Analysis: Hope dampened as Shrewsbury kick off season with defeat
After a long wait for the new football season, Shrewsbury Town’s league opener ended in disappointment.
There has been a huge overhaul at Salop this summer with boss Paul Hurst bringing 11 new faces to Shropshire.
New faces lead to renewed optimism at the start of any season as supporters think, or maybe hope, that this year could be their year.
That has not lasted long in Shrewsbury’s case as they were beaten 1-0 by Stevenage at the Lamex Stadium in what was an incredibly physical encounter in Hertfordshire.
Hurst said after the match the game resembled more of a rugby clash than it did a football game and that is a very good way to describe it.
The word football can be used loosely as it felt like Town’s centre-backs Toto Nsiala and Aaron Pierre’s foreheads had the most touches of the ball in the first half.
It was a game similar to the other two Stevenage have played against Town in the last 12 months. It was close to a carbon copy with Shrews being bombarded with high balls and forced to defend countless set pieces.
They matched their opponents in the physical battle, and they defended the set pieces well, which is why it was a disappointment to concede the way they did.
Elliott List was the man to score the game’s decisive goal as he cut in from the right side and fired beyond Toby Savin in between the posts.
