Shrewsbury 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 - Report

The hosts took advantage of the bumper home crowd and were the brighter of the two sides in the first half and created a handful of opportunities.

Defender Pennington then rose highest at a corner to hand Town a deserved half-time lead.

In the second 45 Shrewsbury were comfortable and confident and should have extended their lead when Ryan Bowman had a free shot from five yards, but he somehow lifted it over the bar.

That moment changed the momentum of the game and Wednesday began to see more of the ball, but Town stood firm in defence.

They almost found a second goal late in the day, too, but settled for the lone goal that secured all three points and extended their unbeaten run to four games.

Steve Cotterill named an unchanged starting XI following his side’s midweek draw with Accrington Stanley.

Town stuck with their 3-5-2 formation with in-form strikers Bowman and Daniel Udoh leading the line.

New loan signing from Bristol City, Saikou Janneh, was unavailable while Aaron Pierre returned to the bench and replaced youngster Callum Wilson.

Darren Moore made four changes to his Sheffield Wednesday side after their 5-0 thrashing at Sunderland on Thursday, starting in a 3-5-2 formation.

Sam Hutchinson, Dennis Adeniran, Theo Corbeanu and Saido Berahino came into the side and replaced Chey Dunkley, Jack Hunt, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.

In front of a packed Montgomery Waters Meadow crowd, both sets of supporters created a carnival atmosphere and the home side aimed to harness that and get on the front foot early.

Josh Vela made a superb tackle to spark a counter-attack, before swinging in a cross looking for the two strikers. At the other end, Marko Marosi did well to hold onto a Callum Paterson cross, with Lee Gregory lurking.

Luke Leahy then popped up on the left flank and delivered a teasing cross that evaded all the Wednesday defenders, but it also evaded Bowman who attacked the far post. Shortly after the midfielder delivered another good left-footed cross that was caught by goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

But the visitors still carried a threat and also looked to get the ball out wide to their wing-backs. George Nurse did well to beat Berahino in the air as he threw himself at a left-sided cross.

Nurse then made an impressive sliding tackle on Paterson but the pair collapsed in a heap after the collision. After both received treatment they were able to continue.

Town created their clearest opening just before the half-hour mark when Udoh did well to cross low for Bowman and from 10 yards his shot was blocked by Liam Palmer.

Shortly after, Paterson was forced to withdraw after failing to recover from his previous knock. Ciaran Brennan replaced him. Shrewsbury continued to pile on the pressure despite that break in play, and Nathanael Ogbeta had a header saved.

Wednesday still kept Marosi busy, however, and a rasping long-range effort from Lewis Wing needed to be pushed into the air before the goalkeeper caught it.

With the game heating up and Shrewsbury making some good defensive blocks, Adeniran was booked for a strong tackle from behind on Vela.

Town were dealt a blow on the stroke of half-time when Udoh was forced off with injury and replaced by Rekeil Pyke.

But only moments later Shrewsbury took the lead. Pennington glanced a header on at the near post from a corner and found the back of the net in front of a delighted home crowd.

The hosts took that lead into half-time and were good value for it, after creating the better chances in the first half.

As the second half got underway, Town continued where they left off with a strong effort from Elliott Bennett, but Peacock-Farrell was behind it.

Shrewsbury were pushing and should have found a second through Bowman. The striker was handed a golden chance from five yards after Pyke found him, but with the goalkeeper out of position he lifted the ball over the bar.

Wednesday made an attacking change by introducing Dele-Bashiru after 58 minutes, and he almost scored immediately but his low effort was saved well by Marosi.

The visitors were beginning to enjoy more of the ball as Town sat deeper defending their slim lead. Another long-range effort from Wing forced Marosi into a strong save, before Berahino shot straight at the goalkeeper.

With Wednesday on top, Cotterill made a defensive change by introducing Pierre for his first appearance since December 18. He replaced Ogbeta.

Despite that, Town should have found a second goal when Bowman had acres of space on the right and raced into the box. His low cross created a scramble in the box but neither Pyke or Vela could force the ball over the line.

For the final 10 minutes it was attack against defence as Town desperately tried to hold on to their advantage.

And for all of Wednesday’s pressure, the hosts were resolute in defence and secured their third win from four League One games.

Teams

Shrewsbury: Marosi, Pennington, Ebanks-Landell, Nurse, Bennett, Vela, Davis, Leahy, Ogbeta (Pierre, 75), Bowman, Udoh (Pyke, 45, Daniels, 89).

Subs not used: Burgoyne, Craig, Caton, Cosgrove.

Sheffield Wednesday: Peacock-Farrell, Palmer, Hutchinson, Johnson (Mendez-Laing, 65), Paterson (Brennan, 29), Wing, Adeniran (Dele-Bashiru, 58), Bannan, Corbeanu, Berahino, Gregory.

Subs not used: Wildsmith, Boateng, Byers, Sow.