goals from Reece Styche. It looked like the game would end level, but in the 89th minute Alfreton found a winner as Craig Westcarr fired into the bottom corner.

Elsewhere in the National League North, Dom Smith’s Southport picked up their first point since the 2nd September thanks to a 2-2 draw with Gainsborough Trinity. Southport appointed former Bolton Wanderers Striker Kevin Davies last week and he almost got off to a dream start as Southport led 2-1 going into the final minutes, but Trinity Striker Craig King manage to intercept Dom Smith’s clearance to make it 2-2 in the 90th minutes.

Meanwhile, in Wales there was a defeat for Ryan Sears’ Newtown side as they lost 2-0 to second placed Cardiff Met. Sears started the game, but was forced off injured in the 17th minute with a suspected dislocated shoulder. It proved to be a major blow for Newtown who extended their winless run to five games.

Callum Roberts was only on the bench as TNS won 2-1 against Aberystwyth Town on Friday night – Greg Draper scoring both of the goals for the Saints.