Shrewsbury Town's final game of the season ends 0-0 against Walsall
Town: Jonathan Mitchell, Ro-Shaun Williams, Omar Beckles, Greg Docherty, Tyrese Campbell, Fejiri Okenabirhie (Josh Laurent, 65), James Bolton, Luke Waterfall (Matt Sadler, 45), Scott Golbourne, Ollie Norburn, Anthony Grant (Romain Vincelot, 86).
Subs: Reice Charles-Cook, Mat Sadler, Romain Vincelot, Alex Gilliead, Josh Laurent, Ryan Barnett, Stefan Payne.
Saddlers: Chris Dunn, Joe Edwards (Adamude Oteh, 78), Luke Leahy, George Dobson, Nicky Devlin, Andy Cook, Liam Kinsella (Isaiah Osbourne, 83), Connor Johnson, Josh Gordon, Scott Laird, Dan Scarr.
Subs: Liam Roberts, Jon Guthrie, Zeli Ismail, Jack Fitzwater, Cameron Norman, Isaiah Osbourne, Adamude Oteh.
Referee: Sebastian Stockbridge
Assistants: Wayne Grunnill and Hristo Karaivanov
Fourth official: Gary Hilton
Attendance: 9135 (1649)
Shrewsbury Town’s final game of the season ended with a 0-0 draw against Walsall.
Neither team were able to get on the score sheet despite having chances and both took a point back home.
First Half:
A fast-paced and intense opening period would have been expected and was duly delivered. Both teams were battling hard for the ball right from the off and looking to attack the opposition back line.
Despite an open first 20 minutes, neither team did enough to trouble the men in between the sticks. The battle was being carried out in the middle of the park with neither team wanting to lose possession.
Town had an effort well saved by Chris Dunn in the 36th minute. Tyrese Campbell let off a shot, which was deflected towards Greg Docherty. The midfielder got a good connection on the ball with a half-volley but the Saddlers keeper calmly tucked the ball into his arms.
The game had a stop-start element to it with a number of small fouls being made by both sides. This deterred the game from having free-flowing momentum and didn’t allow either team time to build an attack.
The half came to an end with both sides level on the scoreboard. Neither team were able to convincingly break down the opposition back line in order to create any real dangerous efforts at goal in what was a very stop and start half.
Second Half:
Just a minute after time had resumed Town were given a great chance to take the lead, as George Dobson committed a foul right on the edge of the box. Fejiri Okenabirhie’s free-kick couldn’t beat the wall and the Saddlers cleared their lines.
The visitors were pushing hard to get into Town’s box and were having some success. Mat Sadler had to be alert in order to clear the ball away from Andy Cook’s feet as the forward looked to dive into the box.
Mitchell had to make a good save in the 61st minute down to the right of the net. Josh Gordon did well to dribble towards the box and to get his shot on target. Fortunately for Town, Mitchell was equal to the shot and parried the ball away.
Tyrese Campbell was the next player on the pitch to have a real shot at goal. The striker received a cute pass inside the box and managed to forge half a yard of space. Despite a powerful left-footed effort, the keeper managed to get two strong hands to the ball.
Both sides did have small chances throughout the half but couldn’t make the most of their opportunities. As time went on the Saddlers were getting more and more forward but Town’s defence were doing well to shut out the ,majority of their advances.
The game came to an end all level on the score sheet. A tense 90 minutes of football came to an end with neither side able to notch a goal.