Those who succeeded in hunting down buses and taxis were greeted with a heavy pitch and a makeshift line-up; no Pearce, Feeney or Hollands, Cummings partnering Garry at centre back with Connell and McQuoid as the wide players. The situation was sufficiently desperate for Jayden Stockley to be chauffeured up north by Joe Roach, arriving to take his place on the bench somewhat after the kick-off. On the Bournemouth rejects front Shrewsbury had David “oops sorry lads” Button in goal and Jamie “still alive” Cureton up front.
The adjustments worked well enough in the first half, which was an even affair without many clear chances for either side. Bartley and Robinson were characteristically robust in central midfield with Wiggins the pick of the defenders. Shrewsbury went close early on when a low inswinging corner somehow got through the crowd at the near post and an alert Jalal had to make an improvised save with his legs. Pitman had the best of our attempts, a curling shot wide and a header onto the roof of the net. Bartley saved the day with a beautifully executed sliding tackle to deny a Shrewsbury player bearing down on goal, picking up a harsh booking for his trouble. Pitman was guilty of going for the highlights reel rather than playing the percentages with a Row Z bound volley, and Bartley had a good chance at the end but shot straight at Button after being played in on goal. Just before half-time Leslie broke away from a seemingly offside position but was thwarted by Jalal.
So far so creditable, and every reason to think we could come away with a useful point. Unfortunately our luck changed early in the second half when Shrewsbury took the lead after a few unsuccessful attempts to clear ended with the ball at the feet of Dunfield who gave Jalal no chance.
A goal down, Bournemouth tried to force the pace but to little effect, and as Bartley and Robinson inevitably began to run out of steam from their efforts on the heavy surface the game began to open up for Shrewsbury. Jalal had to be at his best to keep us in it, a tip over from a well struck volley the best of several good saves. We just didn’t have enough fit players to chase the game effectively, resorting to long balls too often, and only seriously threatened on a couple of occasions, Button saving from Connell and a free kick from Pitman curled around the wall and a foot wide with Button struggling to make the ground. It would have been nice to see the Spurs loanee given a few more chances to reproduce the alarming frailties he had shown for us at Lincoln, but to be honest a goal at the other end was far more likely, and Shrewsbury struck the woodwork twice and had another effort cleared off the line.
Fresh legs in midfield were desperately needed, but that wasn’t an option available to Eddie with a severely reduced deck to deal from. Goulding replaced Fletcher in the customary “if all else fails” substitution, and Stockley got on for Garry before the end and won a few headers – if he’s still growing he‘s going to be a scary prospect to play against in a few years.
The best we could realistically have hoped for here was a point and that would have needed some luck, which we didn’t get. No great harm done however, Shrewsbury are no threat to get themselves into the automatic promotion spots on this showing and the team looks to be up for the battles to come, providing we don’t run out of players.
Rhoys Wiggins – quick, skilful and committed, hope the embargo ends before somebody notices
AFCB: Jalal, Bradbury, Garry, Cummings, Wiggins, McQuoid, Bartley, Robinson, Connell, Fletcher, Pitman
Subs: Thomas, Tindall, Goulding (for Fletcher, 76 mins), Stockley (for Garry, 88 mins)
Richie Baker, Leyton