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Graham Turner’s Shrewsbury Town completed the A49 double over Hereford in today’s early kick off at Edgar Street. The visitors achieved a deserved victory with some comfort in a fragmented game played in glorious sunshine. With John Leslie not able to feature against his parent club, and Stefan Stam failing a fitness test after a groin strain, Jamie Pitman, fresh from signing his managerial contract, was forced to ring the changes. Richard Rose was drafted into a central defensive role, and a familiar packed midfield left Stuart Fleetwood with much to do in attack.
Stuart Fleetwood with the sun in his eyes - pictures from Andy Compton of the Hereford Journal
As the mercury levels exceeded those on the Costa Del Whatever, the Bulls biggest crowd of the season was boosted by an impressive showing from “up the road”, eager no doubt to see their heroes regain a position in the automatic promotion places. A smart Mr Turner took his place in what most home stalwarts still regard as the home dugout. Teenage prodigy Tom Bradshaw showed his early intent with a shot that Joe Heath did well to deflect for a corner. Fleetwood then beat his man and sent in a cross, but no-one was able to get on the end of it, a situation that was to be repeated many times, and which illustrated the lack of ambition from the home side.
Rose played an ambitious pass to Joe Colbeck, but his control let him down on this occasion. Former Hereford favourite Lionel Ainsworth delivered a dangerous cross which Ryan Green calmly cleared, and then boy wonder Bradshaw was narrowly wide with a diving header. Nicky Featherstone’s energy level in the searing heat was evident, although he made one uncharacteristic blunder which almost allowed Jon Taylor a run on goal. Kenny Lunt made one or two incisive passes, and from one of these Fleetwood laid it back for Jimmy McQuilkin, arriving at pace in the box. The presence of Ian Sharps for the visitors was enough to distract our Jim; indeed, the Shrews defender proved a rock throughout.
27 minutes had passed when Hereford fell behind. Rose was impatient in midfield and permitted James Collins to turn his man. There were some half-hearted appeals for a foul, as Collins dashed unchallenged downfield to bury his shot into the corner of Adam Bartlett’s net. Control was causing problems on the hard surface, and Colbeck over-hit a pass to Fleetwood. Rob Purdie’s clever dummy bamboozled defenders and set Heath up for a cross which was cleared. At the other end, where visiting fans filled the noisy temporary seating, Bradshaw was once again thwarted by a timely block by Green. Taylor, sporting Dayglo orange footwear, indulged in some showboating which set up a cracking shot from Mat Sadler. Luckily, Bartlett was alert to the danger and managed to get his fingertips to the ball and divert it over the bar. Not to be outdone, his counterpart Ben Smith then did equally well to deal with a Featherstone shot through a ruck of players.
HT: HUFC 0 SHREWSBURY TOWN 1
Bradshaw raced onto a through ball which Bartlett looked favourite to win, and the home stopper did so in a photo finish. There was just a hint of “simulation” in the youngster’s tumble. Ainsworth won a corner off Heath, and the header from the antipodean Shane Cansdell- Sherriff flashed wide. Featherstone made one good run, and then Fleetwood tried a wall pass with Purdie when McQuilkin had made a run into a more promising position. However, it was the Shropshire outfit that always looked more likely to score, with the Bulls build up rather predictable.
James McQuilken trying to get the better of Davies
Nicky Wroe met a Taylor free kick but nodded past the post, and shortly afterwards Taylor’s angled ball caused concern before Heath put it behind for a corner on 56 minutes. The first flag kick was cleared, but the second was curled by Taylor well beyond the far post. Here lurked Cansdell-Sherriff to head back for Bradshaw to guide home with some aplomb, and no little joy. Now 2 up,Shrewsbury instantly made a substitution, and unilaterally declared a time out to take on water, thus delaying the re-start. Further controversy then occurred when referee Mr Eltringham, who it must be said, handled the game well, bizarrely allowed the visiting physio to conduct a detailed health check on Cansdell-Sherriff, complete with the construction of an elaborate, turban-stylee bandage, and presumably write a prescription for some headache pills, whilst he remained on the pitch. Mr Fleetwood saw yellow for his part in what appeared to be an accidental collision.
Such quibbles can not hide the fact that the home side seemed to accept their fate, offering little to occupy Smith. Indeed, Wroe came close to a third when latching onto a through pass and lobbing marginally too high over Bartlett. Lunt did play one delightful ball for Adrian Patulea who found Colbeck in a shooting position. The shot might have caused some alarm in the cattle market and was symptomatic of a poor overall team performance. Meanwhile Shrewsbury held on with some comfort, running the clock down with some composed keepball to further enhance their promotion prospects. For their part, with all lower placed teams gaining maximum points, the Bulls cannot breathe easily just yet.
FT: HUFC 0 SHREWSBURY TOWN 2
Attendance:3942, including 1319 happy Sloppies.
HUFC: Bartlett, Green, Townsend, Rose, Heath, McQuilkin (Patulea 75), Lunt, Purdie, Colbeck, Featherstone, Fleetwood (Price 89).
SHREWS: Smith, Raven, Sadler, Sharps, Cansdell-Sherriff, Wroe, Ainsworth (McIntyre 82), Taylor (Wright 57), Davies, Collins, Bradshaw (Harrold 76).
