Marcus Braddock takes his look back and forward in his weekly update
You would think that being top of the division every week would get a little tiresome but after eleven games without a defeat I'm still loving this team! Both of our games in the last seven days have given me a little anxiety, Doncaster looked like they had started to turn in winning performances but somehow, our will to get the ball over the line was strong enough to win our fourth away game out of five in the league. Scunthorpe came to the Meadow with an impressive away record having only conceded three goals in away games and having kept clean sheets in their four previous games. I didn't venture as far as Doncaster that night but the excellent commentary told me that we had ridden our luck a little at times. Last season, riding our luck meant getting a draw instead of losing, this season it benefits us to the tune of two points.
We would have stayed top of the division had we drawn but that late strike from Arthur took some of the pressure off going into Saturday. Both managers rested players in the midweek games but I wonder if Scunthorpe were a little jaded by the time they got to Shrewsbury as they didn't perform as I'd expected and had seen from their highlight package. The little extras from the weekend aside from the win were the clean sheet and margin of the win. Every other win this season was by the odd goal which I'm more than happy with but when there is half an hour of the game left, I feel a bit twitchy about conceding an equalizer. It's great if we feel confident of defending a one-goal lead but it was nice to see Carlton Morris come on with the killer instinct to show us the way.
With two months gone we've now played almost a quarter of our games in the league and we're four points clear having played three of the better teams in the division, albeit at home. We've shown we have an ability to still get something when we haven't been at our best and we've also shown that our fitness levels keep us going until late into games if the late goals are anything to go on.
The coming week has another couple of difficult games, first up are West Bromwich Albion under 21's at home on Tuesday night. A great chance to see the Town for a reduced price, especially if you have kids because they get in for just a quid! With adult prices at just a fiver, where else could a family of four get an evenings entertainment for twelve pounds?
The big game this week well is taking place down the M54 when we visit Walsall at the weekend. Given our form and the distance, it should be a nice atmosphere for our lads to play in front of, I may even go myself!
Shrewsbury Town Ladies played Sutton Coldfield and Beth Francis grabbed her first goal in five years of playing for us. The video of the goal is on the Shrewsbury Town Ladies Facebook page and it looks a decent volley. They could consider themselves quite unlucky not to have at least drawn after a good performance. This week they visit on The New Saints on Sunday afternoon.
The youth team drew both of their games this week with a 1-1 draw at Blackpool on Tuesday and a 0-0 at Port Vale on Saturday. Lifumpa Mwandwe in the 21st minute of the Vale game but ultimately they will be disappointed not to have picked up the win, having had enough chances to win. This weekend they will travel to Mansfield for an 11.00 am kick off.
COYB!!!
Marcus Braddock