Analysis: Shrewsbury talk of town after 'coupon busting' win

Shrewsbury’s thumping, dominant and deserved 3-0 triumph in League One leaders Rotherham’s own back yard was quite the outcome. It certainly would have busted a few coupons up and down the country.

There can be no doubt the result ranks very highly – if not right at the top – of Steve Cotterill’s 27 wins as Shrewsbury manager.

In fact, further still, Town’s three-goal blitz at New York Stadium is one of the club’s finest victories in any competition for many a year.

Take in the opposition, take in the setting, take in the league table, take in the context of the season from the Millers’ point of view, but most of all take in the performance from Cotterill’s visitors.

I’ve covered the club since 2016 and barring a few special days from the miracle of 2017/18 – notably the two play-off success over Charlton – it is difficult to put a finger on a more impressive league win.

Sure, there might have been more important victories along the way – wins to help the team survive, or push for promotion or the play-offs and so on – but in terms of an all-around display to totally outplay the league leaders away from home by such a margin, you would surely have to wind the clock back a number of years for such an impressive win.

Rotherham, both with 11 men and then 10 men for 50 minutes-plus, were torn apart. They were pulled this way then that, almost toyed with at times by a visiting side that gave their most complete performance of the season.

It didn’t matter that the hosts were one man light after defender Angus MacDonald’s straight red card on 38 minutes. Town were already one goal to the good and had spurned other clear chances. The visitors had stamped their authority on proceedings and were already well in the ascendency.

The dominant victory, topped with the deserved gloss of second and third goals in the final 12 minutes, came hot on the heels of Salop’s 5-0 rout of lowly Morecambe on Tuesday night – a biggest league win since 2014 and biggest at the level of football since 1991.

An aggregate score of 8-0 over five days is something few would have called a few weeks ago or even back in the earlier weeks of the campaign. There can’t have been too many more thrilling weeks to be a Town fan in recent times.

Certainly those 426 travelling supporters behind the goal in South Yorkshire witnessed an afternoon they won’t forget in a hurry.

Cotterill’s men faced a Rotherham side slightly wounded and limping a touch – albeit still top of the pile. The Millers had certainly had their progress checked since they snuck away from Montgomery Waters Meadow with a point from a 0-0 draw 19 days previous.

Paul Warne’s side had since lost to a top MK Dons outfit and dropped more points at Wycombe. They had snuck over the line against Lincoln last Tuesday and had showed signs of weakness.

And boy, did the visitors exploit it – and more.

To a man Shrewsbury were excellent. As far as all-round performances go it has to be up there as their best display of the season.

Another goal apiece for strike duo and leading scorers Daniel Udoh and Ryan Bowman kept their tallies rising nicely, while you will go a long way to find a more popular scorer than Elliott Bennett.

What’s more, for former Norwich and Blackburn man Bennett, it was a long-awaited first league goal for his home county club after 38 appearances in League One this term – no outfield player has started more. For a player with his quality and talent at wing-back, he and others have needed to chip in with more goals.

And Town were so dominant in South Yorkshire that, by no exaggeration, the scoreline could easily have read five or six nil.

Beyond the three goals they scored Town forced the game’s next four best chances. Bowman had an early strike cleared off the line by Michael Ihiekwe at 0-0, Luke Leahy headed inches wide, Matt Pennington’s close-range strike was somehow saved by busy goalkeeper Josh Vickers before the Millers shot-stopper somehow made a terrific double stop from Bowman and Josh Vela after the break.

Town’s Marko Marosi, by comparison, was called into serious work once and that was for a fine low save late from top scorer Michael Smith when the game was long since won. Marosi, though, and Town are hungry for clean sheets at the moment and this was another one to add to the collection.

The shutout takes Marosi up to joint-third clean sheets in League One this term with 13, one behind the leading keepers. Marosi is one away from Dean Henderson’s third tier Town record, which is quite an incredible effort in the context of a season spent in the lower reaches of the table.

Shrewsbury were comfortably better than their lofty hosts in every department on Saturday and, to a man, dominated the pitch.

Town have settled on a dominant, reliable and no-nonsense back three capable of shutting up shop with consummate ease. Not just that, but the centre-backs, and indeed wing-backs too, are drilled into their formation and duties both defensively and offensively.

Wing-backs Bennett and George Nurse were two of Town’s biggest threats and the midfield trio of Leahy, Vela and Tyrese Fornah ran all over their highly-rated and heavily sought after Rotherham counterparts.

Leahy has rightly won plenty of praise this season, Vela’s return from suspension and these couple of wins have been no coincidence but it was Nottingham Forest loanee Fornah who shone through in the Yorkshire sunshine.

The 22-year-old midfield workhorse gave comfortably the best of his 12 Town appearances yet. He thundered into tackles – one such effort helped create the first goal – ran all afternoon, leaving red shirts chasing shadows, and used the ball silkily, showing technique to match his energy.

Fornah’s display had Town fans wondering whether the midfielder might be able to stick around for beyond the summer, but one imagines Forest boss Steve Cooper has long-term plans for Fornah at the City Ground.

As for forward duo Udoh and Bowman, with 14 and 12 goals respectively, they are very much back in business.

Neither have let their side down all season in terms of effort and graft but the goals had dried up a month or so ago. Now Bowman has three goals in three games and Udoh has three in two – no wonder both have admitted publicly to improved end-of-season goal targets in the last week.

There is no doubting the marked improvement in Town over the last month. Since losing at Plymouth Shrewsbury have responded in excellent style and now look a team flooded with intent and belief.

It is difficult to put your finger on exactly what shifted or what flick switched for Cotterill’s side, but confidence and momentum are a big thing in football and Town had little of either while on a nine-match winless run earlier this year.

The crucial win at Burton put that to bed and since then Salop appear to be playing with the shackles off.

Saturday’s memorable victory was only enough to lift them up a single place to 16th but, most crucially, Town are now separated from 12th and that target of mid-table by just five points.

With seven games and 21 points still to play for this term, there is a genuine opportunity to use this momentum to climb and mark what at times has been a difficult campaign with an extremely commendable finishing position.

Last Tuesday’s hammering of Morecambe all-but confirmed Town’s league status and the side are very much looking ahead of them now. Confidence could hardly be higher after taking the leaders apart in their own back yard.