Shrewsbury Town 1 Notts County 1 - Report
Dan Udoh scored for the first time since his return from long-term injury as Shrewsbury Town signed off pre-season with a 1-1 draw at home to Notts County.
Udoh, who missed almost the whole of last season with a knee injury, fired home in the 13th minute to put Town ahead in front of a 1,900-strong crowd at Croud Meadow.
David McGoldrick then brought the League Two visitors level with a close-range volley with neither team able to find a winner.
Ryan Bowman came closest for the hosts but was denied twice in quick succession by visiting keeper Aidan Stone just past the hour mark.
With a week to go before Town open their League One campaign at home to Cheltenham, boss Matt Taylor gave supporters a first look at new signing Joe Anderson, who started on the left of a back three which also featured Tom Flanagan and Morgan Feeney. There was no sign of Hayden Lindley or Jordan Willis, the two trialists who featured in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Stourbridge.
County settled the quicker and thought they had taken a seventh minute lead, only for Cedwyn Scott to be denied by a linesman’s flag after stooping to head home Jodi Jones’ cross.
Instead, it was Town who went ahead six minutes later thanks to a fine solo Udoh strike which came almost completely out of the blue. Found by Anderson midway inside the visiting half, the striker turned and then proceeded unchallenged to just inside the box before slamming home a low, right-footed effort.
County goalkeeper Aiden Stone had little to do for the rest of the half and shortly before the half-hour mark his team were level. Scott was this time onside when he met Jones’ cross, sending it back into the danger zone for McGoldrick to volley home from six yards out.
McGoldrick was causing problems and contributed to a counter attack from which the visitors probably should have taken the lead, former Villa academy player Dan Crowley spoiling the set-up when he overhit his pass for Scott and left his team-mate with too tight an angle to beat Marko Marosi in the home goal.
A quiet start to the second half ended when Udoh, quiet since opening the scoring, crashed a shot off the bar on the turn.
The visitors then thought they should have been awarded a penalty when Aaron Nemane, having shown quick feet to beat Anderson, went down as he looked to chop inside Flanagan. Referee Ollie Yates, right on the scene, ruled no spot-kick.
Bowman, captain for the day, was unable to adjust his feet in time to direct a low Udoh cross on target.
He would get two much easier chances soon after but on both occasions was denied by Stone one-on-one, with Carl Winchester dragging an effort just wide of the post in between.
Udoh was withdrawn from the action with a quarter of an hour remaining after receiving treatment, in a move which seemed more precautionary than anything else.
McGoldrick was less influential than before but thought he had restored the lead with 10 minutes remaining when he nodded home a cross from substitute Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, only to be denied by a late flag.
Shrewsbury (3-5-2): Marosi, Anderson, Feeney, Flanagan, Winchester, Perry, Kenneh, Bayliss (Bennett 80), Shipley, Bowman (c), Udoh (Watts 76) Subs not used: Thorpe, Sraha, O’Brien, Sobowale, Hernes, Burgoyne (gk).
Notts C (3-4-3): Stone, Brindley (Adebayo-Rowling 62), Rawlinson, Cameron ©, Nemane (Bajrami 78), Bostock (Austin 62), Palmer (O’Brien 78), Jones (Chicksen 78), Crowley, Scott (Baldwin 78), McGoldrick Subs not used: Slocombe (gk).
