‘Pathetic’ – Shrewsbury Town Reaction To Boxing Day Imps Win

December 31, 2024 Gary League One, Lincoln City, Matches, Opposition View, Shrewsbury 0

Credit Graham Burrell

Shrewsbury boss Gareth Ainsworth gave his reaction to their hard-fought win against Lincoln City on Saturday, as well as Salop fans online, writes Kyle Fox.

It was a rare positive result for Shrewsbury on Boxing Day which saw them defend valiantly after taking an early lead. A typical performance from a Gareth Ainsworth side which we have seen countless times before.

Shrewsbury took the lead inside ten minutes with a clever corner routine. Benning played the corner short to Castledine, who played it across to Shipley. Shipley then played the ball back towards Benning, who had made a run inside after taking the corner; he then cut the ball back across the box for Feeney to tap in.

Gareth Ainsworth was delighted with the routine in his post-match interview as he said:

“I’ve been with Richard Dobson for all my managerial career- he comes up with some weird and wonderful techniques and things that can open teams up. I’m really pleased to say that one worked today- wonderful goal, really quality goal.”

Chances were limited for City in the first half. Our best chance of the half came from Erhahon travelling from inside Lincoln’s half to near the edge of Shrewsbury’s penalty area and laying the ball out to Roughan on the left-hand side. Roughan then cut inside and hit a lovely outside of the foot cross to Jefferies at the back post who had made a great run. Unfortunately, Jefferies couldn’t apply the finish but forced a very good save out of Blackman.

Salop manager Ainsworth said he was “delighted with the impact” from his goalkeeper Jamal Blackman who only signed for Shrewsbury on 21st December. He had a great game especially considering the fact he’d only been at the club for less than a week and it was only his third game in over a year, leaving Shrewsbury fans really pleased with his performance.

The first chance of the second half was Lincoln’s and it once again came down our left-hand side. Erhahon once again travelling well with the ball at his feet, slid an excellent through ball to Roughan who made the run in behind Shrewsbury’s right wing back. Roughan then puts a great cross in to the box straight on to Cadamarteri’s head who directs the header just past the post.

A few minutes later, Shrewsbury caught Lincoln out on the counter attack by capitalizing on a bad touch from Conor McGrandles. Castledine nicks it back to Shipley who plays a through ball to Ojo, he then pokes the ball past Darikwa and is in behind the Lincoln defence. He travels into the box then lays it off to Benning on his left hand side who is too far wide and his effort is blocked by Wickens who charged out to meet him.

Roughan was then at the heart of creating another chance for Lincoln after the ball is recycled to him on the right hand side after he took a long throw in. He took a touch and curled a cross into the box and it was again met by Cadamarteri who got his header all wrong and should’ve done better with it. The ball ended up seemingly coming off his shoulder and spun up in the air until it hit the top of the crossbar and went out of play.

The next moment of danger for Shrewsbury came from one of their own players as Jordan Shipley inadvertently deflected a Sean Roughan cross towards his own goal which forced another save out of Blackman to tip it over the bar.

Credit Graham Burrell

One of the two big talking points of the second half was around Mal Benning and him not being sent off. He was first booked for time wasting and then 20 seconds later he committed a fairly nasty foul and wasn’t booked for it. Salop fan and Shropshire Star journalist Ollie Westbury said this in his match report of the game; “Mal Benning lucky to still be on the pitch. Booked for time wasting (looked harsh). Then not booked for a late challenge 20 seconds later (which was high and nasty).”

The other big talking point of the second half was the penalty awarded to Shrewsbury against Dylan Duffy late on in the second half. He inexplicably raised his arm above his head to block a Mal Benning cross with his hand. A definite, stonewall penalty. Hoole put the ball into the net straight after the incident but the referee had already blown his whistle so it didn’t matter. However, at this point you could easily argue that both teams should have been down to ten men. Because, by the laws of the game a deliberate hand ball in the penalty area is a red card.

Credit Graham Burrell

The scene was set for John Marquis to score against his former club; however, it wasn’t meant to be as it was a poor penalty from him but still a good save from Wickens and also a clever one as he pushed the ball away from all the oncoming Shrewsbury players.

In his post-match interview, Ainsworth also waxed lyrical about his side’s defensive display; “We defended superbly well today- the lads have defended, grafted, run, harried- everything. They’re absolutely shattered in there, that means they’ve given everything-I’m more pleased with the graft and the defending and the resilience the boys showed today.”