Shrewsbury Town fall to a 2-0 loss at the hands of Doncaster Rovers.
Rovers: Seny Dieng, Brad Halliday, Reece James, Tom Anderson, Joe Wright, Ben Sheaf, Kieran Sadlier, Ben Whiteman, Jon Taylor (Rakish Bingham, 90), James Coppinger (Madger Gomes, 81), Niall Ennis (Max Watters, 87).
Subs: Ian Lawlor, Rakish Bingham, Madger Gomes, Danny Amos, Shane Blaney, Max Watters, AJ Greaves.
Town: Max O’Leary, Aaron Pierre, Scott Golbourne (Dave Edwards, 62), Ro-Shaun Williams, Ollie Norburn, Ryan Giles, Donald Love (Jason Cummings, 73), Sean Goss (Shaun Whalley, 45), Daniel Udoh, Ethan Ebanks-Landell, Josh Laurent.
Subs: Joe Murphy, Dave Edwards, Omar Beckles, Shaun Whalley, Callum Lang, Brad Walker, Jason Cummings.
Referee: Ben Toner
Assistants: Helen Edwards and Anthony Moore
Fourth official: Martin Woods
Attendance: 7054 (265)
A disappointing away trip for Salop came to an end with Doncaster Rovers securing all three points.
Goals from Niall Ennis and Tom Anderson was the difference between the two sides as Rovers registered a 2-0 win.
First Half:
It wasn’t the start Sam Ricketts’ men would have desired at the Keepmoat as Niall Ennis managed to put the home side in front within five minutes. Ethan Ebanks-Landell’s attempted headed clearance found its way to Ennis who had the easy job of heading home from close range.
Despite going a goal down during the early stages of the game, the Shrews continually looked dangerous in the Doncaster half during the first 30 minutes. Ollie Norburn and Scott Golbourne were the brighter sparks for Town as Ricketts’ men looked to play their way back into the game.
Ennis came close to doubling the score for Rovers in the 36th minute. The striker met a great floated cross but couldn’t guide his effort towards goal as Max O’Leary rushed from his line.
A tightly contested half came to an end with Rovers going into the break with a one-goal advantage.
Second Half:
The home side started the second-half in similar form to the first. Ennis had another chance to fire in an early goal for his team. The striker managed to get one-on-one with O’Leary but Town’s keeper made a great save to push the ball away from danger.
Ebanks-Landell was shown a yellow card in the 55th minute for a foul in the middle of the park.
Town continued to push for an equaliser and received a number of free kicks around the home side’s box. Despite playing in a number of crosses, Town were unable to convert and were left frustrated with just over an hour on the clock.
Aaron Pierre made a vital block for his team with the clock ticking towards 70 minutes. The defender’s awareness allowed him to get in the way of a close-range shot that looked destined for the back of the net.
The home side managed to find the back of the net with 15 minutes left in the tie. Tom Anderson rose well inside Town’s box to beat his man and head the ball home for 2-0.
The game came to an end with Salop unable to break down the Rovers defence as the home side secured all three points.