Dave Edwards: Fighting Shrewsbury earn breathing space
Town’s win on Saturday was a massive result.
Especially with results elsewhere, it has really given Town a bit of breathing room.
Going back to Tuesday’s game with Portsmouth, Steve Cotterill must have been on the sidelines wondering what else could go wrong, when he sees Dave Davis go down with injury and then, straight away, Josh Vela flies into a tackle.
Josh should have used his experience a bit better and there’s no arguments with the red card. Town lost two of their key midfielders, were down to 10 men with more than half a game still to play.
But Town played very well for the first 30 minutes and deservedly went in front, and then defended resolutely like they always do. Everyone works so hard in that team.
They did well to hold out as long as they did but unfortunately it took a wonder goal from Louis Thompson to win the game for Portsmouth.
It would have been a tough task to pick the lads up for a game away at Burton but this team and manager, when they are facing adversity, they come out fighting.
They did that against Burton. It was a huge win in what felt like a pivotal game in the season.
They needed this result. The Town fans turned up in their numbers and the atmosphere sounded amazing.
They were rewarded with a perfect away performance. They were hard to beat and got their goals.
It was great to see a clever set-piece for Tom Bloxham to score. I know first hand how hard they work on set-pieces and the manager and coaches will be disappointed they haven’t score more from it.
But it was a really well-worked corner and a great finish. From that moment Town were comfortable and got the second goal, in what was a really good away day that takes some pressure off.
The problems have been scoring goals as the defensive record has been incredible.
The back three of Matthew Pennington, Ethan Ebanks-Landell and Tom Flanagan is as good a back three as Town have had in recent years. It’s one of the best in League One.
When Town do go in front they are hard to break down and after the second goal you could see the pressure release from the lads.
Pennington has come up with some key goals this year and he attacks the goal really well. He deserves all the plaudits for a terrific season. You also have to mention Luke Leahy, who got the goal against Portsmouth, for another excellent performance against Burton. He’s a real leader in this Town team. He’s playing out of position in midfield but it’s probably his new favoured position. He’s been excellent and that has been a big part of picking up points.
The timing of this win was perfect. If they had lost and Morecambe had won, it would be very daunting with the games coming up.
They have a little bit of a cushion now and there’s now no expectation against Rotherham tonight. The pressure is off and they can enjoy themselves and play some attacking football.
They have played well against the big teams at the Meadow, and maybe it suits us a bit more playing on the counter, but there’s no better feeling than having a bit of a gap to that bottom four. If they can get a few more points on the board they can really start to relax and start looking up the table. I believe Town’s best starting XI is comfortably a mid-table team or above.
