Shrewsbury 1 Wycombe 2 - Report
Former Shrewsbury favourite Joe Jacobson was on target as a couple of contentious goals earned Wycombe a win at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
Jacobson’s second-half rocket was followed by a Ryan Tafazolli header, both of which drew frustration from the Town crowd and Steve Cotterill towards the officials.
Matt Pennington headed in late on amid a number of second-half chances, with 11 efforts at goal, but Town were not clinical enough.
And the wait for a clean sheet, stretching to 13 games, proved costly as Town passed up the chance at successive league wins for the first time since February.
Cotterill opted to make two changes from the side that recorded a 2-1 win over AFC Wimbledon at the Meadow three days ago.
One was enforced, as Josh Vela missed out with the knee injury that forced him off on Saturday. George Nurse was drafted in on the left as Luke Leahy shifted into the middle.
Match-winning goal hero Daniel Udoh replaced Sam Cosgrove in the starting line-up. Josh Daniels was missing from the bench with a slight knock.
Visitors Wycombe made three changes from the side that lost the Buckinghamshire derby 1-0 on the road at MK Dons on Saturday.
The headline inclusion was that of former Town loan star Sullay Kaikai, who was Salop top scorer in his term on loan in the 2015/16 season.
Kaikai was not the only familiar face in the Chairboys ranks. Jack Grimmer - who was posing for pictures and signing autographs ahead of kick off - and fellow full-back Jacobson were also in from the off.
Summer recruit Sam Vokes led the visitors; line, the ex-Stoke man was a target of Cotterill’s in the close season.
Gareth Ainsworth’s men have enjoyed a fine start to the campaign back in the third tier after Championship relegation. Even after Saturday’s reverse they had won four from eight league matches and also enjoyed an EFL Cup run - that ended with a hammering at Manchester City last week.
There was little between the sides in an even and competitive opening 20 minutes. Shaun Whalley looked in the mood for Town as Udoh and Ryan Bowman kept Chairboys defenders honest.
Adventurous Chairboys defender Anthony Stewart - permitted to play after a successful appeal following a Saturday red card - shot well wide from distance after an Elliott Bennett error. Grimmer then looped a header at Marko Marosi.
Town played some decent stuff with Whalley at the heart of most. The attacker tested David Stockdale with a sharp half-volley. But Wycombe’s Vokes might’ve put his side ahead just before half hour but his close-range overhead kick was straight at Marosi.
Town responded with a decent chance of their own as Whalley and Udoh combined and the latter then crossed well for a former, who could only direct a header over.
Udoh headed straight at Stockdale after climbing well to meet a looping Bowman cross before Jason McCarthy sent a presentable Wycombe free-kick into the Salop Leisure Stand.
Shrewsbury’s bid for that elusive clean sheet ended seven minutes into the second period.
A cross from the left was not cleared sufficiently and a loose ball was collected by Jacobson, who let fly from just outside the box with a rocket that flew into Marosi’s bottom left corner. There was a hint of handball in the build-up.
Salop responded well. Whalley’s fizzing strike after cutting in from the right flashed just wide of the far post.
Udoh then thrashed a half-chance well over from a tight angle before Pennington couldn’t connect properly from a corner.
Luke Leahy then tested the flying Stockdale with a strike from distance before Grimmer and Kaikai both shot off target for Wycombe around the hour of a lively contest.
Town paid for not converting, however, as the visitors doubled their lead 20 minutes into the second period.
A contentiously awarded free-kick on the left was delivered into the six-yard box for Tafazolli to take advantage of loose marking to head high beyond Marosi. Cotterill turned away unhappy as fans chanted ‘2-0 to the referee’.
The hosts, to their credit, still sensed a way back into the game but skipper Ethan Ebanks-Landell headed a Bennett free-kick narrowly wide with 16 minutes left.
Cotterill sent for Tom Bloxham who made a difference, but it was stopper Pennington’s flicked header from a Bennett corner that halved the arrears on 78 minutes.
A late Shrewsbury barrage was to come - as Bowman shot at Stockdale - but was mainly led by ex-Wycombe defender Aaron Pierre.
The big stopper bulldozed his way into the box before shooting low at Stockdale in the heaving rain. The best chance came and went with minutes left as Pierre climbed at the back post but nodded wide from a corner.
Teams
Shrewsbury Town (3-5-2):
Marosi; Pennington, Ebanks-Landell ©, Pierre; Bennett, Davis, Leahy, Nurse, Whalley (Ogbeta, 87); Udoh (Bloxham, 76), Bowman.
Subs not used: Burgoyne, Leshabela, Caton, Pyke, Cosgrove.
Wycombe Wanderers (4-1-3-2):
Stockdale; Grimmer, Stewart, Tafazolli, Jacobson ©; Thompson; McCarthy, Scowen, Kaikai (Wheeler, 70); Vokes (Akinfenwa, 86), Hanlan (McCleary, 83).
Subs not used: Przybek, Horgan, Mehmeti, Obita.
Attendance: 4,510 (180 Wycombe fans)
Referee: Ross Joyce
