Game of two halves – but Shrewsbury get the job done

It was not vintage by Salop, especially in the second half, but they were comfortable 2-1 winners at the Meadow.

It was a strange afternoon in truth. Salop were good in the first half, and at times the opening 45 minutes felt like a training exercise for Steve Cotterill’s men as they cut through York City with ease, and could have scored plenty.

It was good to see Town play some nice one-touch football in that half, and they just lacked that killer instinct to finish their opponents off.

The gulf in class was clear to see, and it did have a feel of attack against defence about the game.

Christian Saydee, who has made a good start to life at Town, was heavily involved in everything good the hosts did, he played a big part in the goal, as did Tom Bayliss who got another assist.

Saydee’s game has everything – but you can see the Bournemouth loanee is desperate to get on the score sheet, and he was devastated in the second half when Luke Leahy took the ball off him as he was about to pull the trigger.

With what felt like their first attack of the game, York scored.

Somehow at half-time, without offering anything in the game, they were still in the tie.

Sadly for Town, they were unable to reach the same levels in the second period, perhaps it was down to an improved display by the visitors, but to be honest they just were not at the races.

Passes seemed to go wrong, and they did not pose the same threat.

Still, they never looked like losing the game. There was only really one occasion when Town fans would have held their breath, but it was the polar opposite of the opening 45 minutes in terms of performance.

The most important thing, though, is they are in the hat for tonight’s draw.

An important milestone for Town as they seek to make the third round and gain the revenues from a successful Cup run.

Carl Winchester went off in the seventh minute with an injury, which with the crazy schedule coming up, will not please the Town boss. He will be assessed early this week but Salop won’t want any further serious injury problems.

The question before kick-off was what kind of a side Steve Cotterill would select considering his team were starting another three-game week.

He made just two changes to the XI that earned a battling point at Portsmouth last weekend, bringing in Rekeil Pyke and Taylor Moore.

And Town got off to the best possible start taking the lead inside the second minute.

Saydee produced a sublime bit of skill to play in Tom Bayliss with a backheel, and the midfielder squared it to the far post where Jordan Shipley was on hand to tap the ball home.

They could have doubled their lead when Pyke went through on goal, but his effort was saved by Ethan Ross when he should have done better.

And Saydee had a powerful effort saved by Ross after a great passing move fell to him in the box.

On the stroke of half-time, Shrews deservedly doubled their lead after Flanagan was fouled in the box, and skipper Leahy converted from the spot.

But somehow, after offering very little in the first period, the visitors pulled one back immediately from absolutely nowhere.

Manny Duku got in front of Chey Dunkley to win a header at the near post, and Marko Marosi could not keep it out.

It was disappointing considering Salop’s dominance in the half.

The visitors appeared to be galvanised by their goal when they came out after the break and were much more competitive at the beginning of the second half.

Cotterill introduced Street and Ryan Bowman on the hour to give his side reinforcements.

Street had an immediate impact when he had a shot saved by Ross when he should have grabbed his first Town goal.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, the visitors had a great chance to level when Duku headered over from just inside the six-yard box. It was the best chance they created in the second half.

It was a positive start to a three-game week for Shrews, and they will need to go again on Wednesday when they welcome Oxford to the Meadow, and then on Saturday they host Barnsley.

Two positive results and Salop could fly up the League One table.

When Aaron Wilbraham spoke to the press last week he confirmed Aiden O’Brien’s injury was not as bad as feared.

Town will not want to rush the forward because he will have such an important role to play once he is available.