Shrewsbury Town secured a much deserved three points with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Burton Albion in Sky Bet League One.
Goals from Tom Bloxham and Matthew Pennington either side of the half-time break at the Pirelli Stadium earned Salop a vital three points on the road.
There were no real chances in the opening 30 minutes with both sides trying to get a foothold on the game, trying to break each other down. Salop thought they had a strong claim for a penalty in the third minute when Dan Udoh was brought down in the box. However, the referee was quick to wave away any claim.
The first real opportunity of the game didn’t come until the 31st minute when George Nurse laid the ball to Udoh before the Salop striker cut inside onto his right foot, but his shot was wide. Following that Udoh chance, Salop’s confidence grew and they took the lead four minutes later in the 35th minute when Bloxham got on the end of an Elliott Bennett corner with his right foot and curled his shot home.
Salop thought they had a second in the 39th minute when Ryan Bowman got on the end of a Bloxham flick and fired his shot into the back of the net however, the assistant was quick to raise his flag and the goal was ruled out.
The home side had a great chance to equalise early in the second half when Christian Saydee played a ball into the box where Charlie Lakin looked destined to score however, he failed to hit the target.
Shrewsbury were the dominant side in the first hour of the game and were creating better opportunities and they got their second in the 59th minute. A shot from George Nurse from 25-yards out was spilled by Ben Garratt in the Burton goal and Pennington reacted fastest and tapped in the rebound.
Salop could easily have had four or five on the day and had a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 when a beautiful ball in by Luke Leahy needed only a touch by either Udoh or Ryan Bowman, but neither could turn it home.
Despite the home side trying to get back into the game in the closing stages, they never really managed to challenge Marko Marosi and Salop deservedly took all three points back to Shropshire.
Teams:
Burton Albion: Ben Garratt (GK), John Brayford (C), Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Joe Powell, Jonny Smith (Oumar Niasse, 63’), Sam Hughes, Christian Saydee, Conor Shaughnessy, Tom Hamer, Michael Mancienne (Harry Chapman, 72’), Charlie Lakin (Adlene Guedioura, 63’)
Subs Not Used: Matej Kovar (GK), Deji Oshilaja, Gassan Ahadme, William Kokolo
Salop: Marko Marosi (GK), Luke Leahy, Ethan Ebanks-Landell (C), Matthew Pennington, Tyrese Fornah, Daniel Udoh (Saikou Janneh, 89’), Ryan Bowman, Elliott Bennett (Joshua Daniels, 90+), Tom Bloxham (Aaron Pierre, 84’), George Nurse, Tom Flanagan
Subs Not Used: Harry Burgoyne (GK), Matthew Bondswell, Charlie Caton, Kade Craig
