Ollie Westbury and Jonny Drury give their take on Salop's 2-1 win over Wrexham.
John Marquis fired Shrewsbury in front early on before his Steven Fletcher equalised in the first period.
But Salop were back in front thanks to Marquis' header and they managed to hang on for a famous win.
John Marquis fired Shrewsbury in front early on before his Steven Fletcher equalised in the first period.
But Salop were back in front thanks to Marquis' header and they managed to hang on for a famous win.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Salop fans welcome to ShropshireStarter.com my name is Johnny Drury I'm here
00:05alongside Salop correspondent Oli Westbury on a memorable memorable night
00:11for Gareth Ainsworth and Shrewsbury Town. A nightmare week, your best players gone
00:15the transfer window is looking a bit of a bit up and down maybe a bit of a
00:20shramble some might say but they've turned up tonight almost a full house
00:25against the rivals unfancied and they have battled and battled John Marcus's
00:30double has earned them a 2-1 victory Oli up to up to around five points off
00:37League One safety now what a night Shrewsbury thoroughly thoroughly deserve
00:42that. My best night in the job with hands down I've never seen the crowd
00:48meadow quite like that first John Marcus goal when he when he fired it behind
00:52Arthur on Conquo absolutely brilliant strike to give Shrewsbury the lead but
00:57so positive it just absolutely erupted you could hear the Shrewsbury fans
01:00obviously chanting and like I say I've just never heard anything quite like it
01:06disappointing that they conceded you know quite so soon like straight after
01:09it but you know they've hurried they ran and they and Gareth Ainsworth has said
01:13right from the start you know they've got to give everything you know they've
01:16got to give everything the players and and you just cannot fault them to a man
01:19absolutely outstanding superb we've spent so much time doing these videos
01:24after games before games and doing podcasts and it's all been so negative
01:29but since Gareth has come in the team you can't fault them you can't fault the
01:33effort and as long as the players go out and give 100% then you can't ask for
01:37any more and that was just absolutely brilliant against Wrexham the story
01:41behind Wrexham and the way that they've caught through the leagues I think makes
01:46it even more even more sweeter especially for the fans so I'm delighted
01:51I'm not just delighted for Gareth I'm not just delighted for the players but
01:53everybody connected with the club it's been a it's been a horrible week it's
01:56been a really tough week you know players going the best player Tom
02:01blocks from leaving obviously players being recalled he's kind of thinking at
02:04one stage you know just just two or three hours before kickoff you see Tommy
02:07O'Reilly going back to Aston Villa and then going out on loan to MK Don so it's
02:12absolutely brilliant that they've managed to kind of despite that I mean
02:15I was convinced that we were going to lose tonight absolutely convinced that
02:18Shrewsbury weren't going to be able to given the way that momentum was going
02:21and the way that everything felt like it was going it felt like Shrewsbury had
02:24very little chance again a result in this one but no absolutely brilliant the
02:29way that Gareth Haynesworth just seems to and it's very almost Steve Cottrell-esque
02:33the way that despite what's going on he manages to get them players up for it
02:37and he manages to get them running through absolute brick walls for him and
02:40you know it reminds me a little bit of that team that we saw in 2022-2023
02:44you just said there you didn't fancy him tonight who did call a victory before the
02:48game I'm not saying I know what I'm on about like but you said 1-0 I said 1-0
02:52and then I turned to a Shrewsbury member of staff at halftime and said 2-1 and it did
02:57end up 2-1 it was John Marcus with that goal really early in the second half
03:01Oli it was we've mentioned there about him battling and playing for Gareth
03:06Haynesworth I'm sure in the back of Gareth Haynesworth's mind he knows this side is
03:09kind of devoid of enough quality in certain areas that's why they're in the
03:14relegation zone but if they're going to get out of this battle they're probably not going to do it with quality
03:20they're going to do it with fight, desire and you know you can see that they're battling
03:23at times under Paul Hirst towards the end you know when a manager it's not
03:27going well for a manager you kind of maybe question certain players but out
03:31there tonight Haynesworth certainly kicked every ball he looked like he had enough energy to play in the middle of the park
03:35but he's getting every single ounce out of these players isn't he?
03:39I mean yeah you can't fault them you know obviously they had that brilliant result 3-2 victory over Birmingham when they first came in
03:47obviously Richard Dobson and Gareth Haynesworth and obviously that was a brilliant result
03:51then there was the back-to-back 4-1 defeat that was a real low point I put that in one of my low points of 2024 to be honest
03:57it really did feel quite low at that stage but since then they've just shored it up haven't they?
04:01I mean yes they probably have lost a little bit of attacking threat that goes with it
04:05they probably don't quite look like scoring perhaps as much as they did
04:09even though you know in the last six games they've scored in five of them or whatever it is
04:14I think they've scored in all but one of Haynesworth's games in charge
04:18but that kind of threat that they did have at one stage has kind of gone a little bit more
04:23obviously they've scored today kind of capitalised on a mistake from O'Connell who George Lloyd gave the absolute run around
04:29but I think I've said it to you and I've banged the drum all season long on the podcast about how they need to try and tighten up at the back
04:36and then now it's ones and noughts and if you get ones and noughts
04:39I can remember Michael Duff saying it at Huddersfield earlier in the season in his post-match press conference
04:44if you concede one or you concede none then you've got a chance
04:47but at one stage Shrewsbury were conceding at least a minimum of two goals every single game
04:52they did that for a significant period and because they've managed to tighten up at the back
04:58and it's through players that are in the building
05:01it's not through getting new players in, it's the same players
05:07so obviously the goalkeepers are new
05:12but you know what I mean, the back five themselves are players that have been here since the start of the season
05:16and have been absolutely superb
05:18so I'm absolutely delighted today, I'm really really pleased
05:22everybody connected to the football club, I'm fed up of being negative
05:25I've had enough of it, so yeah, happy days, beat Wrexham, get in there
05:29We'll talk a lot more about what's gone on this week and dissect tonight's performance in more detail
05:35tomorrow on Shrewsbury's podcast
05:38Good plug, hopefully the viewers will be through the roof tomorrow
05:43but just finally Ollie, you said you're fed up of writing about negative things
05:47the challenge now is for Shrewsbury to go and replicate that
05:50I heard a steward actually up there say why can't we play like that every week
05:53well football kind of doesn't work like that, can they set the bar
06:01oh sorry, it looks like we might just have to move it
06:05a bit of a goal, sorry we'll put that little clip on our bloopers reel
06:09we've got a few salad youngsters doing a goal pass
06:12we'll leave it in the video anyway, we'll put it in the bloopers reel at the end of the season
06:16I've never seen this before, they're off playing football and they're training on the pitch
06:21they should be at home really, warming up
06:24but yeah, challenge is to not only keep you happy and keep yourself positive
06:29it's to do that every week isn't it, that is the big challenge
06:32that's the hardest thing now is to go and replicate what they've done tonight
06:35difficult game next week in Charlton, they've got to back that up haven't they
06:39after a fantastic result this evening
06:42so yeah, that is the challenge, they've got to make sure they go and do that now
06:47and build on it, five points from safety
06:50obviously they've probably played a game extra now
06:53so those results will change at the weekend won't they
06:56when we're in football matches, when Shrewsbury are off, they've got three days off now
06:59a chance to rest up and maybe some players through the door
07:03over the course of the weekend, or over the course of next week
07:06and Shrewsbury will be fit-firing and ready to go
07:09because they did take some of the bruises today as well
07:11so it'll be really important that they make sure to do that
07:13Gareth Amesworth's already given Shrewsbury some memorable afternoons in games so far
07:18and he's given them the best one of the season
07:21tonight against the old rivals Wrexham
07:23a 2-1 victory here for Salop, you know where to go for all the rest of your reaction
07:26head over to ShropshireStar.com