Following Sunday afternoon's short trip to Shrewsbury Town's Greenhous Meadow, columnist Rob Jones shares his Match Report;
So the long awaited trip to the Greenhous Meadow arrived, and with it a chance for the world to see Dean Smith's red & white army on Sky's 'Super Sunday'.
From the first whistle, we flew out of the traps and comfortably dominated the possession stats early on as Shrewsbury seemed happy to sit back and try to hit us on the break. With Cuvelier, Paterson & even Butler finding space in their half, we started to find our feet and turn the screw around 10 minutes in.
Having made an outstanding run, Chambers was picked out from deep, only for his one-on-one effort to be well-saved by Weale in the Shrewsbury goal. We continued to press forward & Paterson's jinking run ended with a stinging drive that was tipped around the post by Weale.
The home side did huff and puff with Marvin Morgan trying to isolate Holden at the back, but one long range effort that flew over the bar was all they could muster in the first 20 minutes.
By this point, Cuvelier was starting to run the show. Another great chance was to come our way, as Butler's raking pass found Bowerman through on goal and in acres of space. Seeming to get caught in two minds, Bowerman struggled to get anything on the ball and another decent chance passed us by.
Having seen very good chances to not only take the lead but to also extend it, we let Shrewsbury come back into the game. A Matt Richards corner wasn't dealt with and after one effort beat Darlow and came back off the crossbar, Paul Parry did the honours and put the ball away. So the home side were leading following their first shot on target.
The remainder of the half continued as previously, although we didn't quite create the chances we'd made before the goal. Playing his 4th game in 8 days, Cuvelier also picked up a knock that saw him struggle through to half time.
HT: Shrewsbury Town 1 Walsall 0
From both teams' point of view, the second half was a lot more haphazard as both teams looked to make the game's second goal theirs.
Cuvelier had become a marked man and was replaced by Hemmings shortly after being on the receiving end of a cynical tackle. Shortly afterwards, Baxendale was replaced by Aaron Williams as we went 4-4-2 and looked to trouble the shaky-looking Shrewsbury centre halves.
Taundry's well-delivered ball from deep found Bowerman who, following a defensive mishap, could only see his effort smothered, again, by Weale. Then, shortly afterwards, we got out best chance to equalise. A short corner was played to Hemmings, whose well-flighted ball resulted in Butler crashing a header against the crossbar and Bowerman scuffing the rebound.
Brandy replaced Bowerman and end to end play followed, with Williams slicing a great chance over the bar and Shrewsbury smacking the crossbar on the counter.
Ultimately though, despite having more than enough chances to win the game, it just wasn't to be. The Sky cameras flocked to Chris Weale on the final whistle as Shrewsbury's goalkeeper and inevitable man of the match led the celebrations of their first win against us for 19 years.
RESULT: Shrewsbury Town 1 (Parry 25') Walsall 0
ATT: 6,495
REF: Robert Madley
By: Rob Jones
So the long awaited trip to the Greenhous Meadow arrived, and with it a chance for the world to see Dean Smith's red & white army on Sky's 'Super Sunday'.
From the first whistle, we flew out of the traps and comfortably dominated the possession stats early on as Shrewsbury seemed happy to sit back and try to hit us on the break. With Cuvelier, Paterson & even Butler finding space in their half, we started to find our feet and turn the screw around 10 minutes in.
Having made an outstanding run, Chambers was picked out from deep, only for his one-on-one effort to be well-saved by Weale in the Shrewsbury goal. We continued to press forward & Paterson's jinking run ended with a stinging drive that was tipped around the post by Weale.
The home side did huff and puff with Marvin Morgan trying to isolate Holden at the back, but one long range effort that flew over the bar was all they could muster in the first 20 minutes.
By this point, Cuvelier was starting to run the show. Another great chance was to come our way, as Butler's raking pass found Bowerman through on goal and in acres of space. Seeming to get caught in two minds, Bowerman struggled to get anything on the ball and another decent chance passed us by.
Having seen very good chances to not only take the lead but to also extend it, we let Shrewsbury come back into the game. A Matt Richards corner wasn't dealt with and after one effort beat Darlow and came back off the crossbar, Paul Parry did the honours and put the ball away. So the home side were leading following their first shot on target.
The remainder of the half continued as previously, although we didn't quite create the chances we'd made before the goal. Playing his 4th game in 8 days, Cuvelier also picked up a knock that saw him struggle through to half time.
HT: Shrewsbury Town 1 Walsall 0
From both teams' point of view, the second half was a lot more haphazard as both teams looked to make the game's second goal theirs.
Cuvelier had become a marked man and was replaced by Hemmings shortly after being on the receiving end of a cynical tackle. Shortly afterwards, Baxendale was replaced by Aaron Williams as we went 4-4-2 and looked to trouble the shaky-looking Shrewsbury centre halves.
Taundry's well-delivered ball from deep found Bowerman who, following a defensive mishap, could only see his effort smothered, again, by Weale. Then, shortly afterwards, we got out best chance to equalise. A short corner was played to Hemmings, whose well-flighted ball resulted in Butler crashing a header against the crossbar and Bowerman scuffing the rebound.
Brandy replaced Bowerman and end to end play followed, with Williams slicing a great chance over the bar and Shrewsbury smacking the crossbar on the counter.
Ultimately though, despite having more than enough chances to win the game, it just wasn't to be. The Sky cameras flocked to Chris Weale on the final whistle as Shrewsbury's goalkeeper and inevitable man of the match led the celebrations of their first win against us for 19 years.
RESULT: Shrewsbury Town 1 (Parry 25') Walsall 0
ATT: 6,495
REF: Robert Madley
By: Rob Jones