Crewe Alexander 0 Shrewsbury Town 3

The smiles returned for Shrewsbury Town on the shortest journey of the season – and none were wider than the one worn by a 17-year-old striker.

Largely unheralded at 2.50pm on Saturday, Tom Bradshaw left Gresty Road three hours later the talk of another bumper away following of 847.

Two goals in a 14-minute substitute outing at the end of what became a routine victory for the visitors was the Football League debut of dreams for Bradshaw.

Throw in the fact that his first ever goal in the professional game was a 25-yard thunderbolt and it was understandable why Bradshaw was struggling to come to terms with the afternoon's events as the dust settled.

His opener was quite stunning.

Picked out by a quick throw from the alert David Button, Bradshaw found himself with space opening up in front of him.

For a player of such tender years, the easy option would have been to lay the ball off to a more senior colleague.

But Bradshaw, clearly with confidence in his own ability, galloped forward before unleashing a 25-yard pile-driver which flew into the top corner and had former Shrewsbury loan goalkeeper Steve Phillips wafting at thin air.

It was to get better for the teenager who was to double his tally in injury-time with a more routine finish from 10 yards after excellent work from Benjamin van den Broek.

And, even though that was a relatively straight-forward effort, there was still much to admire about the teenager's movement.

So the day belonged to Bradshaw, but it was also a vital 90 minutes for his Shrewsbury team-mates and manager.

Paul Simpson has faced flak each way he has turned in recent weeks, but this success over a Crewe side who have their fair share of problems will go some way to easing the short-term pressure.

And the squad clearly had a rather hefty weight lifted from their shoulders after a victory which took almost as long to arrive as a Tony McCoy success in the Grand National.

There remains a nagging feeling it all too-little-too-late.

While the gap to the play-offs was reduced from nine points to six in the space of one afternoon, the wrongs of a run of six successive defeats are not corrected with one victory.

But Saturday's result and performance should at least ensure that Shrewsbury will have shovelled some confidence back into their system ahead of tomorrow night's home clash with Cheltenham.

Victory there and against Lincoln at the Prostar Stadium on Saturday and the gap to the top seven can then be re-assessed.

"It was a whole lot better," said the Town boss.

"We were a lot more positive and had much more quality – it was a bit more like I know they are capable of.

"I wanted them to show me they actually enjoyed being a professional footballer because, over the last few weeks, it hasn't been much fun being a footballer or manager at Shrewsbury.

"I think they did that."

A comfortable away victory hadn't looked on the cards in an opening 25 minutes dominated by Crewe, the patient hosts spurning opportunities to seize control.

Steven Schumacher went closest with a 25-yard effort which thudded back off the post while Clayton Donaldson looped a lob over the stranded David Button but onto the roof of the net.

And Calvin Zola would have also cursed his wastefulness in front of goal as he fired one chance into the side netting and headed another opportunity wide.

But the old adage that goals change games was confirmed when Dave Hibbert gave the visitors a 30th minute lead.

It was his first goal in 12 games and 15th strike of the season coming courtesy of a near post header after getting on the end of an excellent cross from Jake Simpson.

Visibly lifted, Shrewsbury began to pick their passes with more conviction and chances began to flow.

Twice in a minute they crashed 25-yard shots against the post through Steve Leslie and Jamie Cureton, while the visitors remained comfortable defensively despite the departure of skipper Graham Coughlan through injury.

But the final 14 minutes were all about the Tom Bradshaw Show, sealing a vital victory for his team on a day the young striker will never forget.

By James Garrison