Saturday morning's match was a meeting of two mid-table teams with identical win/loss records, both keen to close the gap to those higher than them whilst increasing the gap on the sides struggling below them.
Heading into Saturday's clash Walsall's most recent outing saw them take on and defeat fourth-placed Bury as goals from Sam Perry and Tom Leak helped the Saddlers to secure an all-too-rare victory in their less-than-stellar 2018/19 campaign.
Shrewsbury were not in action last weekend with their most recent outing taking place back in late January and saw the Salopians smashed by five-goals-to-nil by runaway league leaders Wigan Athletic, the Latics are yet to lose an Alliance outing so far this season.
The match got underway at a very high tempo, with both sides looking to create early openings with plenty of neat passing moves designed to unlock their opposing defence.
It was the Saddlers who would score the game's opening goal as Tyreece Ruddock got on the end of a pass and showed a superb burst of speed as he left his marker in the dust before slipping the ball under Salop stopper Jaden Bevan.
Sadly for the Saddlers, and despite their opening goal, the task was made that much harder as Ruddock went from hero to villain, picking up a red card just six minutes after he had given is side the lead.
As expected, the Shrews went on to level the scores later in the first-half as Lifumpa Mwandwe slipped the ball past Walsall 'keeper Dominic Rogerson to put the home side back on level terms.
The Saddlers didn't allow the home goal to get them down as the would go on to regain the lead just before half-time as Joe Willis fired home to give manager Graham Biggs a somewhat easier team talk at the break.
The second-half was also a competitive affair and saw Shrewsbury push for a leveller as Eric Ramsay's side looked to make their man advantage pay.
The home side were eventually rewarded for their patience as second-half substitute Archie Elmore smashed the ball home with around ten minutes of play remaining. A disappointing goal for the Saddlers as they were unable to hold on for the final stages of the contest.
Shrewsbury were not in action last weekend with their most recent outing taking place back in late January and saw the Salopians smashed by five-goals-to-nil by runaway league leaders Wigan Athletic, the Latics are yet to lose an Alliance outing so far this season.
Bevan; Corfield, Walker, Rowland, Davies, Ward, Turner, Taylor, Grosvenor, Leask, Mwandwe
Substitutes: Thompson, Reece, Redding, Tibbs, O'Toole
Substitutes: Thompson, Reece, Redding, Tibbs, O'Toole
Rogerson; Leivesley, Brown, Leak, Nimo, Flanagan, Willis, Perry, Nolan, Ruddock, McSkeane
Substitutes: Dawe; Jak.Wallis, Little, Francis, Moss
Substitutes: Dawe; Jak.Wallis, Little, Francis, Moss
The match got underway at a very high tempo, with both sides looking to create early openings with plenty of neat passing moves designed to unlock their opposing defence.
It was the Saddlers who would score the game's opening goal as Tyreece Ruddock got on the end of a pass and showed a superb burst of speed as he left his marker in the dust before slipping the ball under Salop stopper Jaden Bevan.
Sadly for the Saddlers, and despite their opening goal, the task was made that much harder as Ruddock went from hero to villain, picking up a red card just six minutes after he had given is side the lead.
As expected, the Shrews went on to level the scores later in the first-half as Lifumpa Mwandwe slipped the ball past Walsall 'keeper Dominic Rogerson to put the home side back on level terms.
The Saddlers didn't allow the home goal to get them down as the would go on to regain the lead just before half-time as Joe Willis fired home to give manager Graham Biggs a somewhat easier team talk at the break.
The second-half was also a competitive affair and saw Shrewsbury push for a leveller as Eric Ramsay's side looked to make their man advantage pay.
The home side were eventually rewarded for their patience as second-half substitute Archie Elmore smashed the ball home with around ten minutes of play remaining. A disappointing goal for the Saddlers as they were unable to hold on for the final stages of the contest.
SHREWSBURY
|
2 - 2
|
WALSALL
|
Mwandwe (39')
Elmore (80') |
Ruddock (22')
Willis (44') |