Bury FC 4-2 Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury made four changes to the side that drew away at Wrexham two weeks ago. Sam Agius returns in goal whilst Edan Sears, Lewis Redding and Ethan O’Toole replace Tom Davies, Kian Taylor and Lifumpa Mwandwe respectively. Head of Development Coach Dan Copnall was in charge of Town against Bury, with manager Eric Ramsay currently away working with the first team squad.
Despite conceding a corner in the opening seconds of the game, Shrewsbury started well and nearly found themselves in front of Scott Moloney’s goal through Jamaine Turner but he was unable to have the chance to test the goalkeeper as Aaron Skinner intercepted his run. Bury captain Joe Adams nearly put the home side in front with his curling effort on goal in the fifth minute, but his shot went wide of the target with Town goalkeeper Sam Agius unconcerned by his attempt. Shrewsbury nearly had a goal-scoring opportunity of their own just one minute later, but Ryan Grosvenor couldn’t create enough power on his cross to reach Turner who was waiting in the box.
Shrewsbury Town’s Ethan O’Toole broke the deadlock in the ninth minute of the game as his shot from 25 yards out found the top left corner of Moloney’s goal. Bury made an instant reply to going behind, and levelled the score line just three minutes later much to the disappointment of the away players who felt it was a soft goal to concede. Bury looked threatening in the minutes that followed but Edan Sears prevented the opportunity for The Shakers to find a second.
Chances came and went for both teams in the remaining minutes of the half. Shrewsbury’s opportunity to take the lead came when Scott Moloney made a mistake in front of his goal but managed to correct it; beating Ryan Grosvenor to the ball who slipped in the process. Joe Adams created Bury’s best chance to go into the break leading but he saw his shot was comfortably saved by Agius.
Dan Copnall was forced to make a change at the start of the second half as Jacob Bell came on to replace the injured Dan Walker. Joe Lilley created a good solo opportunity and got himself into a goal scoring position in front of Shrewsbury’s goal however his final shot went just wide of the post preventing his team from taking the lead. Roles were reversed ten minutes later when it was Shrewsbury who found themselves in front of the target, but Ryan Grosvenor was prevented by Scott Moloney who was able to jump high enough to push it over the crossbar.
Shrewsbury took the lead again in the 64th minute when skipper James Rowland picked up possession from in his own half and managed to find Ryan Grosvenor who broke away from his man to perfectly time his shot to find the back of the net. Just like they did in the first half, Bury made an instant reply and Aaron Skinner equalised six minutes later as the ball fell to him after Agius’ initial save.
The home team found themselves in front for the first time in the 84th minute through a brilliant goal by captain Joe Adams who found the net directly from the corner. Desperate attempts followed by Shrewsbury to try and level the game and come away with a point, but it was The Shakers who came the closest to scoring. The game was all but won by Bury when Joe Adams scored his second and his team’s fourth with one minute of the game left to play.
Shrewsbury Town go on to face Accrington Stanley in their last game before Christmas on Saturday 15th December where they will be looking to end the year on a high with a win.
Team:Sam Agius, Reiss Corfield, Dan Walker (Jacob Bell 46), James Rowland (c), Luke Ward, Edan Sears, Lewis Redding, Jack Leask, Jamaine Turner, Ryan Grosvenor, Ethan O’Toole (Archie Elmore 54).
Unused Subs:Reece Thompson, Roman Allen, Kian Garrett.