Shrewsbury 1 Cheltenham 0 - Report
Ryan Bowman's second-half strike was enough to earn Shrewsbury Town three points on the opening weekend of the League One season.
After a summer of change at the Croud Meadow, Salop got their season under way with a 1-0 victory against Cheltenham Town.
Bowman, who was captain for the day in the absence of Chey Dunkley, tapped home from close range after a poor header back to his goalkeeper by Ben Williams just after the interval.
The game was played in torrential rain in Shropshire, but Town were good value for the points having kept the Robins at arm's length for the majority of the 90 minutes.
ANALYSIS
Town boss Matt Taylor named an unchanged starting XI from his side's final pre-season fixture against Notts County a week ago.
Joe Anderson, Morgan Feeney, Nohan Kenneh and Taylor Perry all made their first Salop appearances in competitive action.
Dan Udoh made his first appearance for Town since his injury against Bristol Rovers a year ago this month - he partnered Bowman up front.
The rain was torrential in Shropshire, and perhaps that played a part in what was a scrappy opening 25 minutes.
Between the two sides, there was very little flow to the game with the ball bouncing off the slick surface.
Bowman and Anderson both went into the book for Salop as the referee Chris Pollard awarded yellow cards very early into the game.
When it did settle, Town were the ones looking to get on the front foot more - whereas Cheltenham seemed relatively happy to sit in their shape and try to hurt Salop on the turnover.
Lots of crosses went into the Robins' box, but they alluded blue shirts in the area and were often cleared away.
Udoh missed Town's best chance of the half when he turned a cross from Shipley over the bar - it was a difficult one for the Town man.
At the other end, the visitors rarely threatened, but they almost took the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first period.
On his 100th Town appearance, Marko Marosi parried an effort from distance from Liam Sercombe, and a wonderful tackle from Feeney had to stop Rob Street from turning it home.
Bowman was in the thick of the action after the break when first he missed a guilt edge chance to give Shrews the lead when played through on goal.
And then moments later, he did get the opener, after the Robins keeper Luke Southwood was forced to save Ben Williams' header back to him.
He could only parry it, and Bowman was on hand to turn the ball home.
As the half wore on, Cheltenham did push for an equaliser, and Marosi had to get down well to deny Williams after a suspect back pass from Anderson.
Udoh went close when he shot from just inside the box but his effort was saved by Southwood and soon after Mal Benning was introduced for his Salop debut.
Travis Hernes came on late on for a league debut, and Street went close with an effort but Town held on.
TEAMS
Shrewsbury: Marosi, Feeney, Flanagan, Anderson, Winchester, Shipley (Hernes 90), Kenneh, Perry, Bayliss (Benning 78), Bowman, Udoh.
Subs: Burgoyne, Sraha, Thorpe, Benning, Sobowale, Hernes, Watts.
Cheltenham: Southwood, Long, Williams, Bradbury (Hammond 72), Freestone, Sercombe, Keena, Street, Olayinka, Smith, Bonds (Thompson 45).
Subs: Harris, Hammond, Thompson, Adshead, Chapman, Horton, King.
