Crewe Alexandra slipped to their third defeat of the season on their first ever visit to the Prostar Stadium. A goal in each half from the prolific David Hibbert and Joss Labadie was the difference between the two sides this afternoon but the scoreline didn't tell the complete story with Crewe wasting a hatful of chances.
Shrewsbury took their chances to punish the Railwaymen, who certainly enjoyed the majority of the possession and opportunities in sunny Shropshire. Both Anthony Elding and Byron Moore hit the woodwork in the second half and it seemed that it would just not go for the Alex this afternoon in front of a healthy away following of 1,172. It was just one of those days.
Gudjon Thordarson recalled midfielder Aman Verma to the starting line-up ahead of Anthony Elding for the trip to a sunny Prostar Stadium. The versatile Simon Walton moved back into back three flanked by Patrick Ada and Harry Worley.
After returning from a loan spell at IBV in Iceland, Crewe-born Ajay Leitch-Smith was named on the substitutes bench for the first time in his career. With Danny O'Donnell struggling for fitness, youngster Harry Davis was once again named in the first-team squad.
Crewe surrendered possession cheaply from the kick-off and that allowed Jake Robinson to thump an early shot against the legs of Worley.
The visitors' first venture into the Shrewsbury half saw Billy Jones pick out Byron Moore on the opposite side of the pitch with a splendid cross field pass. Moore waited for the overlapping run of John Brayford but the full-back's cross failed to pick out the towering Calvin Zola inside a crowded penalty area.
It was certainly a lively start in warm conditions in Shrewsbury, with Schumacher and Verma biting into tackles and Jones eager to get forward on the left hand side.
The home side were also keen to attack whenever the opportunity arose and Paul Simpson's side forced two early corners that were dealt with by Walton and Zola.
Although it was an entertaining start to the game, we had to wait until the 15th minute for the first real chance on goal from either side. Crewe had kept possession for a period before Brayford's excellent cross found Zola - but his powerful header was directed just wide of Steve Phillip's right hand post.
Moments later, David Button was called upon for the first time in the game to halt the threat of David Hibbert from just outside the six-yard box. The Crewe number one reacted quickly to avert the danger presented by Dean Holden's cross into the penalty area.
Grant nearly followed up his winning goal against Macclesfield last weekend with the opening goal here after 23 minutes. Patrick Ada's long ball into the Shrewsbury penalty area was not dealt well enough with Zola being a nuisance and Grant's skill allowed him to trick his way past Holden, only for Phillips to get a strong hand onto his lifted shot to send it over the crossbar. It was a wonderful save from the Shrewsbury keeper because Grant must have thought he had scored after getting his shot off.
Five minutes later, the home side took the lead with their first real attempt on goal. Crewe failed to clear their lines from a corner and after the ball was played back into a crowded penalty area, David Hibbert side-footed home his sixth goal of the season. It was a disappointing goal to concede from a Crewe point of view because Hibbert was granted far too much space inside the box to poach the opening goal of the afternoon in front of the travelling Crewe supporters.
Holden was cautioned for a tackle from behind on Joel Grant and the full-back was struggling to contain the skilful Crewe winger. Crewe needed to keep feeding him the ball. Schumacher, who was Crewe's top performer in the first half then drilled a shot a yard wide of the target.
In the final minute of the half, it was Crewe on the offensive once again but Schumacher over hit his free-kick and Shrewsbury held on to their one goal advantage going into the break. The Alex, who arguably had more of the possession than the home side in the first period were certainly unlucky to go into the interval a goal behind.
Shrewsbury should have doubled their lead just three minutes after the restart. Brayford switched off at a throw-in to allow Kevin McIntyre to steal in behind him. His dangerous cross was virtually perfect for the onrushing Jake Robinson but the former Brighton man couldn't keep his shot down and it sailed harmlessly over Button's crossbar. It was one almighty let off for the Railwaymen.
Crewe escaped falling further behind just two minutes later after Shrewsbury's captain Graham Coughlan's header struck a Crewe post following a Jake Simpson corner. Shrewsbury had started the second half looking to kill Crewe's resistance off.
A lively opening, saw Moore steal possession from the nervous looking Holden and after his low cross was touched on by Grant, Zola's follow up shot was superbly blocked by the recovering Kelvin Langmead. It was real end-to-end stuff with the next goal going to be crucial.
Crewe continued to press Shrewsbury backwards and forced a number of melees inside their penalty area with the ball just not falling kindly to a man in red. Following one such scramble on 63 minutes, the ball was only cleared to Verma, who struck a terrific shot from 30 yards that was pushed behind for a corner by Phillips.
Shrewsbury decided to make the first change of the game with Andre Gray replacing Simpson. The substitute was involved in the second goal too, running right across the field to present possession to McIntrye. His pass to the edge of the Crewe penalty area was laid off by Hibbert and Joss Labadie shot low into the bottom corner to extend Shrewsbury's lead.
The second goal on 69 minutes was certainly against the run of play, with Crewe made to pay for not converting our possession into goals. The Shrewsbury goalscorer Labadie certainly had a taste for it and he shot just inches wide just a couple of minutes after giving the home side a two-goal advantage.
Falling 2-0 behind prompted Gudjon Thordarson into his first change with Shaun Miller replacing Verma. The substitution saw Walton move back into midfield as the Alex went to 4-2-4 to try and get a lifeline in the game.
Button kept Crewe in the game with a fine save to deny the lethal Hibbert before Elding replaced Schumacher. Crewe were certainly going for broke. With 12 minutes remaining, Shrewsbury introduced Elder for Jake Robinson.
Elding nearly provided the spark just a couple of minutes after coming on with his shot clipping the top of the Shrewsbury crossbar after some fine approach play from Grant. He was unlucky not to have made an instant impact.
Grant should have created a frantic finish after running the length of the pitch to get onto the end of a pass from Elding. Grant was needed to stop Elder in his tracks inside our own penalty area after he had broken our offside trap to go one-on-one with Billy Jones. The winger then made it upfield to collect Elding's pass and after forcing his way through, he toe-poked his finish just wide of Phillips' left hand post. It was the story of Crewe's afternoon.
When Moore struck the foot of the post in stoppage time, it proved that it just wasn't going to be our day here today. Crewe could have played until midnight and still probably not have scored. Our luck wasn't with us.
Crewe: Button, Brayford, Jones, Ada, Worley, Walton, Verma (Miller), Schumacher (Elding), Grant, Moore, Zola
Shrewsbury: Phillips, Holden, Coughlan, Langmead. Hibbert, Robinson (Elder), Murray (Leslie), Simpson (Gray), Candsell-Sherriff, Labadie, McIntrye
