Shrewsbury Town 2 Wycombe Wanderers 1 - Report and pictures

Captain Ollie Norburn netted a 93rd minute winner from the penalty spot after Omar Beckles had headed an equaliser three minutes before the end of normal time.

Jason McCarthy’s stunning free-kick midway through the second half had made a difficult afternoon for Ricketts and Shrewsbury worse by helping the visitors, winless in eight, into a deserved lead.

Town fans had let the manager know what they think of his selections and substitutions as Salop were poor with the score at 0-0 before they fell behind.

Fans spent much of the game chanting for the introduction of Greg Docherty, who was left on the bench until the 79th minute.

But chants were silenced and turned into huge cheers and relief come full-time as Beckles, on as a sub, scored a priceless equaliser and Norburn’s spot-kick - from the superb Shaun Whalley, who was brought down by ex-Town man Adam El-Abd - sealed three points.

The win lifts mounting pressure on the boss, who faced a third straight defeat against teams around Town in a tight League One relegation dogfight.

But the win lifts them from 20th to 18th, still just a point clear of the drop.

Analysis:

The fixture had a big-game feel about it in the swirling, blustery wind at the Meadow.

With nine games remaining (before kick-off) to get out of relegation mire, Town know they are likely to need at least three wins to give themselves a chance - and home form has been the more likely.

There was a feeling that the windy conditions could affect today’s visitors, who are notorious for the direct, effective style they employ.

Ricketts went for a bold team selection as, for the first time this season, Anthony Grant had been left out of the XI when available. The midfield favourite committed a poor foul to hand Plymouth a last-minute penalty in midweek.

Joining Grant on the bench were Docherty and Fejiri Okenabirhie, again overlooked by boss Ricketts.

The three changes from the side that suffered a second straight away defeat were James Bolton, Aaron Amadi-Holloway and Dave Edwards.

Bolton returned from an ankle injury that has seen him miss the last two defeats.

The Chairboys’ poor form, with no wins in eight attempts, was another cause for Shrews optimism going into this one against Gareth Ainsworth’s visitors.

The visitors, unsurprisingly, decided to play with the blustery conditions behind them in the first period and take advantage.

The opening 10 or 15 minutes were bitty, with numerous stoppages in play, and - with conditions playing their part - neither side getting into any form of rhythm.

Wycombe were using the right flank, with adventurous full-back Jason McCarthy behind exciting Man City young loanee Luke Bolton, looking to run at Scott Golbourne and James Bolton.

Left wing-back Golbourne was caught out on a couple of occasions and, in one case, a delightful low cross caused confusion in the Salop backline and Paris Cowan-Hall’s scrambled effort at the back stick was well saved by Steve Arnold.

All of the sudden the visitors had their tails up and a poor Ro-Shaun Williams clearance got trapped in the wind and fell to forward Alex Samuel who drew another decent stop from Arnold with a sliding volley.

Town had began well prior to that and Whalley’s close range strike from an Amadi-Holloway knockdown had worked nomadic goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay, who had some nervous early touches.

Panto villain El-Abd, Wycombe captain and former Town skipper, was victim of Town jeers and looked ropey alongside partner Anthony Stewart.

Shrews looked at the best when they attempted to knock the ball around the Meadow surface. But those moments were few and far between, perhaps owing to conditions, but a couple of players in blue and amber looked low on confidence and touches got away from them.

Town had another huge scare before the break and were indebted to Arnold for another close-range stop to deny Stewart’s header. Half-time came at a decent time - and with the wind in their favour after the break - they needed improvements.

Ricketts’ men struggled to find their groove after the break. They were lacking the control the manager demands and very rarely played the ball across the pitch in a bid to pull the opposition out of position.

Shrewsbury were lacking a spark. They needed an injection of pace, imagination, invention and an urge to harry Wycombe and cause their defence problems.

Just as before the break it was out-of-form Wycombe with the upper hand.

And the Shrews fans were rapidly losing patience. Chants of ‘Greg Docherty’ filled the Meadow sky as the Town fans demanded to see their on-loan Rangers man.

Luke Waterfall trudged off with a head injury in the second half and fans wanted to see Mat Sadler but were dissatisfied with the introduction of Omar Beckles.

The atmosphere was hostile as fans launched ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ at the manager, alongside ‘Danny Coyne’s Barmy Army’ in acknowledgment of Town’s first-team coach.

Some of the chants were bordering on reminiscent of John Askey’s final days in charge.

Ricketts was trying to wake his players up but was getting precious little in response, as aimless long balls were awry and Town applied no pressure to the visitors.

The Town chief needed something from his players to provide some inspiration from the stands.

Instead it was the visitors on the front foot and, on balance of chances on goal, it was no surprise when the Chairboys edged ahead.

Beckles was caught wrong side of Alex Samuel just outside the box and McCarthy bent in a stunning free-kick into the far right corner out of Arnold’s despairing reach.

The opener came midway through the second period and rubbed salt into the wounds of a frustrated Meadow crowd.

Salopians were crowing for the introduction of top scorer Fejiri Okenabirhie and Docherty and had their prayers answered as they were introduced on 70 and 79 minutes respectively.

Amadi-Holloway blazed over a fine chance from a great run and cross by Whalley, it was a decent opening for a side who had struggled to create all afternoon.

The atmosphere was cranking up and Ricketts and Shrewsbury desperately needed a goal.

With five minutes remaining Shrewsbury forced a couple of set-pieces and needed one to drop their way and, as a miraculous finale got under way.

Docherty’s free-kick found Beckles, who span away from his markers and planted in a fine header back the way it came for palpable relief around the Meadow.

You could feel the pressure lifting from the tense atmosphere but Ricketts and his team were not done.

With five minutes added Shrewsbury were handed another giant boost and star of the show Whalley made it happen.

The winger jinked past one and surged into the box before he was tripped by Adam El-Abd. Trevor Kettle pointed to the spot.

Norburn, the skipper, held his nerve and scored from 12 yards. The management staff embraced in the dugout.

A huge, huge moment. Possibly a sliding doors moment. Relief.

Teams

Shrewsbury Town (3-4-1-2):

Arnold; Williams, Waterfall (Beckles, 59), Bolton; Whalley, Norburn ©, Edwards (Docherty, 80), Golbourne; Laurent; Amadi-Holloway, Campbell (Okenabirhie, 70).

Subs not used: Charles-Cook (gk), Sadler, Grant, Payne.

Wycombe Wanderers (4-3-3):

Ma-Kalambay; McCarthy, El-Abd ©, Stewart, Jacobson; Thompson, Gape, Bean; Bolton (Freeman, 65), Samuel, Cowan-Hall

Subs not used: Allsop (gk), Jombati, Bloomfield, Owens, Harriman, Akinfenwa.

Referee: Trevor Kettle

Attendance: 6,001 (360 away fans)

Man of the match: Shaun Whalley

Position in the table: 18th (43 points from 38 games)