Shrewsbury Town and Oxford United played out a 1-1 draw at Montgomery Waters Meadow on Wednesday night.
The visitors opened the scoring through Cameron Brannagan, who collected the ball and set himself in one touch before smashing the ball home.
Shrewsbury had looked the better side all game but didn't equalise until the second half when Matt Pennington's looping header left Oxford keeper Simon Eastwood rooted to the spot.
Town boss Steve Cotterill opted to make two changes from the team that secured an FA Cup victory over York when naming his starting line-up.
Having picked up a minor knee injury in that game, Carl Winchester was only fit enough to be named on the bench with Elliott Bennett taking his place in the starting line-up.
Up front, Rob Street got the nod to partner Christian Saydee with Rekeil Pyke the man to make way.
It meant Town lined up in a 3-4-1-2 formation with Bennett at right wing-back, Jordan Shipley on the left and Tom Bayliss in the number 10 role.
Oxford opted for a 4-3-3 system with Marcus Browne leading the line and Djavan Anderson on the right wing, and Kyle Joseph on the left side.
It was Shrewsbury who started the game on the front foot with Steve Cotterill’s side having two chances to open the scoring in the first 10 minutes.
First, Taylor Moore did really well to win the ball high up the pitch before finding Bayliss who then played a well-weighted pass through to Street.
The striker’s first touch was good but an Oxford defender managed to produce an excellent recovery tackle to nip the ball away.
From the resultant corner, Luke Leahy saw a volley kept out by the outstretched leg of goalkeeper Eastwood.
Oxford had barely threatened. But they opened the scoring against the run of the play in the 16th minute when Brannagan saw a deflected shot from inside the box sail past Marko Marosi.
There was a long stoppage in play shortly past the half-hour mark with Joseph stretched off for the visitors.
From that point, chances for both sides were few and far between. But Town came inches away from pulling level just seconds before the break.
Bayliss whipped in a corner to the back post that was well met by Tom Flanagan. But his header flew inches wide.
It was Shrewsbury dominating proceedings again early in the second half and won a flurry of corners that they couldn’t quite convert into goals.
In the 65th minute, Pyke drove down the wing and sent in a fabulous cross into the danger zone.
The cross was met by Leahy who had an attempt blocked by Eastwood - who made an outstanding save.
From the preceding move, Town won a corner which was converted home through Pennington.
Bayliss was the architect as he sent a whipped cross to the back post which was met by Leahy. He dinked it back across the goal to Pennington who nodded home for his third goal of the campaign.
The chances slowed down over the next 15 minutes or so with the next good opportunity in the 83rd minute.
A scramble inside the Salop penalty box saw Marosi block three shots in quick succession before eventually making the ball his. Another example of the Slovakian's quick reflexes.
This proved to be the last of the action on the night and the two sides settled for a point apiece.
Teams
Salop XI:
Marosi (GK), Leahy (C), Pennington, Moore, Bennett (Pyke, 45), Street (Bowman, 62), Bayliss, Dunkley, Saydee, Shipley, Flanagan
Unused subs:
Burgoyne (GK), Caton, Bloxham, Winchester
Oxford United XI:
Eastwood (GK), Findlay, Moore (C), Bodin (Goodrham, 90), Brannagan, Taylor (O’Donkor, 71), Browne, Brown, McGuane, Joseph (Henry, 36), Anderson (Mousinho, 90)
Unused subs:
McGinty, Rodriguez, Bate
Bookings:
Yellow: Brannagan, Flanagan, Bennett, Moore, E. Moore (Oxford)
Attendance: 5,158
Away: 341
