Graham Turner's perfect gift as Shrewsbury Town clinch win - analysis and highlights

Unfortunately Saturday's home win over struggling Notts County came at a price, as midfielder Aaron Wildig sustained what appears to be a serious knee injury – which could sideline him for several months – partway through the first half.

The prospect of losing a key cog in his midfield four will no doubt have soured what was, that aside, another very pleasing day at the office for English football's longest-serving current manager.

Before the game, on-loan Wolves striker Liam McAlinden had declared his desire to help mark Turner's recent milestone by grabbing a much-needed victory. And Town delivered, putting in a dogged, if at-times disjointed performance in a gruelling battle of attrition. More crucially, they avoiding the potential banana skin of dropping points to League One's basement side.

For all the talk of history prior to the game, Saturday's clash was much more about the immediate future for both teams, who started the day very much at the wrong end of the table.

After two straight defeats, and three very poor halves of football from Town against Port Vale and Walsall, a performance was important – but the result was vital.

Having lost their last two, shipping six goals in the process, Turner unsurprisingly made changes to his starting XI for the visit of the Magpies, with Paul Parry coming in for Nicky Wroe in midfield and Ryan Woods and Darren Jones replacing Connor Goldson and Dave Winfield at the back.

Two of those changes, in particular, were master-strokes. Jones turned in a man-of-the-match performance at centre-back after a seven-game spell on the sidelines. Ryan Woods also produced another fine display, helping to craft the match-winning goal.

Having pushed forward frequently throughout the game, albeit without delivering enough crosses from the right, Woods' pin-point delivery in the 73rd minute finally carved County open.

Striker Gozie Ugwu, who was both exciting and infuriating in a very entertaining performance, did well to cushion his header back across goal, and Reach made no mistake with a thumping low finish from 16 yards out.

Woods and Jones then combined in the dying minutes to deny County substitute Jack Grealish, on loan from Aston Villa, what would have been a fine equaliser.

Grealish's skilful flick from Marcus Haber's cut-back had beaten Town goalkeeper Chris Weale. But a superbly-timed tackle by Woods took the sting out of the goal-bound shot and Jones reacted quickest to clear it from virtually on the goal-line.

They proved to be two of the most pivotal moments in a game that both entertained and frustrated in good measure.

The visitors should have gone ahead inside just two minutes after Haber got in behind Town's re-jigged back four from Gary Liddle's defence-splitting pass.

But Weale did well to close down the angle and he managed to block the shot, preventing a nightmare start for the hosts.

Wildig went close to punishing that error 10 minutes later when he prodded goalwards from close range after Ugwu showed great control to bring down Joe Jacobson's sweeping left-wing cross inside the area.

County shot-stopper Bartosz Bialkowski was equal to the effort, though, and Andre Boucard cleared the danger.

The hosts then lost the industrious Wildig on 33 minutes following a tackle by Boucard.

But Town responded by creating their two best chances of the half, with Ugwu striking the underside of the bar after an in-swinging Reach corner caused disarray in County's penalty area.

And Reach got the crowd on their feet with a winding run into the box before unleashing a powerful shot which Bialkowski did well to push over the bar.

But Town were also looking vulnerable, most notably from corner-kicksr, and they went perilously close to conceding on three heart-stopping occasions. Gary Liddle found the net midway through the half after rising unopposed to meet Alan Sheehan's right-wing corner kick. But referee Darren Bond spotted an infringement in the crowded penalty area, chalking off the goal much to the home crowd's relief.

Town did not learn their lesson, though, as they twice had to scramble clear headed efforts off the line in a frantic finish to the half.

Sheehan, who was playing his 100th game for the Magpies, created good chances for Josh Labadie and Danny Haynes, but fortunately Luke Summerfield and Joe Jacobson did enough to prevent their efforts crossing the line.

Town survived each scare but against better quality opponents, they may well have been punished. County midfielder Jamal Campbell-Ryce also enjoyed too much freedom on the right-wing, flashing a decent effort just over the bar midway through the half.

At the interval, there was very little to choose between the sides and it seemed highly plausible the game could well peter out into a goalless stalemate. It had also been a disjointed first half, with several lulls in play but with much at stake, it remained a fascinating spectacle throughout.

Campbell-Ryce continued where he had left off in the second half, crafting a good chance for Haber with a sweeping cross, which he could only drill just wide and over.

The 30-year-old former Charlton Athletic man then clipped the crossbar as the visitors seemed to be growing in confidence four minutes later. And only an outstretched boot from Tamika Mkandawire and the reflexes of Weale, denied him a deserved goal soon afterwards.

A curling effort by Celtic loanee Callum McGregor on 61 minutes had Weale at full stretch as it dipped just wide of the target.

Jones nodded agonisingly wide from another quality Reach corner soon after the re-start and Ugwu was denied a first Town goal, on his second start on loan from Reading, with a superb backheeled effort from Paul Parry's left-wing delivery soon afterwards.

But it increasingly looked as though it would require a moment of magic or a mistake to settle the game as it entered its final quarter. Fortunately the former came from Reach, who escaped his marker in the box to slam home the only goal of the game with 17 minutes left.

Ugwu, who seems to have added a much-needed injection of pace to Town's front line, could well have wrapped up the game soon afterwards but shot just wide under pressure from defender Manny Smith.

And the same stopper produced a vital last-ditch tackle to prevent Liam McAlinden settling matters after Woods had sent him one-on-one in the box. Grealish gave Town a late scare and Smith was then denied at almost point-blank range by Weale after Sheehan's free-kick dropped to him in the box two minutes from the end of normal time.

But Town saw out the remaining minutes to earn a much-needed victory which moves them up to 14th in the table, and four points clear of the drop zone.

That Town have got back to winning ways will be of great comfort to the home fans after a worrying fortnight. Back-to-back victories for the first time this season would certainly help and, if they can repeat their latest result tomorrow night against Oldham things will certainly be looking decidedly healthier.