Shrewsbury 0 Rotherham 0 - Report
Shrewsbury Town gave one of their performances of the season for a deserved point against leaders Rotherham United - and it could have been all three.
Rotherham may have been on top in a first half in which they forced a handful of good opportunities, but Steve Cotterill's men were relentless after the break and somehow didn't add to Saturday's win at Burton.
The Millers entered the contest with eight wins from nine but you wouldn't know it in the second half at Montgomery Waters Meadow as Town went close time and again through George Nurse's woodwork rocket, Matthew Pennington, Luke Leahy, Daniel Udoh and Tom Bloxham.
Given the standard of opposition, the second period was comfortably some of Town's best football of the campaign and they deserved a winner.
Salop extended their buffer to the dropzone to seven points, but more important still the surge in confidence among players and fans from a fine display.
Town named an unchanged XI against the Millers having earned just their second away league win of the season three days earlier at Burton.
That meant Bloxham continued in a three-man forward line alongside Ryan Bowman and Udoh.
Josh Vela served the second of a three-match suspension and David Davis is a long-term absentee, expected to miss the remainder of the season - though he was due to find out more from scans in London early this week.
The interesting and headline team news was instead with Paul Warne's visitors, who were heavily rotated after the boss felt he saw signs of tiredness in their 1-0 win at Plymouth.
And there were a couple of interesting faces and omissions in the Millers' starting line-up. He reinstated veteran skipper Richard Wood - the 2018 play-off final extra time hero against Paul Hurst's Shrewsbury - to the backline as well as a first league start of the season for fellow defender Angus MacDonald.
Hakeem Odoffin also started for the first time in the league, while Ben Wiles and Chiedozie Ogbene and Ben Wiles surprisingly dropped to the bench. Dan Barlaser was missing altogether.
Shrewsbury and Rotherham showed support and solidarity to the public of Ukraine amid the continued Russian invasion ahead of kick-off.
Town were fortunate not to fall behind on six minutes as 22-goal top scorer Michael Smith swiped at air with his left foot while unmarked on a bouncing ball six yards out. Oliver Rathbone's rebound from distance flew off target.
That moment of danger aside Cotterill will have been pleased with his side's opening 20 minutes, with Udoh sharp as Town ked to get at the visitors.
But the Millers turned the screw and saw another golden chance come and go as Freddie Ladapo, the former Shrews loan striker, was unable to covert Oliver Rathbone's delicious pass.
Defender Michael Ihiekwe headed the resulting corner wide at the back post in another clear opening.
Town appeared to have stemmed the flow of chances before Ladapo sent a snapshot wide of the near post on half hour.
Shrewsbury's best moment arrived shortly afterwards as, after skipper Ethan Ebanks-Landell was unable to turn an Elliott Bennett free-kick goalwards, he was then just an inch from connecting to the wing-back deep corner.
Bowman tested keeper Josh Vickers before the break after being superbly found by Luke Leahy before cutting on to his right foot.
Warne had seen enough to send for the cavalry as Wiles and Ogbene were introduced at half-time.
And lightning winger Ogbene was straight into the action with a stepover and a check on to his left foot before forcing a parried save from Marko Marosi.
Luke Leahy whistled a stunning half-volley across goal and then came a whirlwind of Shrewsbury pressure leaving fans and reporters alike unsure at how the hosts had not taken the lead.
It started with an absolute firecracker from Nurse. The left wing-back unleashed a hammer at goal with a first-time strike from 30 yards-plus. It was destined for the top corner but cracked the angle of post and crossbar. It would've been one of the Oteley Road goals.
Somehow, keeper Vickers got up sharply to keep out Pennington's rebound.
Then, seconds later, Udoh turned over a golden chance from 12 yards having been found in the box.
Town kept asking questions as Tyrese Fornah shot at Vickers from distance. The Millers were shellshocked but still level.
Still Shrewsbury came, as two ambitious strikes from distance from confident youngster Bloxham whistled wide.
The hosts had the pedal to the floor and thought they'd won it through Leahy's header, which dropped agonizingly wide.
And then, with seconds ticking away, Vickers was at his best to keep out Nurse's cross and Bloxham's fierce low strike.
It wasn't quite to an unlikely win for Town, but my they gave it a good crack, and deserved the plaudits at full-time.
Teams
Shrewsbury Town (3-4-3): Marosi; Pennington, Ebanks-Landell (c), Flanagan; Bennett, Fornah, Leahy, Nurse; Bloxham, Bowman, Udoh (Janneh, 90+1).
Subs not used: Burgoyne, Daniels, Pierre, Craig, Bondswell, Caton.
Rotherham United (3-5-2): Vickers; Ihiekwe, Wood (c), MacDonald (Mattock, 78); Harding (Ogbene, 45), Lindsay, Rathbone (Wiles, 45), Odoffin, Osei-Tutu; Smith, Ladapo.
Subs not used: Johansson, Bola, Ferguson, Kayode.
Attendance: 5,111 (496 Rotherham fans)
Referee: Carl Brook
