Shrewsbury Town

Late goals give Town all three points

Two late goals by Jamaine Turner and substitute Archie Elmore gifted Shrewsbury with all three points after displaying a resilient performance against Tranmere Rovers.

Manager Eric Ramsey made three changes to the starting line-up who beat Port Vale by four goals to two last week. Cameron Gregory, Dan Walker and Jack Leask replaced Jack Atkinson, Rhys Davies and one of last week’s goal scorers Lewis Redding.

Tranmere Rovers started the game on top, with Tom Davies being called straight into action to clear an early Tranmere counter attack. There was a break in play just four minutes into the game when captain, James Rowland looked to pick up a head injury after a clash of heads. But nothing could stop the skipper, and after a bit of treatment and a change of shirts he was back on the pitch and play continued. Chances for both teams to break the deadlock then came in quick succession, when Tranmere’s Danny Walker-Rice saw his shot go over the crossbar, and a minute later Jamaine Turner had a similar shot, after he got on the end of Lifumpa Mwandwe’s pass. Goalkeeper Cameron Gregory was unthreatened in goal for the opening quarter of the match but comfortably saved George Nugent’s shot in the 16th minute to deny Tranmere. Shrewsbury were forced to go on the defensive again in the minutes that followed when Dan Walker intercepted what could have been a great chance for the home team. Rovers had their best chance to score in the dying seconds of the first half when Luke Ward loses the ball to Walker-Rice but Gregory manages to clear just as the referee, David Pugh, blows his whistle for half time.

Both teams started the second half looking to get that all important first goal. It was Tranmere who had the first chance of the half when Ben Kerr and James Salkeld linked up but couldn’t quite get their shot past Gregory in the Shrewsbury goal. Six minutes later, Lifumpa Mwandwe created the first real chance for the away side, but his shot hit the side netting, much to the shock of his teammates who had thought it had gone in. Shrewsbury’s first penalty shout of the afternoon came when Mwandwe fell down in the box, but the referee waves away the Shrewsbury shouts. A tackle by Salkeld on Taylor forced Pugh into action again, but just like the first call, he waved away the protests.

Shrewsbury finally got the goal that broke the deadlock in the 70th minute when Turner fired home from close range in a busy penalty area, much to the delight of his teammates and the coaching staff. Shrewsbury were quickly in search for their second of the game, but Rowland’s shot was just high of the crossbar. Mwandwe had his opportunity at goal but just fired wide from a free kick and missed the target again in the minutes before full-time, when his attempt went over the crossbar. The win for Shrewsbury was comfortably wrapped up in the last minute of the match when substitute Archie Elmore found the bottom corner of the net.

After three games, Shrewsbury remain unbeaten and they will be looking to continue this one week on Wednesday when they face Preston North End. But all attention turns to their Cup match on Saturday against Lincoln City at home.

Team:

Gregory, Hartley, Walker, Rowland, Ward, T.Davies, Turner, Taylor, Grosvenor, Leask, Mwandwe.

Substitutes:

Millington, R.Davies, Redding, Elmore, Thompson